Chapter 6
In a daze, Lucas’s face floated through my mind.
Back in school, my classmates banded together to ostracize me. They whispered behind my back and gave me cruel nicknames.
One day after class, a few older girls cornered me against the wall.
“Lydia, what are you pretending to be so high and mighty for? Who are you scowling at all day?”
“You’re just riding on your parents‘ coattails. So what? I heard your parents don’t even like
1/4
Chapter 6
you.”
At parent–teacher meetings, my parents rarely showed up, and when they did, their faces were twisted with displeasure, as if I were the source of their embarrassment. Everyone could see how differently they treated me. A child without support naturally felt lonely and abandoned.
“Move aside.”
A clear, youthful voice rang out. Lucas stood in the sunlight, fury blazing in his eyes. “If I catch you bullying my sister again, you’ll regret it.”
Though only thirteen, he was already taller than me, strikingly handsome. After the girls fled, he couldn’t resist showing off in front
Chapter 6
of me, tossing his hair with a grin. “Did I look cool just now?”
His antics made me laugh, sweeping away the clouds of despair. From that moment on, Lucas became my guardian. No matter where I went, he was always by my side, promising to stand by me no matter what happened, to protect me.
He helped me slowly rediscover myself. I didn’t ask for much. Even if my parents didn’t love me, having a caring brother was enough.
But fate can be cruel, snatching away the one person who treated me kindly.
In the moment my breath stopped, my soul left my body. I witnessed that man cut my
Chapter 6
+ 5 Points
flesh into pieces and stuff them into black plastic bags. Then he retrieved an axe from the trunk of the car and hacked at my limbs.
I thought death would end all my suffering, but I was wrong. An unknown force pulled me back toward my loved ones. I saw my mother wake from a nightmare; it was her first dream of me.
How could she not notice? Just like she often said, “I’m your mother; your life and your body are mine.”
I was nurtured in her womb, and even though the umbilical cord was severed, that blood bond was never broken. Even in death, my soul was still drawn back to her side.
