The Daughter Who Was Supposed to Die Chapter 05

The Daughter Who Was Supposed to Die Chapter 05

The basement door let out a creek as it opened.

Morning light flooded in, lighting up the small figure curled in the corner.

Dad thought I was still asleep. He walked over, crouched down, and brushed my corpse’s cheek with hip fingers.

He knew something was wrong in an instant. That temperature…

Way too cold.

The cold of stone, of ice, of anything without life.

Dad froze.

His face went blank for a heartbeat, eyes blown wide in disbelief.

Then his hand reached my body again, this time clamping my icy wrist.

Our pack had a simple way to tell life from death-felt the pulse.

Even at our weakest, a wolf’s pulse never fully faded.

It was the last cinder of life, like that ember in a fireplace in deep winter that refused to go out.

Dad pressed his fingertips to my wrist.

But… nothing.

In a second, his eyes went bloodshot.

He gripped my hand tighter, like if he just used enough force, he could squeeze the warmth back into it

“Annic…”

He snapped with shaking voice, “Annie, quit it.”

He started rubbing my hands.

He rubbed them red, rubbed them warm, then pressed his fingers down to search for a pulse agam

Nothing.

He went for the carotid next, fingertips on my freezing neck, pressing agam and agam

Left hand, right hand-every spot said the same thing.

Silence. Absolute, no-coming-back silence.

“ANNIE!!!”

Mom stood in the doorway, like she’d been nailed to the floor.

Finally, he dropped his head and let out a strangled, gutted sob.

“She’s gone…”

His voice grew weaker. “Annie’s gone…”

More footsteps hurried toward the basement

Millie had heard Mom’s wail and ran over.

She stopped at the basement door and saw everything.

One hand on the doorframe, her whole body trembled.

She stared at my cold body on the floor, then at our parents breaking apart. Her face drained by the second until not a trace of color was left. She just stood there, shocked.

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Then everything went black, and she went down like a plank.

“Millie!” Mom screamed and lunged for her.

Inside and out, the cabin was swallowed whole by despair.

When Millie woke again, it was already noon.

Sunlight poured through the window. Mom sat at the bedside, her eyes puffy and swollen.

She grabbed Millie’s hand and kept repeating the same words.

“It’s okay, Millie. You’re okay…”

Millie opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a long, long time.

Then she spoke, soft but crystal clear.

“Where’s my sister?”

Tears splashed onto the back of her hand. Mom tried to speak, but nothing would come out in one piece.

Millie suddenly sat upright, threw off the fur blanket; and swung her legs off the bed.

“Millie! Don’t move, you just fainted!”

Mom hurried to hold her down.

“Where’s Annie?”

Millie’s voice shot up. ragged and shaky.

“Where’s Annie? How is she?!”

Mom stared at her, then finally broke, sobbing hard.

“In the living room… Your dad’s holding her…”

Milly immediately pulled free. Barefoot, she raced across the cold wooden floor, and bolted out of the

room.

In the living room, Dad was still sitting on the floor, clutching my corpse in his arms.

He couldn’t cry anymore. He just stared ahead, hollow-eyed, like his gaze had nowhere to land.

He held my body stiffly and carefully, like I was a treasure that would shatter at a touch.

Millie rushed in, then stopped dead in the center of the room.

She looked at Dad. She looked at my corpse. She looked at this absurd, cruel reality before her, and her body trembled.