All Chapters of Goodbye Forever, Mom: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

After the truck sped past, all that was left on the ground was a pulp of flesh that used to be me.An old woman out for her morning walk nearly had a heart attack at the sight, and the police finally rushed over a few minutes later. Looking down at what was left of me, no longer recognizable as human, one of the officers sighed."Looks like this one's going to be a tough job for Ms. Sullivan."Ms. Sullivan was my mother, Diane Sullivan, the finest mortician in the city. People said her hands could work miracles, turning ruin into something whole again. No matter how gruesome the death, she could restore the victim's face to exactly how they'd looked in life.I just didn't know, this time, whether she'd manage it with me.While I waited anxiously, my mother finally arrived at the scene, out of breath. She'd seen more gore than most people could stomach in a lifetime, but one glance at my body was enough to make her frown. She grabbed a water bottle from an officer nearby and took a

Chapter 2

The moment my mother got home, she rushed straight into Kyle's room and pulled him into a tight hug."Kyle, sweetheart, Aunt's home. Don't be scared, don't be scared."The sheer opulence of the room said everything about how much she doted on her nephew. Expensive fruit sat on the desk alongside imported building blocks that must have cost a fortune.Kyle's eyes were already swollen and red as peaches from crying. He looked up at my mother, his eyes still wet."Aunt Diane, Sophie hasn't come home in days. Does she really hate me that much?"My mother's brow furrowed, and she was quick to comfort him. "Of course not, sweetheart. It's my fault for spoiling her too much. That's how she turned into someone so willful and out of line. When she gets home, I'm going to give her a good talking-to."Standing off to the side, I heard those words and felt something in my chest crack. No matter how hard I tried, in my mother's eyes, I would always be the disappointment. To her, only Kyle was

Chapter 3

The funeral home was in complete chaos. The damage to my body was so severe that her apprentice, who'd only started the job a few months earlier, had no hope of restoring my face on his own.My mother's brow creased in irritation. "You can't even handle something this simple. What good are any of you? I could've been home tucking my kid into bed by now."The apprentice forced out a placating smile. "Not everyone has your gift, Ms. Sullivan. I'm sorry Sophie didn't get to fall asleep in your arms tonight."The instant my name left her lips, my mother snapped back at her. "It's not her. That wretched girl's off running wild somewhere again, hasn't been home in days. I never should have had her in the first place."The apprentice's expression froze for a second, and he gave an awkward little laugh.Already dressed and gloved, my mother asked briskly, "What's the status on the body?"The apprentice pointed to show her. "I've got the skeletal structure mostly reconstructed, but the fa

Chapter 4

"Ms. Sullivan! The victim's phone was smashed to pieces in the crash, but the memory card survived. We spent all day on it, and we finally recovered the last number she called before she died."My mother sat down in her chair, picked up her coffee, and nodded, satisfied. "Good. Whether it leads anywhere or not, call it and try. Who knows, maybe it'll help us confirm who she is."Her colleague fiddled with the phone excitedly, then shook his head, a little wistful. "I've got a feeling this girl didn't come from much. Her phone's an old model, years out of date, and buffers if you try to watch a video on it. Usually, it's girls like that who come to the city to work. God only knows how her family's going to take the news once they find out."I turned my hopeful eyes on my mother. Right, Mom? Knowing I died like this, so horribly, would you feel even a little bit sad?Would you finally feel something for me? Even just a little?In the end, I was bound to be disappointed.My mother l

Chapter 5

My mother's skill really was something else. Work that would take anyone else a day or two, she finished in a single night, all while her nerves were stretched to their absolute limit.Just as half my face was slowly coming back together beneath her hands, whatever thread had been holding her together finally snapped.She thought of me, calling her with the last of my strength, begging her to save me, and of how coldly she'd cut off my one chance at survival. It hit her, all at once, that her own actions were what had led to my death.The makeup brush slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor. My mother, always so proud, so composed, no longer cared that a room full of her colleagues was watching. She sank to the ground right there and covered her face, sobbing.Mom, didn't you always hate me? Why cry for me now?While I was alive, I asked you so many times just to look at me. You never once did.Now that I'm dead, why can't you look away?Her apprentice's face had gon

