Chapter 3

The basement was chilly and damp, with rats squeaking in the corners. I lay on a moldy mattress. My back was bleeding so badly that it was sticking to my clothes.

However, I held onto the burnt silver necklace in my hand as tight as I could.

All of a sudden, the door swung open. The light was so bright that I could not even open my eyes.

Jenny strutted in on her high heels with two bodyguards right behind her. She did not look weak at all. Instead, she looked like she was on top of the world.

"Look who's still alive!" She pinched her nose and gave my sore back a little kick. "Vincent wanted to know if you'd kicked the bucket yet."

I did not say anything to her and tried to hide the necklace closer to my heart.

Jenny's eyes were like a hawk's, and she grabbed my wrist. "What do you have there?"

She yanked my fingers apart and took the necklace.

"Give it back!" I did not know how, but I found the strength to lunge at her. "That's the only thing I have from my mom! Give it back!"

Jenny stumbled and hit the wall. She had a sneaky look in her eye as she held the necklace up high. "Isn't this the one I lost last week? You're a thief!"

"That's not true!" I yelled with all my might, like a wild animal that was hurt. I tried desperately to grab it back.

Jenny quickly sat down and hit her head against the wall on purpose. Blood started to drip down.

"Help! Alice is trying to kill me!"

Right then, Vincent burst into the basement. "Jenny!"

He did not even ask any questions. He just hit me across the face.

The slap was so hard that my ears rang, and everything went quiet for a few seconds. I tasted something bitter and sweet in my mouth.

Vincent looked at the necklace, then at me. "All this over a silly necklace? You hurt someone for this?"

I was down by his feet. I did not even feel the pain in my face anymore. I was just begging with my hands up. "Vincent, it's not hers... It's really something special from my mom… Please, don't give it to her. I'm begging you..."

Jenny ran to him, crying her eyes out, "Vincent, I just wanted to help her by giving her some medicine... but she took my necklace and tried to hurt me to keep me quiet..."

She held up the blackened silver necklace. "See, this is the proof."

Vincent looked at the blood on Jenny's forehead and felt his heart harden.

"If this thing is making you so mean, we should just get rid of it." He grabbed the necklace and went to the basement drain.

I watched as he opened his hand.

"No!" I screamed, trying to grab it like crazy. It was the last thing I had from Mom. I could not lose it.

The drain cover was heavy, and the gap was so small. My fingers were squashed by the iron bars, the skin tearing and flipping, but I did not feel any pain. All I wanted was to hold onto that little bit of silver.

"Alice! Are you out of your mind?"

Vincent saw me not caring about my fingers just to save the necklace and freaked out. He ran over, grabbed my wrist, and shouted, "Don't you care about your hand? Let go!"

"I can't! It's from my mom... It's from my mom..." I was crying so hard that I could not breathe. My fingertips were still dripping blood.

Right then, Jenny suddenly felt weak and fell onto Vincent's back. "Vincent... I'm so dizzy... Am I dying..."

Vincent froze. He glanced at my bleeding hand, then at Jenny, who had passed out in his arms. "Doctor! We need a doctor now!"

He let go of me, picked up Jenny, and ran out without looking back.

All the doctors who came only cared about Jenny's little scratches. Nobody noticed me.

The basement door shut again. I stayed by the drain, the silver light gone forever in the muck.

I stared at my fingers, all bloody and bent out of shape.

The tears stopped. Inside me, something had broken beyond repair.