Semua Bab Ground to Dust for My Sister's Fate: Bab 1 - Bab 10

"Mrs. Campbell."A hand reached out and caught Mom's wrist. It was my childhood best friend, Ethan Hart, who had grown up with me and once promised we would get into the same college together.Standing at the door of the freezer, he frowned slightly and said, "Sophie has always been competitive. She's not going to listen, no matter what you tell her right now."He paused before turning toward the freezer. "I know this feels unfair, Sophie, but Danielle is innocent. She shouldn't have to be the sacrifice for your life. Behave just this once, okay?"There was no response from behind the freezer door because I could no longer move. My body was like a frozen popsicle that had snapped in half, locked in the position of knocking on the door.Blood from my forehead had glued my eyes shut, and the warm liquid had frozen solid across half of my face.I kept my eyes locked on the crack in the door."Please, Mom. Open the door. Just a little more, and I'll be saved."But soon, the light v

I smiled bitterly."Mom, if you'd just looked for three more seconds or zoomed in a little more, you would've noticed that my chest wasn't moving at all. You were so close to realizing that I was dead."When the final exam ended, Danielle was the first candidate to sprint out of the exam hall."Mom, Dad, I did really well! I'm going to be okay. Let's go home and share the good news with Sophie right now!"Dad nodded. As he started his car, his eyes turned red-rimmed."Great. Now that it's all over, let's go home. Sophie had been home alone for two days; she'd probably had enough time to clear her head and think things through."We'll pick her up and visit the chapel to pray as a family."Sitting in the passenger seat, Mom couldn't stop crying. "I admit that I was far too harsh on Sophie. As long as she's willing to mend her ways, she'll get whatever Danielle gets from now on."Hovering above them, I forced a smile that looked worse than a crying face."Mom, Dad… I've waited 18

When the freezer door swung fully open, my body was seen leaning against, stiff, frozen, half-bent forward.Half of my face was caked in frozen blood, while the other half was coated in a fine layer of frost crystals. Only my right hand remained raised, frozen in the act of knocking on the door.Mom collapsed onto the floor.There were several times when she tried to get up on her feet, only to fail miserably. In the end, she had to crawl over and drag her knees through the leaked ice water, inch by inch, until she finally reached my body.When she reached out to take my hand, her fingertips brushed against my flesh that was frozen hard like stone."Sophie… How did this happen…" she mumbled, her voice shaking uncontrollably. "I never turned on the cooling system… Sophie, my baby…"Just then, her eyes slowly drifted to the temperature control panel on the wall, which read "-22°F".The red numbers glowed like blood.It felt as if a thick lump of cotton was shoved down her throat,

The first entry of my notes app read, "The test scores were released today, but I couldn't feel happy at all. Danielle didn't do as well as I did, so I was terrified of going home. I don't know what to say when Mom asks; I'm afraid she's going to lock me in the freezer again."The second entry read, "I got locked in again, just as I feared. Mom slapped me several times and repeatedly demanded to know why I was trying to ruin Danielle's life. It hurts so much."I swear I didn't do it on purpose. It's freezing in here, and I'm starving. Fortunately, Danielle stuffed some chocolate in the teddy bear. Eating something sweet might make me feel better and hurt less, right?"The third entry read, "It's the first day of school. The teacher wanted me to be the class president, but I said no and dared not accept. The last time I became the class president, Mom found out and didn't talk to me for three whole days, just because I wasn't allowed to be better than Danielle."I just don't underst

That night, Danielle fell asleep on the pew cushion.When I stepped into her dream, it was the first time she had seen me since I died. I was wearing my clean school uniform, with no blood on my forehead or frost on my face.Just like when I was alive, I stood in a place filled with bright, radiant light.Danielle froze before she ran forward and threw her arms around me tightly."Sophie…"She stroked my face, as if trying to make sure I was real."I failed to protect you, Sophie. There were so many times I could have made Mom and Dad open that door."Are you cold, Sophie?"I smiled and shook my head at her. "I'm not cold anymore, Danielle. Don't be sad."She held me and cried so hard that she could barely say a single word."It's my fault. I knew something was wrong, so I shouldn't have been so weak. I should've been braver and insisted on tearing down the door."I took her hands and said, "You did your best, Danielle. I'm serious."In all 18 years of my life, I never once