'Long ago, in a land far, far away, lived a girl named Ember.

She was a bright child with the smile of an angel and the face of a fairy.

Being the only daughter, her parents loved her dearly, even though they were not wealthy, they treated Ember no less than a princess.

Every day they would go to the city to work and return after the sun had set.

The cheerful child would stand by the doorway and wait for her parents with twinkling eyes, but it seemed like fate didn’t like her bright and lively eyes. As if it had a particular hate for her sparkly smile so it decided to take them away from her.

So one day fate played a game with her, the day the spring of her life ended and the winter took over her fragile heart.

The sun had set long ago, and due to the heavy rain, everything was drenched. Ember was scared as she stood by the doorway staring at the open gate hoping her parents would return soon, the innocent heart wished to see them so her heart would be at peace. But nothing except for the loud greeted her ears. Ember’s frightened heart leapt out of her chest when one of the thunderbolts struck the trees of the forest, and with a blink of an eye, a fire started.

The yellow flames reflected in her eyes like a monster, because the forest fire was spreading quickly, it had already taken over some of the cottages that were close to the forest, and within no time the fire had taken over half the village. Ember stood motionlessly on the spot holding onto her favourite bunny. Her eyes were trembling with fright.

At that moment the only wish her tiny heart had was to get a glimpse of her parents entering the gates. The villagers were out on the muddy streets, some were running, while the others were in a state of shock.

“Come home, please!!” Ember mumbled in a crying voice as she looked at the burning gate of her house. They didn’t return.

“Child gets away from there, run!”

The village blacksmith had caught a glimpse of the child standing in the doorway like a statue.

But Ember didn’t budge,

He jumped into the fire and picked her up, he took her away from the burning house.

“No, put me back!!put me back!!”

Ember protested and wanted to grab onto the fading image of her house with her tiny hands but it was in vain. She cried as she saw her home fading away from her vision, the village was burning even with rain falling.

Such cries and misery were witnessed by Ember at such a young age, the night was the most horrible night of her life, or that was what she thought.

The next day when the day broke, the sky was still grey and the air had a disgusting smell,

The villagers got back to the village, The girl too ran back to her home, which was just a pile of dark matter, the doorway she stood in was half broken and half-burned, she walked close to it and noticed a human-like figure laying, in it was her mother.

The burned body emitted a foul smell, the flesh had burned down and there was blood,

Ember’s heart was torn into shreds and a tear rolled into her eyes, she stood like a statue staring at her mother’s ring which was the only thing that had not lost its shape, the blacksmith from before found her father's body in another corner of the house,

The pain was so much for a child that she didn’t know how to react to it for a while, the blacksmith picked her up and took her away from the scene.

Ember didn't protest this time as she was in a state of shock. She had seen the burnt bodies of her parents and with that, all the happiness of her life too was burnt to ashes.’

“Her heart died that day, and what was left was a beating rock,”

December stopped her story after she had said those words and looked at Nala who had tearful eyes.

"What happened after that?" Nala spoke with a crying tone.

"You wanna know?" December had stopped because she thought Nala would be tired but she seemed to be quite into the story.

Nala didn't speak but she nodded energetically with tears swimming in her eyes.

December continued her story.

"Ember was taken to a small town along with the people of the village who had lost everything. Ember was alone in that place with not a single person to hold on to. She would walk the streets of the town like a stray animal and sleep on the streets on cold nights. Life went from bad to worse in just a few days.

But soon she was taken into an orphanage. It was not the best place but it was better than sleeping out on the streets under the ***** sky.

Years passed and nobody adopted her, she saw kids getting adopted by influential families and got jealous of them.

Ember had made a friend at the orphanage, she was a beautiful and sweet girl named Aura. She would play around with Ember and make her happy.

One day Ember sat in the corner of the room crying, It was her birthday and she missed her parents who would bring her presents on her birthday. She missed her parents and wanted to celebrate it, but nobody cared if it was her birthday.

