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Home / Locked In While My Siblings Chase Freedom / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Locked In While My Siblings Chase Freedom: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

13 Chapters

Chapter 1

I felt the suffocating feeling in my throat. But when I opened my eyes again, I realized that I was already floating in midair.Right below me was the bed that I'd slept in for the past 16 years. The bedsheets and covers were a mess. My body was lying in it, my face completely purple.A sailor's knot was wrapped tightly around my wrist. The knot dug deeply into my flesh, and some of the areas of my skin were also oozing slightly with dark red blood.I froze and instinctively reached out to touch my face, but my hands went right through my body. I then took a closer look at my hands and realized that they were transparent.My heart sank as it finally dawned on me.I was dead.I died because of the knots that my own mother had tied around my wrists and ankles. She said that sailor knots were the most secure type of knot that would keep tightening the more the person struggled.I had struggled desperately for hours until my breathing eventually faded, my vision turned dark, and the

Chapter 2

The controller wasn't the only thing in the bags for Matt. There were a couple of blind boxes next to it too, the ones that Matt had been asking for for more than two weeks.On my last birthday, I'd begged Dad to buy me a gaming keyboard that I'd had my eye on for a long time. I said that I would be able to use it for gaming and studying.But Dad refused and said that a regular 20-dollar keyboard was just as good. He refused to buy me the gaming keyboard, saying it was too expensive and just not worth it.The shopping bag next to Matt's presents contained a whole box of yogurt drinks that were endorsed by Carrie's favorite pop star. There was also a slice of the viral cake from a trendy cafe that she'd bugged Mom for the longest time, and a box of fresh cherries that she said she wanted.The entire table was filled with items for Matt and Carrie, but none of them were for me.It had always been like this.If Matt got into trouble, Mom would never tell him off. Instead, she would

Chapter 3

Halfway through the meal, Matt picked up a slice of beef brisket and suddenly looked at my bedroom door. A hint of pity flashed in his eyes."Dad, should we get Archie to join us for dinner too?"Mom shook her head and waved her hand at him. "Ignore him."Carrie got up and went into the kitchen to grab an empty plate. "I'll bring his dinner in for him. He already has stomach issues. He's going to get gastritis again if he doesn't eat on time."She piled it high with the beef brisket and some salad before heading toward my room. But just as she was about to reach for my doorknob, a loud shout rang out behind her."Shit! The train's leaving in 40 minutes! I'm going to be late!"Matt shot to his feet, his fork and knife clattering to the ground. He walked over and grabbed Carrie by the arm, his face pale. "Forget it! You're wasting time! Everything will be in vain if we miss our train! And then my date is going to kill me if I stand her up!"Dad also went and grabbed Carrie's arm.

Chapter 4

Mom had only just grabbed my door handle and pressed it down by half an inch, the door making a slight click sound, when her phone suddenly rang loudly in her pocket. It was the custom ringtone she'd set for Matt.She withdrew her hand immediately and answered the call."Matt? What's the matter?"What? You forgot to bring your gift for your date? How could you have forgotten something so important?"Fine, fine. We'll look for it and send it over to your hotel right away through priority mail. It should reach early the next morning."Mom hung up and turned around, running straight for Matt's bedroom. She hadn't even fully opened my room door yet.Dad helped her with searching for Matt's gift in his bedroom, looking everywhere."Did Matt put it on his bedside table? I saw him wrapping it up last night.""Yes, that's the one. And is this bouquet of dried flowers for his date too? Did he forget this as well? Make sure to send it along with the gift!"Mom and Dad searched in Matt's

Chapter 5

I reached out with a transparent hand, wanting to touch the scars, but I couldn't touch anything.The wind blew in through the crack in the window, gently stirring an old diary on my desk.I'd written my name on the first page in crooked letters—"Archie Hammond"—when I was still in elementary school. As for the rest of the pages, they were filled with records of the days I was punished in place of Matt and Carrie.I turned the pages one by one, and all the memories I thought I'd already forgotten suddenly came rushing back to me.When Matt was in his junior year of high school, he wanted to buy a new skin for his online game, but it cost a few thousand dollars in total.He didn't dare to ask Dad for money, so he went through Mom's dressing table, pinched a diamond necklace, and sold it for 20 thousand dollars.When Mom came home and found her necklace missing, she got so angry that she was shaking all over.She knew that Matt was the one who had taken it. However, she didn't dar

