Part 3They Called Me Slow Until I Died To Name The Killer

The doctor looked at Dean.

Dean stood silent for a long time, his knuckles white where he gripped the railing.

“…Continue.”

The doctor operated the control panel.

The silver probe, once again, began to drill slowly toward the deeper layers.

“Agh—!!!”

I couldn’t stop the scream that ripped from my throat.

My mind felt like a red-hot iron rod was being plunged in and twisted.

My whole body began to convulse violently.

Sweat instantly soaked my thin clothes; veins bulged on my forehead.

The screen lit up again.

This time, the image showed me cornered by a group of boys.

“Look, it’s Lucy the slowpoke!”

“Hey, little dummy, playing in the dirt again?”

As they spoke, they picked up small pebbles and trash from the ground and tossed them at me.

I looked up, staring at them blankly.

“Look at her, she can’t even cry! Definitely a dummy!”

“Let’s bury her in the sand pit?”

“Yeah!”

Amidst the jeering, a dirty hand suddenly grabbed my arm and yanked hard.

I lost my balance and tumbled into the deep sandbox.

“Bury her!”

“Yeah! Bury the dummy!”

Several pairs of hands held me down amidst the excited shouts.

Heavy sand began to pour onto my head and body.

It was heavy, pressing the air out of my lungs.

The sand rose past my waist, moving up toward my chest.

I was going to be buried alive.

I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t scream.

Just as the sand was about to cover my shoulders—

“What are you doing?! Get away from my sister!!”

A clear voice rang out.

It was Soph!

Soph, with her high ponytail, stood by the edge of the pit, hands on her hips.

The sunlight hit her just right; she seemed to glow.

“You’re bullying my sister?” Soph’s voice was fierce. “Want me to tell the principal?”

The boys hesitated for a moment and let go of me.

“Sophia, your sister is a dummy anyway…”

“Say that again?” Soph took a step forward, her eyes wide and round.

“My sister is not a dummy! She just… she just processes things a little slower!”

“She’s kinder than all of you put together!”

Intimidated by her presence, the boys mumbled excuses and ran away.

Soph rushed over, clawed the sand away, and pulled me up.

Her eyes were full of worry:

“Luce, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

I shook my head, but tears started to fall anyway.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry.” Soph pulled me into a hug, gently patting my back. “It’s okay, Luce, Soph is here.”

“If anyone bullies you again, you tell me right away.”

“I’ll protect you, okay?”

In the memory, I buried my head in Soph’s shoulder, sobbing softly.

Soph smelled like clean soap.

Her hands were so warm.

Below the stage.

Mom was slumped in her chair, weeping.

“Soph… my Soph was always so good…”

“She was kind to everyone… especially her slow little sister…”

Dad’s eyes were also red, his voice choked with emotion:

“Soph was responsible from a young age, always looking out for her sister…”

Dean stared at the screen, his eyes fixed, filled with a deep, aching remembrance of his fiancée.

The next second, Mom suddenly turned, glaring at me on the platform, her voice cracking:

“Lucy! Look! Look how good your sister was to you!”

“How could you… how could you forget how she died?!”

Dad pointed at me, his face ravaged with grief and anger:

“Lucy, what happened that day? Your sister loved you so much, why won’t you just say it?!”

“Did you really see something… that you’re refusing to tell us?”

I lay on the Retrieval Stand, listening to their demands.

Tears slid down my temples.

I want to say it, too.

Mom and Dad.

I want to know what happened that day.

I want to know who killed Soph.

But I… I really can’t remember.

Deep inside my brain, a sharp, sudden pain erupted.

The silver probe began to release electrical currents.

“Mmph…”

I arched violently, and a mouthful of blood sprayed from my throat.