Aura found out that it was her birthday. She went out and brought her a sweet bun and a box wrapped in a glittery white sheet. Ember got happy to see a gift and opened it, hurriedly. Her eyes shined at the sight of the present she had received and looked at Aura with a thankful gaze. “This is for me?” She asked with disbelief and Aura nodded as a reply.

The glittery sheet was torn off and a shiny object was revealed, There was a bracelet inside the box. the one that belonged to Aura herself. Ember happily accepted the gift and was happy,

But she didn't know the worth of the bracelet nor did Aura see the reason she had the bracelet on her wrist,

December shifted sides on the bed and looked back at Nala who was keenly listening to her story.

December took a long breath before continuing the story.

' Ember grew up hoping she would find her happiness once she was older but nothing much changed,

Until one sunny day when the flowers were blooming and the air was fresh. A beautiful lady hugged her all of a sudden calling her; Her lost daughter. She took Ember away with her. She was happy at first when she thought that she was finally getting adopted but a few days later she found out that it was all a mistake. The beautiful lady who was also the Duke's wife had mistaken her for Aura. Because of the bracelet.

Ember felt bad for Aura at first but slowly she got used to the love and attention she received from the family and forgot all about Aura, the real daughter of the duke.

Ember lived like a princess and then the most beautiful day of her life came when she turned of age and was getting introduced officially in a social gathering.

Many influential families had attended the party, The first prince of the state Prince Augustine too had attended the ball,

When Ember met the prince she fell in love with him instantly, she knew it because after so long she finally felt like her heart was beating.

She had her first dance with him, Her happiness had no bounds, she felt like her life was complete. Now the only thing she wanted was to make the prince fall in love with her.

She tried everything to catch his attention, but she never got any. Even so, she didn't give up because she felt alive when she was with him. And time passed and then one day, the prince came to her, Ember’s happiness knew no bounds, she thought her wish had finally been granted. Ember twirled around the garden where the prince had called her, She danced to the melody her heart played. Everything was perfect until the prince showed up, with his usually serious face.

"Let's break the engagement."

The words fell on Ember like thunder, the melody that her heart played suddenly met an end, the wings of her dreams shattered in a moment and she fell on the ground from the sky, that she had been flying in. She felt like she had died once again, the only words that escaped her lips were.

"Why?" In a broken voice, she uttered as she looked at the prince who stood all high and mighty before her, and just then an image slowly emerged from his back. The moonlight struck the timid figure behind him.

Ember’s leg lost the energy to stand up when she saw who it was, she fell to the ground.

"Ember!? Are you alright.."

Aura ran towards Ember to help her up but She stopped her.

Ember breathlessly muttered something.

"What.." (Aura)

"Why is it you again? Why?... Why!!" Ember's face showed misery and disgust as she looked at Aura. She hated her.

"I am sorry... "Aura said as she cried.

Despite being right, Aura apologized to Ember. Even when Ember was the one stealing Aura's happiness, she apologized. But Ember, who was shattered, didn't see that. All she thought was that Aura stole her happiness.

Aura was pregnant with the prince's child. When the duchess found out the true identity of Ember, the Duke abandoned her. She was banished from the city, but before she left she poisoned Aura.

She left the city forever and lived the life of a murderer until she couldn't take the guilt of killing her friend anymore. So she committed suicide.

And that was when her real test started, She didn't die. Ember thought the poison she ingested was not strong enough so she decided to jump off a cliff. But she still didn't die.

The incidents continued and she couldn't die even if she wanted to, until one day she met a man who called himself Her guardian angel. He asked her for a tear and in turn, he would send her back to the past. She didn't agree at first but slowly she began to trust him.

And guess what he did send her back, to the time when she hadn't met the Prince, She promised never to make the mistakes of her past ever again, but who knew when she went back to her past body, the heart within too belonged to the past Ember, which kept on beating fast when she thought of the prince.

Ember had suffered a lot, she didn't wish to cause pain to the people she loved anymore so she changed her fate. She never became Aura again. She gave back what was never hers...

December has stopped.

