Chapter 5
My mom seemed to sense something was wrong. She grabbed my dad’s arm, her nails digging deeply into his skin.
“The victim is your daughter, Emily.”
She collapsed to the ground, repeating in disbelief, “Emily? How could it be her?”
My dad held her up tightly, preventing her from falling completely.
One of the officers whispered, “Mr. Lambert, we found the crime scene. It was located in a privately-built house near the abandoned building.”
My dad immediately responded, “Let’s head to the scene. The forensic lab must have made a mistake.”
In the police car, my mom kept dialing my number over and over. My dad focused on driving, his eyes fixed on the road.
He tried to reassure my mom. “Don’t worry. Maybe Emily went to the station and is in on this prank with the forensic team.”
But deep down, he must have known this was not the kind of thing anyone could fake.
I could not describe how I felt. It was as if a venomous snake had wrapped itself around me, squeezing tighter and tighter until I could not breathe.
The privately-built houses in that area were notorious. The people living there were a shady mix. Some did not even have proper identification, so they were not afraid of police searches.
When my parents arrived, the police had already taped off the area.
As soon as the door to the house was opened, a foul stench filled the air.
The bed was soaked in blood, and the walls and floor were splattered with it.
Even though I was now a soul, I could not stop trembling, reliving the torment I went through before my death.
The day I was taken, Lily called me.
She said she had hurt her leg and that it would affect her match the next day.
Even though I did not like her, I did not want to make my parents worry about her.
But when I arrived at the location she gave me, I was knocked out from behind.
When the blindfold was finally removed, I saw Lily and a man with a twisted smile.
I did not know who the man was, but Lily’s words sent chills down my spine. “I brought her here, just like we agreed. Now let me go. I have to get back and deal with those two old fools.”
The man’s face twitched slightly before he gave a half-smile and waved his hand dismissively. “Keep your mouth shut.”
Lily left with a cold smirk. “Once I walk out that door, it’s like we never met. Don’t worry, I couldn’t care less if Emily dies.”
After she left, the man seemed to notice the fear and confusion in my eyes.
He brutally gouged out my eyes, stuffing a rag into my mouth as I screamed in agony.
“You don’t know who I am, do you? Your parents arrested my brother. All he did was kill his own wife, but he lost his life because of them!”
The cold blade cut into my body, and I could not stop trembling.
Then his words made me freeze. “I’ve been sitting in prison all this time, and I grabbed the wrong person.
“If it weren’t for your sister telling me your parents adopted her to protect you, I wouldn’t have even known you existed!”
He tortured me for a whole day and night.
With my eyes gone, I could not tell where the knife would cut next. Only the warm blood and unrelenting pain kept reminding me I was still alive.
The next day, when my body was numb from the pain, my phone suddenly rang.
The man chuckled lowly. “It’s your dad calling. Seems they do care about you after all.”NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.
My dad’s impatient voice came through the speaker into my remaining ear. “Emily, on such an important day for Lily’s tennis match, how could you dare not show up?”
Mom’s voice chimed in. “She’s nothing but an ungrateful brat. Lily is losing points because of her not showing up!”
I whimpered, trying to beg for help. However, with no tongue, I could not make a sound.
Before hanging up, I heard my dad’s cold voice. “Silent again, pretending to be dead. We never should have brought her back.”
And now, my mom’s legs gave out as she stepped into the place where I had lost my life.
She knelt on the ground and covered her mouth. Tears were falling onto the floor in front of her.
I stared in confusion at her tear-streaked face.
When Lily scraped her hand, my mom’s eyes would well up with concern.
But this was the first time I had ever seen my mom cry for me.
My dad took a deep breath, calmly put on gloves, and picked up the blood-splattered notebook on the table.
When he opened it, his eyes widened in disbelief.
Inside were photos of Lily and notes about the places she frequented.
But in the end, it was not her who died.
A flash of shock crossed my dad’s eyes, as if he had realized something.
His chest heaved rapidly as he clutched his heart. His once straight posture was now hunched over.
I heard his anguished sobs mingle with my mom’s cries
Mom, Dad, you always said you wished I had not been f
Now, as you wished, I would never come back.
So why were you still so unhappy now?