The sunlight streamed through the upper window, wrenching Harry from the depths of slumber. She awoke feeling refreshed; alive. She didn't think she'd slept that well since before Charlotte was born. She always slept on the verge of consciousness, just in case Charlie called out in the middle of the night. She stretched her arm out confirming she was alone in the king sized bed.

Harry's legs stretched out too, ready for her routine knee crack, which she started every day with. It didn't come, nor did Harry feel she needed it. That's odd, she thought. What was odder was that she could feel the sheets to the very tops of her legs. She didn't remember going to bed in only her underwear. Actually, she didn't remember going to bed at all. She thought back over the events of the previous evening. The last thing she remembered was excruciating pain, burning and... that necklace.

Her hand snapped to her neck. Her long fingernails scratched her collarbone as she grasped the pendant still secured there. Another oddity. She remembered her usually short nails being complete stubs when she was digging in the capsule's hole.

That triggered the fragments of a thought... something important. She sprung up looking at the time. It was 6:45 am. She needed to be at school early to oversee the setting up for the memorial, and she didn't even know the state of the courtyard because she was pretty sure she'd passed out there before the job had been completed.

She raced to the shower, dropping her bra and undies on the floor, thankful she didn't have extra layers to peel away. She stepped in before she'd given the water time to warm, plunging her head straight under. Funnily enough the cold didn't phase her as it usually did. She cut her usual exfoliation ritual short, choosing to just scrub her body and wash her hair before getting back out.

Towelling her hair dry, it felt phenomenal. She looked at herself in the mirror to see if it was sitting as nicely as it was feeling. Her reflection made her gasp. Her tiny freckles had cleared, her green eyes glimmered vibrantly, and the red hues in her auburn hair were so radiant she looked like the model on a hair dye box.

She ran her hand over the skin on her face. No oil. No dryness. As smooth as a newborn. Her long nails drew her attention once more. They had definitely not been looking like that the previous day, and her cuticles... they were perfectly manicured. She would need to cut the nails, there was no way she'd manage to work with them getting in the way, but their beauty still amazed her. The only explanation was that someone had drugged her and, while she was out to it, had given her a make over. She didn't know how that would make her eyes pop more, but that could have just been a side effect of the more intense hair and the perfect skin.

Her hands dropped to stomach. She knew the only way to improve that area was surgically. She'd even asked a doctor back when she'd been delusional enough to think that tummy exercises could whip it back into shape. The skin was tight, and the ruby gem sat purkily in the middle of her belly button. She was shocked.

She studied the pendant sitting perfectly on her chest. She tried to unclasp it again, having gotten distracted earlier. The chain had no catch. Every link in the chain was identical, as if it had been forged around her.

She went to call out to David, but stopped herself. None of this is normal. I shouldn't say anything until I know what the Hell is going on. She rushed back to the bedroom and quickly pulled on her undies and the dress that she'd bought especially for this day. She was so glad it had arrived in time. She had worried that buying clothes online would require lengthy wait times, considering how isolated they were, but she'd been pleasantly surprised.

Remembering her need for haste, she rushed into the kitchen and stood for David zip her up. He obliged her immediately.

"How are you feeling? I was beginning to worry when you didn't wake up at all." He looked her up and down. "You look stunning! Have you done something different with your hair?" he asked adoringly.

"No... maybe my new shampoo's paying off," she replied dissmissively.

David handed Harry her morning coffee. "Freshly brewed while you were in the shower," he beamed, fingering the pendant and looking at her questioningly. "This suits you." he added, letting it drop back against her skin.

She thanked him for the coffee and took a big gulp, even though she didn't feel she needed it for once. She gagged as it tried to come back up. It felt like a poison; an impurity trying to attack her insides.

She gave David a peck on the cheek, pretended to take another sip and sat it on the counter.

Giving herself a final once over in the mirror, Harry pondered which heels to wear. She knew she had a lot of manual labour to assist with and she should be sensible, at least until the time of the ceremony, but she didn't care. She slid into her black stilettos. Even if she was late, or got blisters as she tried to move things, or if she needed to go the long way around so that her shoes didn't sink into the dirt as she walked, none of it mattered. Not only did she look amazing (and the stilettos completed that look), she felt amazing.

And nothing was going to bring her down.