Part 1Six Years in the Grave

It had been exactly six years since I died a miserable death in a cold prison cell, taking the fall for my older brother’s adopted sister.

Today, my brother Grant actually came looking for me again. He wanted me to confess to a crime committed by Roselyn’s younger brother, a kid they had sent away years ago.

He claimed the boy was too young and couldn't handle the harshness of being locked up.

Grant said it so casually. He told me I already had experience behind bars, so going back in wouldn't feel foreign to me.

But he waited and waited, and I never walked out of those prison gates.

Assuming I had been released early for good behavior and was just hiding from him out of spite, Grant stormed back to our family estate to demand answers.

Instead of finding me, he walked right into my best friend Jenny. She was standing in the middle of the old living room, setting up a memorial for the sixth anniversary of my death.

Faced with Grant’s relentless interrogations, Jenny stared at the flickering vigil candle on the altar. Her eyes were rimmed with a furious, bloodshot red.

Finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore. She screamed at him. She has been dead for years! She was beaten to death in her second year serving time for your precious little Roselyn!

Grant scoffed, crossing his arms. "Wow, you really put on a good show."

His eyes were dripping with mockery. "How long did you two spend planning this little theatrical performance?"

"It’s just seven years in a cell. Roselyn bribed half the guards in there. Hazel had the best food, the best supplies. What is she playing the victim for now?"

Jenny glared at him, her chest heaving. "Every time I visited Hazel, her face and body were covered in fresh cuts and bruises. Why don't you go ask your sweet Roselyn exactly who she was paying off!"

Hearing that, Grant’s face instantly frosted over.

"At the end of the day, she's just jealous of Roselyn. That's why she's hiding."

The moment the words left his mouth, he lifted his expensive leather shoe.

Smash.

The vigil candle that had been burning for six years was crushed under his foot. The wick let out a pathetic little hiss, and the flame died instantly.

"What the hell are you doing!"

Jenny’s face drained of color. She threw herself onto the hardwood floor.

My heart clenched. I instinctively rushed forward to grab her, but my hands phased right through her trembling shoulders.

I could only watch helplessly as she ignored the searing heat, desperately trying to scoop up the spilled hot wax with her bare hands.

"Don't touch that, Jenny! You're burning your skin, please, none of this matters!" I hovered around her in an absolute panic, crying out.

But Jenny’s desperation only seemed to piss Grant off even more.

"How long are you going to keep up this pathetic act? I don't have time for your bullshit!"

Like a madman letting off steam, he swept his arm across the altar. Offerings, the incense burner, my few remaining belongings. He smashed them all to pieces.

"Hazel is just hiding to watch Roselyn suffer, isn't she? She is absolutely vicious!"

As he ranted, Grant’s gaze suddenly caught the wooden casket sitting behind the ruined altar. For a fraction of a second, his eyes faltered.

It was a flicker of nervousness, something he would never admit to feeling.

"Let's see if it's actually Hazel in this box."

"Don't you dare touch her!" Jenny shrieked, lunging at him, but Grant shoved her hard to the ground.

He flipped the casket lid open. His pupils shrank.

No body. No ashes. Just my favorite white dress folded neatly inside.

"Tch. I knew it. All a lie."

"That's because you didn't even leave her a body! I had to make a cenotaph just to give her a place to rest!" Jenny sobbed, her voice tearing at the seams.

"Pure nonsense," Grant sneered, his eyes as cold as a blade.

"Oh, by the way. Your husband should be getting his termination email right about now."

Jenny’s head snapped up.

"With your family's income cut off, I imagine your mother in the ICU won't last long before the hospital kicks her out. Are you absolutely sure you want to keep lying to me?"

No. Grant couldn't do this.

I screamed into his ear with everything I had. "Did you forget that after Mom and Dad died, it was Jenny’s mother who fed us? She knitted your winter sweaters by hand! Have you lost your mind!"

Grant’s face was twisted with hostility. "I really don't get it. You are both pregnant. How can you sit there and watch Roselyn stress out, running around with a baby bump just because Hazel refuses to show her face?"

"Hand Hazel over right now. Otherwise, dead or alive, I will dig her up and make sure she never finds peace."

Jenny was shaking from head to toe with pure rage. "You are an animal! She's dead and you still won't let her go."

"If you don't believe me, go to the damn prison and check the records yourself. Do you think I have the power to make the whole world lie to you!"