Who Wrote 'There'S No Sympathy For The Dead' By Escape The Fate?

The day after Sean Ford proposed to Nikki Sanders, he dumped her. “Vivian is pregnant,” he had told her flatly. “I have to take responsibility.” Nikki slit her wrists, filling the entire bathtub with blood. When told the news, he sounded like he couldn’t care less. “If she wants to die, let her.” Four years later, they met again. She was an ER doctor who had buried herself in work. He was the youngest captain in Air Costina’s history. But when it came to Nikki, every bit of his pride was gone. Every time she tried to start over, Sean found his way back into her life. He was falling apart over the woman he had once let go. Meanwhile, Nikki wanted nothing more than to kick him out of her life for good. “Get lost. You’ve got a wife and kid, so stop pretending you still care about me.” The usually calm and collected Sean finally snapped. “We never got married. We never even got a marriage license. Just look at the paternity test.” Piece by piece, the truth about what happened back then came to light. “So what?” Nikki said coldly. “To me, an ex is as good as dead.” “Then let me start over. Let me win you back.” “Get in line.”

After days of torture at the hands of my family’s rival gang, they offered me one last phone call. I called my brother, Matteo. I just wanted to say goodbye—while I still had the chance. “What is it now?” he snapped. “Matteo, I—” He didn’t let me finish. “Fix your own mistakes. Until then, don’t call me again.” Death didn’t hurt as much as those words did. I felt my heart slow to a stop as my brother’s words echoed in my ears. I guess you’re finally at peace now, Matteo. I won’t bother you again. And you’ll never have to see me again.

A lethal neurotoxin had taken hold of my lungs. My time is running out. My mother, Sofia, was the most connected lawyer in Palermo, excelling in burying crimes and twisting the law. When my brother Vincent mowed me down and shattered my leg, she called in every favor to clear his record. My father, Tommaso, the most feared private doctor in Sicily, faked my medical files, branding me unstable and delusional, all to mold me into the obedient son they needed. Then there was Lina, only daughter of Don Vitali, my wife. She said, “We let him out for Vincent’s liver. What if he says no?” Dad’s voice went cold. “He has two choices: lie quietly on that operating table… or waste away in the sanatorium for what’s left of his life.” I pushed the parlor door open, steady and slow. My voice was flat. “I’ll do it.” Every one of them let out a breath they’d been holding, showering me with hollow words. They didn’t know there was no life left to threaten. I had twenty-four hours. By sunrise, I would be dead either way. Funny… now that I’m in the ground, why are they all crying?

When I was ten, I bugged my brother to come home for my birthday. He died in a plane crash that day. They never found his body. After that, my parents saw me as a total screw-up. They blamed me for his death. Every year on his memorial day, they forced me to kneel at the cemetery and repent my mistakes. I did that for eight years. I figured I'd spend my whole life paying for it. But on my 18th birthday, some creep stalked and murdered me. Right before I died, I tried calling for help. But my mom chewed me out. "I bet you're just dodging your duty to make up for James. You're full of crap. If you hadn't forced him to come back, he would have been alive. This is what you deserve." She hung up, leaving me staring at the dead screen. My last hope was dashed. She was right. Someone like me meant nothing but bad luck to those around me. I didn't deserve to exist. But then, eight years after his death, James showed up with his pregnant wife. When they heard I was gone, they fell apart.

There are monsters in this world. And they used to be us. Now it's time to euthanize to survive in a hospice where Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible. Post-infection Chicago. Christmas. Inside The Hospice, Emily and her fellow nurses do their rounds. Here, men and women live out their final days in comfort, segregated from society, and are then humanely terminated before fate turns them into marrow-craving monsters known as ‘Smilers.’ Outside these imposing walls, rabid protesters swarm with signs, caught up in the heat of their hatred. Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible. But in a world where mortality means nothing, where guns are drawn in fear and nobody seems safe anymore – at what cost will this pursuit come? And through it all, the soon to be dead remain silent, ever smiling. Such is their curse. It won't be long before that snow-speckled ground will be salted by blood. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Within hours of my birth, three dogs in our neighborhood died. My parents became convinced it was some kind of omen. They went to a self-proclaimed psychic, who told them I had been born to suffer in my younger brother's place. From that day on, every time something went wrong in my life, they treated it as proof that I was protecting him. Years later, on my birthday, I came down with a fever of 106 degrees. I could barely keep my eyes open. Mom still hauled me out of bed and dragged me into the bathroom. "Get up! Your brother has an important exam tomorrow, and you need to pray that nothing goes wrong." She turned on the shower and shoved me under the freezing water. My whole body started shaking. "Mom, please… I'm so cold." "Then stop being so weak." She looked at me with open disgust. "Your brother is going to make something of himself. You're the one who's supposed to suffer in his place. If you can't even handle a fever, what good are you? I should've let you die the day you were born!"