Chapter 6

So, as it turned out, some people could just easily obtain the things that had always been out of reach for me.I touched my transparent chest.That was where my heart was supposed to be, but it was hollow now. I felt absolutely nothing.It was fine.I could wait.I could wait for Mom and Dad to come home with the cantaloupe for me.I could wait for them to finally realize that their beloved son was already dead.…The door lock jiggled at 7:30 pm later that evening. Mom and Dad brought their things in with smiles on their faces.Dad was carrying a huge grocery bag filled with freshly cut cantaloupe. The flesh was a beautiful orange color and looked absolutely ripe and juicy.He set the cantaloupe on the table and yelled toward my room."Archie! Come out and get your cantaloupe! Your mom picked it out especially for you! Come out now!"But it was quiet in my room. Nobody responded.Mom frowned. She walked over to my door and knocked on it."Archie? Stop sulking and come o

Chapter 7

"Archie… Wake up, Archie…" Mom wailed. "I was wrong… I never should have tied you up… Please wake up…"Mom sobbed hard. Her face was streaked with tears, and her hands trembled so badly that she couldn't even grab the knot. She struggled to untie it for ages.Eventually, she turned and rushed out frantically to grab a penknife from the living room. She gripped the knife tightly in her hands as she tried to sever the ropes holding me hostage.Yet, her hands shook so hard that the knife blade kept piercing into my skin several times, leaving deep gashes behind. Black blood flowed out and stained her hands.I floated next to her, watching her sweating and crying profusely as she worked to free me.I used to ask Mom and Dad to pay more attention to me and be nicer to me. Now, she was finally giving me her attention, but I was already dead.Mom worked on the ropes for three minutes before finally freeing up my hands and legs. She then held her finger under my nose and realized that I

Chapter 8

The moment the body bag was zipped up, Dad lunged at my body again, but two police officers stopped him."Sir, please calm down. We need to bring the victim back for an autopsy to determine the cause of death."Meanwhile, Mom sat on the couch, her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face in horror. When the police took statements from Mom and Dad, trying to get to the bottom of things, Mom still tried to hide the truth and lowered her head. "It's just… My son was behaving badly, so I tied him up to give him a fright…" she said. "But I never thought that he would struggle so much and end up tightening the rope on him like that… It was an accident, officer! We didn't mean to kill him…"The police officer sitting opposite her slammed his notebook onto the table with a dark expression on his face."An accident? We've checked the knots, and you used a sailor's knot on him! It's specifically designed to bind prisoners because the more they struggle, the tighter the knots will

Chapter 9

I floated beside Dad and watched him make a spectacle of himself, feeling nothing in my chest.If he thought that he was being pitiful, then what about me? Who ever showed me any pity when I was tied to the bed and struggled to breathe as my life slowly slipped away?As the police car drove away, I pressed my face against the car window, watching my home of over a decade shrink smaller and smaller until it vanished out of sight.It suddenly occurred to me that I had never eaten a whole cantaloupe on my own.The wind blew into my eyes and stung them. I thought that I was going to cry again, but I had already run out of tears.I followed the police car to the police station and watched as Mom and Dad were locked up in the interrogation rooms, apologizing profusely over and over again.I stayed there for the whole night.The next morning, I heard two police officers talking to each other outside in the lounge."The victim's half-siblings are coming back today for the SAT, right?"

Chapter 10

Matt lowered his head as his tears fell onto the police officer's notebook."Yes… Mom would always punish Archie every time I skipped school and went to the arcade or internet cafe…"The last time I secretly opened a bag of tortilla chips, Mom thought Archie stole it, and she beat him half to death. I didn't dare to say a word…"Carrie also nodded, crying hard with her hair in a mess and the pop star stickers on her face peeling off."The last time I skipped school, Dad sent Archie to the countryside and forced him to do hard labor for two months… I didn't dare to say anything…"They continued bringing up one incident after another, recounting all the punishments that I had taken for them over the years.Their statements took more than two hours, and by the time it was all done, it was almost time for the second half of the SAT to begin.The police officer looked at them and sighed."You can go to school and take the remainder of your test for now. We'll ask you to come in agai

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