Chapter 3

• Alice had told me to sit with James, and I tensed up at that.
• “I’m about done here. I’ll join you guys at the table in a minute.”
• There was nothing I could say to that, and so I turned to head to the table. James was still present, and he began to stare at me as I moved to a seat that was not close to his.
• I ignored him as I resumed my breakfast.
• However, James was still eyeing me to the point it was getting uncomfortable.
• He was really not helping with the suspicions I had about him.
• ‘Creepy fuck.’
• “… greet your father?” I heard James murmur. I paused my meal, unsure if I had heard correctly.
• “You won’t greet your father?” James repeated. He was still muttering, but it was louder than before.
• Those were the first words he had spoken to me since I became Emma.
• “Huh?” I asked in the middle of my meal.
• That was a bad decision on my part.
• I didn’t get the chance to act, because in the next instance, I found myself on the floor. I didn’t even have time to figure out what was happening before James was above me, raining punches on my body.
• “No! James! Stop it!” I heard Alice cry frantically.
• I thrashed beneath the guy, screaming and turning on the floor to avoid his blows.
• “She just got better! Get off of her!”
• James was suddenly off of me. And once he was, I hurriedly backed to a wall, panting loudly.
• “You won’t greet your father? Are you mad at me because I punished you? I won’t tolerate this level of disrespect--”
• I had tuned out James’s ranting. Adrenaline hit me, and it felt like I was having an out-of-body experience.
• ‘What the fuck?’
• “What the fuck?” I voiced out, touching my cheeks and feeling a fresh bruise swelling on the skin. My body was trembling from what had happened, astounded by the sudden outburst of violence.
• I then turned my attention to the couple in front of me.
• James stood tense, glaring at me. Meanwhile, Alice had her hands on her husband, ready to stop him if he attempted to pounce on me again.
• “Emma? Emma, darling, are you okay? Please understand your poor father. He didn’t mean it…”
• I earlier only suspected James was to blame for Emma's condition when I took possession of her body. But now I was certain.
• Everything injury on Emma's body.
• They all came from that man.
• “Emma, please listen to me,” Alice was trying to console me in her own way. James, on the other hand, continued to glare at me.
• He didn’t even look sorry for what he had done.
• I never thought I would find myself in such a situation. But there I was.
• “Emma, calm down, honey. Let’s talk, okay?”
• Alice looked at me warily. She then moved a slow step forward.
• My gaze shifted to the table, where I discovered a dining knife conveniently lying within reach.
• I grabbed it without hesitation. James attempted to approach me while this was going on.
• “James!”
• “No!” I yelled, causing the couple to stop in their tracks. “Nobody move!”
• I swung the knife dangerously in front of them.
• “Don’t touch me!”
• James looked angrier, if possible.
• “Let’s calm down, everyone. Can we all just have breakfast--”
• The woman went to console me.
• “I said, don’t touch me!” I yelled at Alice, turning the knife toward her.
• “Emma…”
• "Is that how you should talk to your mother?" James's voice rang out in the kitchen.
• I had momentarily forgotten about him, what with everything that I had experienced and was processing being too much.
• I warily stared back at him. My gaze then shifted between my supposed mother and James.
• Then I saw something behind them.
• There was an opening, a gap between them.
• I took the chance.
• James seemed to notice at the last minute where I was looking because he tried to come for me.
• I immediately swung the knife toward him, slashing against his arm in the process and getting a pained scream out of him.
• “Emma!” Alice yelled as I ran past them.
• I moved out of the kitchen area, hurriedly looking for a door. Fortunately, I discovered one that appeared to lead outside. I dared to look back, but was filled with dread when I saw James running towards me.
• I quickly swung the door open and took off.
• “Emma!” Alice yelled for me once more, but I did not dare to stop. I did not dare look back for fear of being stopped and dragged inside the house.
• I kept running for a while. Only a few minutes later did I dare to stop. A quick glance behind me revealed that neither James nor Alice were coming after me.
• They must not have bothered chasing me after I left the house.
• "Fuck," I exclaimed out loud, relieved. I was so glad I had gotten well enough to run.
• I closed my eyes, panting, trying to catch my breath.
• “What the actual fuck?”
• I found myself in a suburb of some kind. And as I considered it, I realized James and Alice lived in the suburbs.
• ‘So I was here all this time?’
• It was good to finally know what it looked like outside Emma’s house after all that time I had spent in it.
• That was nice and all, but…
• ‘Where do I go from here?’
• I did not know anyone besides Emma's parents. I didn’t even know her neighbors or anyone else because no one bothered visiting when I was with them.
• Seeking help from ordinary people wasn’t going to do me any good, especially with what I was dealing with.
• So I had no choice but to go to my alternate resort.
• After asking around for directions from wary suburbanites, and after walking for another couple of minutes, I arrived at a police station.
• I came across a flyer that began with, "Rollinsville Police are dedicated to helping you..." and stopped reading it.
• ‘Rollinsville?’ the name sounded familiar to me.
• Anyway, I went inside the police station. By then, the swelling had numbed my cheeks, so talking would not be a problem.
• At that moment, I was relieved that I had gotten away from James before he could put me in the state I was in when I awoke as Emma. Who knew if I could have gotten out of that house if that were the case.
• "I need to make a report," I informed the available officer. The person gave me a quick glance.
• "Go to the office on your right," they instructed.
• About a minute later, I found myself seated in front of an officer who was busy writing something on their computer.
• The person did not acknowledge me for a while, having said nothing for a couple of minutes.
• It was beneficial to me because it allowed me time to think. I came up with an arrangement of words I would say in case the officer turned their attention to me.
• “... Hello?” I spoke after the silence lasted too long.
• The officer raised his head to face me. He then sighed, stopping with whatever he was doing.
• “What is it this time, Emma Kinsley?”