Chapter 3

The stench of decay coming from Lilith grew even more pungent. I knew she probably felt she had them completely under control and would soon close in on them.

The torrent of accusations against me continued without end.

Unable to take it anymore, I slammed my suitcase onto the floor. "Enough!"

The entire room fell silent in an instant.

My father's face turned ashen, and my mother clutched her chest as she staggered back a step. All eight of my childhood friends stared at me as if I were insane.

"Elara, have you lost your mind?" Tristan barked. "You're throwing things in front of your parents now? What a lack of manners! As expected from someone of low birth, indeed. You're not even close compared to Lily!"

Lilith shook her head and tugged at his sleeve. "Forget it, Tris. Ella must have just lost her head for a moment..."

"No!" Tristan said firmly. "This time, she needs to be taught a lesson!"

After some discussion, they decided to lock me in my room to reflect. Once they had dragged me back inside, Tristan confiscated my phone and all my electronic devices.

"Think it over," my mother said, giving me one last look, her expression complicated. "Think about why things turned out like this."

The door slammed shut, followed by the sound of a lock clicking into place.

As I stood in the empty room listening to the footsteps fading down the hall outside, I suddenly laughed out loud. Why had things turned out like this? That was a question they should be asking themselves!

…

Late that night, I was curled up in bed pretending to be asleep when I heard muffled sobbing just outside the door, deliberately kept low.

"Lily? What's wrong?" Tristan's gentle voice came from the hallway.

Lilith's voice was thick with tears. "It's nothing. I just feel terrible knowing Ella hates me so much."

I sneered silently. Such lousy acting, and yet there was always someone falling for it every single time.

Sure enough, Tristan's tone turned cold at once. "Did she bully you again?"

"I went to bring Ella a late-night snack earlier, but I overheard her cursing me in her room. She said she hopes I die soon, and that she should have been the only daughter of the family."

Lilith cried even more miserably. "She also said you've all been bewitched by me…"

Then, the door was kicked open. Tristan stormed in, furious, with a tearful Lilith trailing behind him.

Tristan yanked the blanket off me. "Elara Ashbourne! How dare you curse Lily?"

I sat up slowly. "I've been sleeping the whole time. When did I ever curse her?"

"You're lying!" Lilith suddenly pointed at my bedside table, excitedly. "Tris, look! What is that?"

I turned to look and saw a voodoo doll, stabbed through with needles, sitting on my bedside table. It had Lilith's name scrawled crookedly across it.

"That isn't mine! She's the one behind this! Snap out of it, Tristan!" I realized what was happening and tried to defend myself, but it was too late. Tristan was already blinded by rage.

He kicked me hard in the stomach, causing me to double over in pain. Next, he slammed his fist into my back. "This is for hurting Lily! How dare you curse her!"

I heard the clear crack of my ribs breaking. Then, I spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed limply to the floor.

"Tris, stop hitting her," Lilith said with feigned pity, pulling him back. "Ella has learned her lesson."

She crouched down, leaned close to my ear, and whispered in a voice only I could hear, "I guess you can't help them now, Ella. Want to guess who dies first tonight?"

My eyes widened sharply. She had finally dropped the act.

After Lilith left, I slipped out of the Ashbourne residence under the cover of night. Since they liked her so much, they could rot away in the coffin with her. I wasn't going to stick around.

The next day, the police pounded on the door of my apartment.

"Ms. Ashbourne, a massacre took place at your family's home yesterday. Do you know anything about it?"