STOP FIGHTING,IT'S USELESS

“Daniel is not dead… he and Emily are the only family I have left. You can’t be that evil. You can’t take everything from me. You… you can’t do that, right? You just can’t... This has to be a prank.”

For a fleeting second something flickered in his eyes — shock, as if he hadn’t expected me to melt down.

Then he threw his head back and laughed, a hollow, cruel laughter that infuriated me the more.

“Look at that,” he sneered, eyeing me as if I were something stuck to his boot. “Pleading like a helpless mouse. Have you lost your mind entirely?”

He gestured flippantly toward the bed.

“Why not find out for yourself if he’s really dead? Go on. Call him. Make your one and only love answer you.”

I knew it was mockery. But in my shattered state I hoped — really hoped — that maybe it was all a prank, a threat, a warning. Daniel can’t be gone.

Not forever.

I crawled on trembling hands and knees to the bed.

My fingers brushed Daniel’s arm.

His skin was waxy and cold, a chill that seeped deep i