"What happened after that? Did she find her happiness again?"

When December stopped suddenly after not completing the story, Nala felt curious.

"She knows she doesn't deserve happiness because she is just a villainess who is repenting of her sins. Peace is all she is waiting for..."

December’s voice was grieving, one could feel the sadness pouring through it. She closed her eyes to avoid showing too many emotions.

"I am tired, I wanna rest.”

December turned around and a tear silently escaped her eyes, Nata sat at the edge of her bed staring at December’s back. She was still curious about what had happened to the girl in the story, and how it had ended.

Amid the darkroom, on the chaise lounge, a man with a charismatic aura lay peacefully with his eyes slightly closed, his distinguished features and his sharp jawline gave him a beauty without comparison. His dark hair was messy and a few drops of sweat were decorated on his knitted forehead, but it still made him look even more handsome.

As moments passed his facial expressions started to change and his eyebrows knitted together more painfully, he looked like he was having a bad dream, as his fingers were tightly pressing the couch.

“Gasp! Haah, Haah!”

He opened his eyes with horror and stared at the ceiling, his breath was uneven and his eyes were tinted red. One could see pure pain and horror in his eyes. He lightly punched his chest which had tightened up.

“Here have some water.”

The doctor approached him and handed him a glass of water, and then sat back on the sofa beside him.

August sat up on the couch and took the glass and gulped the water down in a go. He slowly moved his gaze back to the doctor who was a white-haired man, in his late 50s. His face was serious and he wore round glasses, from where he peeked in August.

“So what did you see? Did you remember something?”

“Nothing! Just the same hazy memories,” he rubbed his forehead, as he felt a throbbing pain in his head.

August spoke with his raspy voice,

“It’s not helping me, it’s just a waste of time.”

He angrily picked up his coat from the couch and got up, with an unusual expression and an irregular heart rate,

When he reached the door and held onto the Doorknob to twist it open, the doctor spoke.

“Are you sure you saw nothing? Or Are you trying to unsee it?”

“What about Aurora? Did you not see her,” The doctor had a mischievous expression now, August had muttered that name in his sleep on the couch,

August’s eyes flashed at the doctor. He had a serious expression, His glare was cold and ruthless but the doctor sat with an amused smile.

“I will be of no help until you truly want to know the reason behind these dreams.” The doctor spoke in a calm voice.

August glanced at him last time with disinterest and left without saying another word.

It was getting cold outside and August wore his coat and pushed open the glass door when he saw his secretary approach him.

“Was there any progress?” Secretary asked

“No,” he responded blankly. August’s reply was cold and that brought chills to his secretary’s body. He didn’t ask further questions as he knew August wasn’t someone to mess with.

“Tell father I am not taking the sessions anymore,” August spoke as he approached the car, he opened the door of the driver's seat and started the engine.

“Where are you going, sir?” The secretary was flustered when he saw his boss driving instead of him.

Being August’s secretary was not an easy job, because August’s attitude was extremely unpredictable.

“To the Smiths, they invited me for lunch,” August was about to close the door when he heard Blaze interrupt.

“You mean you are going to meet Miss Aurora?” Blaze had a huge smirk on his face trying to indicate something but August’s razor-sharp gaze met him and Blaze felt like his life was about to end.

“I said the Smith’s!! Did I mention Aurora’s name?” His teeth were tightly clenched as if he was trying hard not to kill Blaze, who was his one and only secretary left.

When Blaze saw August’s expression getting sour at his words, he suddenly backed off and closed his mouth,

August breathed out and closed the door behind him, and drove off. When Blaze saw the car drift farther and farther away from him, his lips formed back into a shameless smile and he muttered,

……………………………………………………….

“You should have just said that you wanted to meet Miss Aurora? What’s with the sour face?” Blaze was the kind of person who liked to take risks, and for some reason, he had stayed longer with August than any other secretary.“Let's break the engagement."

