Chapter 18: "A Pact in Blood"

As I lay on the ground, my life flashed before my very eyes.

Was I dead, or am I dying?

Shocked and gasping for breath, a chilling cold swept over my body, and blood splattered everywhere. Amidst the chaos, my mom rushed towards me, yelling and crying continuously. She was alive? Wasn't he going to shoot her and me?

My eyelids began to close, and amidst the chaos, a faint laugh escaped my lips. "Mother," I muttered as I succumbed to unconsciousness.

In the distance, someone desperately called my name. "Sophie!" Mom cried out, holding my lifeless or supposedly lifeless body in her arms. "Oh, God! Sophie, open your eyes. Mommy is here. Please, Sophie," she yelled, shaking me.

I blinked, struggling to focus my gaze. "Mother?" I called out, confused and disoriented.

Relieved, she hugged me tightly. "Oh God, Sop?" she exclaimed, tears streaming down her face.

"Wait, Mother," I said, still perplexed. "I'm not dead." I asked hesitantly. Then, a thought crossed my mind, and I blurted out, "Oh