Jamie studied the face in the mirror.
The face looked like him.
It was almost the same.
He felt perplexed.
How?
When he raised his hands to trace the face on the mirror, he jumped at the imitating finger.
"Who are you?" His voice echoed inside the bathroom.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Jamie."
"My name is Jamie."
"Are you a demon?"
"Are you a demon?"
"No."
"No."
"Are you a bad spirit?"
"Are you a bad spirit?"
"Did your parents kidnap me and turned me into you?"
"Did your parents kidnap me and turned me into you?"
"Why can't you answer my questions?"
"Why can't you answer my questions?"
"Jamie!"
Jamie blinked when he heard a woman call his name.
Elisa. She was the boy's mother but not his. He had no family.
He was an orphan.
The said woman found him inside the bathroom half-naked in front of the mirror.
The mottled skin on the boy's body made her eyes water. But she blinked her tears away.
"Have you taken a bath already?"
The boy shook his head.
"Do you want me to draw you a bath?"
The teen kept quiet. She decided to fill the tub anyway. She sat on the covered toilet as she waited for the tub to fill.
Jamie felt awkward. He had never had someone draw a bath for him.
She finally stood up to close the tap when the tub was almost full. She pulled out a towel from the cabinet and placed it on the silver towel rail.
She exited the bathroom and was about to close the door when her son whispered a soft thank you.
"Your welcome." She smiled as she finally closed the door. It was the first genuine smile she had in a few weeks since the incident.
Elisa walked downstairs to the kitchen and continued preparing ingredients for a meal.
A few moments later, she heard a car park in their front lawn. The engine was turned off and a knock was heard on the door. She opened it and saw her brother Jared with a basket of fruits.
"I got more pears from Mrs. Goodman when she heard that I was buying for Jamie." He spoke as they went inside.
"Where is my favorite nephew?" Jared asked. He filled a glass of water from the tap.
"In his room taking a bath. He is taking a bit too long though."
Jared was about to drink but stopped midway when he heard her. He left the glass on the sink and ran upstairs towards the boy's room.
Elisa was worried with her brother's reaction and followed after him.
Jared pushed the bathroom door and found his nephew drowning in the bath tub.
Quickly he pulled the boy from the water and placed him on the floor. Then he positioned the boy in a recovery position seeing as he was breathing but coughing.
"Oh my go-" Elisa cried.
Once the boy's coughing fit was over, Jared wrapped the boy in a towel and lifted him up. He placed him on the bed and covered him with a blanket.
"I'm sorry. I did not know. I'm sorry." Elisa cried.
Jared turned to her sister. "Nobody could have ever known Elisa. It was not your fault."
The boy was coughing hard.
"Jamie, baby." Elisa cupped her son's face. "Please don't do that again."
Jamie's brows furrowed.
He did not intentionally drown himself.
He was just enjoying the warm water when his consciousness slowly faded.
He felt like drowning. His feet could not touch the bottom. He tried to swim but his legs were useless. He looked around the darkness but saw a boy instead.
He too was drowning.
He swam to the boy and tried to help.
He was able to touch the boy’s fingers when he was pulled away by an unknown force.
When Jamie’s consciousness returned, he couldn’t recall anything. There was nothing but darkness.
Jared frowned.
His nephew was in a worse situation than he previously thought.