“I can’t marry you,”

Under the moonlight beside the huge palm tree, two figures stood, a guy who had just uttered those heartless words,and a girl. One could not see her face because she stood under the tree's shadow that had blurred out her face but her body language gave it all, she was standing petrified, not a muscle of her body moved and it seemed as if she had stopped breathing.

Her fingers penetrated the silvery net of the white gown. Her grip on the dress tightened when she heard the words, her legs lost the strength to stand and she fell on the grassy ground in despair. At that moment her world collapsed in just a wave.

With a wavering heart and a fainting breath she mustered up the courage to speak in front of August, it might have been the first time she had spoken to him openly.

“Why?” The words came out with an effort, her courage broke so she paused before continuing again, trying hard not to shed a single tear. “Did I do something wrong? Why are you doing this?”

Her palm started hurting as she felt her nails stab through her dress, she waited for him to speak again and he did speak, causing her to lose control over her tears.

“I don’t think you are the one for me.”

August’s face was serious, it didn’t change even for a second, not at the sight of her misery nor her pitiful fallen image.

“How? How can you be so cruel!? How can you decide on it on your own? Did you ever ask me how I felt about the breakup?”

“I love someone else, I hope you understand.” His words with no emotion nor sorry.

“No!! I don’t understand! I don’t want to understand! (Breath). I will never forgive you for this!”

The grieving voice rang like a warning bell, the cry was heard far and wide but most importantly it struck August deep in his heart, he saw her shed a tear as sparkling as a pearl, As it soaked into the soil a pain arose in August’s heart. He felt his heartbeat fasten and his breath slowly fading away. It was getting hard for him to breathe and suddenly his eyes opened.

It was just a dream, a very realistic one.

August’s gaze was pinned to the off-white ceiling above as he opened his eyes,hs hands were clenhing onto the blanket and his teeth were locked togather, he could still feel mild pain in his heart and his breath was unstable.

“Why did I dream of it again?”

His head had started acting oddly for a while now, he kept on seeing hallucinations, and sometimes hyper-realistic dreams, that caused him serious unrest, and today’s dream was one of them.

He got up and poured himself a glass of water and pondered over the dream he just had.

———————————————————————————————-

“December!! Get up!”

Nala snatched the blanket from over December who had been sleeping like a log.

“Hmm? Why?” December opened her eyes as little as possible and it seemed as if she was trying to preserve the sleep in them, her voice had very little volume to it but still, Nala understood it somehow.

“You are late for your class! Didn’t you say you had to reach there before 10?”

“Yes, I said that,” still in her sleep.

“So, it’s 9:45, what do you have to say about that!” Nata nagged at her.

“9 what!!!”

December jumped out of the bed and grabbed onto Nala’s shoulder, trying to confirm her saying.

“Look at the clock!”

“You are right!! I am gonna be late for the seminar,” December hopped around the room and picked up some clothes and went to change, and within 5 minutes she came storming out of the washroom, with a shoe in her hand and the other part in her foot.

“Don’t Wait for me, I will be late.”

December gave her a flying kiss and ran out,

There was a seminar she wanted to attend. A very renowned artist was coming, although she was from the same college, many didn’t know her by face as she didn’t like to give out her identity, but today she was going to appear before a few selected students and give them a lecture. December turned out to be one of them; she had a very long connection with this artist, it could also be said that she had known her from her previous life.

“Make way, make way, coming through,”

December ran around the architecture block and was just a few yards away from the hall, and the only problem was that she has to walk across the road that had parted the two departments, she stood on the pavement waiting for the luxurious cars to pass by so she could cross the road, and it was just then that a bunch of football players passed and bumped into December, which caused her to fall over the road.

Although there was not much traffic right now a car was headed straight towards her. A sudden flash of memory stormed through December’s eyes that caused her muscles to stiffen. Sharp pain in her head made the sounds of the past ring in her ears.

‘I am not a monster! I am not a monster, leave me alone. (Honk, honk, honk)’\~\~

“Get away from the road!!”

Everything slowed down for December, she couldn’t hear the words of the people on the pavement and she felt like her sense had been numbed making everything suffocating.