Chapter 6

The first thing my mother did when she opened her eyes was struggle to get up and see me.Her voice came out sharp and loud, her expression twisted with grief, and it startled Kyle so badly the medicine in his hand dropped straight to the floor."Aunt Diane! What's wrong?! It's me!"My mother grabbed his hand, and tears spilled down her face at once. "Kyle, where's Sophie? Go get her, bring her back to me right now!"Kyle's expression flickered with something dark, but it was gone as quickly as it came. He let out a soft sigh. "Aunt Diane... Sophie is gone... I promise I'll take good care of you. She was so good to me. I'll treat you like my own mother from now on."My mother's expression softened, just slightly, and something almost tender crept into the way she looked at him. "How do you think she end up in a car accident? My poor girl. I can't even bear to picture what she must have looked like."Kyle's eyes darted, quick and calculating, before he answered, playing the part o

Chapter 7

It wasn't just my relatives who showed up. My old classmates and friends came too.Plenty of them knew exactly how Kyle used to torment me back in school, and seeing him now, strutting along beside my mother like he owned the place, made their blood boil. Every last one of them was itching to march over and slap the smug look right off his face.Kyle stopped by my casket and let out a fake, tragic sigh. "Sophie, if there's a next life, don't be so stubborn again. It's only ever you who ends up hurting for it."Watching him play the grieving, sympathetic cousin even now, spouting the same hypocritical, backhanded criticism as always, one of my friends finally lost her patience. She stormed up, grabbed him by the collar, and snapped, "Kyle, what's your problem? Still not done playing saint? Sophie's dead, and you're still putting on this whole performance? Do you have any conscience left at all?"Kyle hadn't expected anyone to actually confront him in public. His face went from red t

Chapter 8

My mother still didn't want to believe it. In her eyes, Kyle had always been kind, generous, and clever. How could he possibly have done something like this?But she couldn't refuse to believe it anymore. The moment the lab report landed in her hands, everything came into the light.Her fingers shook around the pages, and she barely managed to hold herself together.Kyle, standing off to the side, was still trying to fight back. "That's ridiculous! Why would I ever want to hurt Aunt Diane? I've always treated her like my own mother! That report has to be faked! You're trying to set me up!"Or are you working with that tramp Sophie to frame me? I knew it, even dead, she's still trying to drag me down with her!"Panic and fear had loosened his tongue completely; he was saying whatever came to mind now, no filter left.Hearing him call me a tramp, my mother's face changed instantly."Kyle! What did you just say? Sophie was family!"Realizing what he'd let slip, Kyle's expression g

Chapter 9

My mother's entire world came crashing down, and once again, it was because of Kyle.She truly had no idea how many rotten, unspeakable things this seemingly sweet, obedient boy had been hiding behind her back. Her legs threatened to give out from under her, but she kept her ear pressed to the phone, straining to catch every word."How did Kyle explain it to you? Did he tell you to wait by the road with the truck?"The man on the line let out a long breath. "It wasn't that simple. He promised us a few dozen grand once it was done. At first, we didn't want any part of it. Kidnapping's serious business. Get caught doing something like that, and we're all looking at real time."But he swore that nobody at home would even bother filing a police report if Sophie went missing for a few days, said her family didn't care about her at all. He told us to rough her up good. That kid's got a cruel streak in him, though. Wound up breaking that girl's bones all over her body."My mother could b

Chapter 10

A few months later, Kyle got exactly what he deserved for first-degree murder: a death sentence.Locked away in his cell, he spent nearly every waking moment cursing my mother and me, saying we'd both ruined his life, and accusing my mother of failing his late mother's memory.Eventually, the other inmates got sick of listening to him run his mouth day and night, and they started finding excuses to jump him whenever they got a chance outside their cells. After a few beatings, he finally quieted down some, the loud, foul-mouthed cursing giving way to muttered insults under his breath.That day, the sun was shining bright. My mother, only just released from the hospital after her heart trouble, came to visit him, a tray of food in her hands.A pane of glass stood between them. She watched, cold, as he tore into the food in front of him like a starving animal."How's the reflecting going, these past few months?"Kyle wiped his mouth. "The only thing I regret is not killing you too,

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