Chapter 4

She kicked the freezer twice. Hearing no sound from inside, she smiled with satisfaction and headed back to bed.

I had no idea what I had ever done to offend her.

Why did she have to kill me, just to steal my mom and dad for herself?

The next morning, Dad frowned when he saw there was still no reply on his phone.

"That kid is unbelievable."

"Maybe I should walk downstairs and check Lily's apartment?"

Mom was putting on her blazer for work and stopped him.

"Don't bother. She probably went straight to school with Lily."

"Lily's parents are famously good people. There's nothing to worry about."

"True. Then let's leave her alone! She can come back whenever she's ready!"

Mom and Dad dropped Cecelia off at school and rushed to their offices.

A whole week passed by like that, with Cecelia living in our home.

Mom and Dad completely erased me from their minds, as if I had never existed in their lives at all.

Until Saturday afternoon, when my homeroom teacher, Ms. Jenkins, knocked on our front door.

Mom and Dad were lounging on the sofa watching a documentary with Cecelia. They froze when they saw the teacher standing outside.

"Ms. Jenkins? What brings you here?"

"I came to see why Joy had been out of school all week."

Ms. Jenkins' tone turned playful and conspiratorial.

"And, of course, to celebrate our top student's birthday!"

From behind her back, she revealed a huge, beautiful frosted birthday cake. A group of my classmates, who had been hiding behind her in the hallway, jumped out with bright smiles.

"Joy! We came to celebrate your birthday!"

"Happy Birthday, Joy!"

My classmates and Ms. Jenkins walked past my parents into the apartment.

Mom and Dad stood frozen in place.

Partly because the teacher said I had been out sick all week.

And partly because they had completely forgotten that today was my birthday.

My shattered heart felt like it was being pieced back together, just a tiny bit.

So there really were people in this world who remembered me. They even remembered my birthday.

Seeing everyone heading toward the kitchen and dining area, Cecelia panicked.

"Joy isn't home! She's staying over at her best friend Lily's house!"

From the crowd of kids, Lily suddenly stepped forward.

"What are you talking about? My parents and I went on a road trip out of state and only got back this morning!"

"I remembered it was Joy's birthday today, so I met up with our classmates to come over. I haven't seen Joy all week!"

Hearing Lily's words, Mom and Dad's faces drained of all color.

"What? You're saying... you haven't seen our Joy all week?!"

Ms. Jenkins pulled out her phone, opened a chat thread with my dad, and held it out to them.

"Why are you asking Lily? Didn't you text me saying Joy wasn't feeling well and needed to rest at home for a week?"

Dad stared at the screen, dumbfounded. The profile picture was his, the account was his, but he had never sent any message to the teacher!

He yanked his own phone out and opened the chat with Ms. Jenkins, but the thread was completely wiped clean—even past messages were gone.

The only person he had lent his phone to recently was Cecelia, so she could look up study materials.

His gaze snapped violently toward Cecelia.

Terrified by his glare, Cecelia took two steps back.

Ms. Jenkins called my name a couple of times. Hearing no answer, she carried the cake toward the kitchen pantry.

"Since Joy isn't back yet, let's keep the cake in the freezer for a few minutes until she gets here."

"The buttercream is getting soft. We need to keep it cold!"

Cecelia turned pale with terror and tried to grab the teacher's arm.

Ms. Jenkins ignored her and pushed open the pantry door.

She released the exterior safety latch and lifted the lid of the chest freezer.

The birthday cake instantly slipped from her hands, smashing against the floor. She collapsed backward, paralyzed with pure horror.