Chapter 4

Four:

I didn't say anything. I just looked at the terror in Kay's eyes and smiled.

I'd heard the whole plan just now.

That was how I knew Ronnie had actually considered the chance that I might agree to the joint burial.

If I agreed, their little act would fall apart. So he'd bought some veterinary knockout drug ahead of time. If I said yes, they'd get me to drink it, and once I was out cold, they'd go on with the original plan just the same.

So after I overheard Kay and Theodore's plan,

I quietly slipped away.

I swapped the knockout drug Theodore had hidden under his pillow with real sugar. But it seemed a waste to throw the drug out, so after thinking it over, I put it straight into the porridge...

Kay understood too.

Her hand clamped down on mine.

“How dare you?”

I frowned, letting a little hurt show.

“Mom, I could see how worked up you were, how heartbroken Theodore was, so I just wanted the two of you to get some proper rest.”

“I'll handle everything about the funeral. You don't need to worry about a thing.”

“I'll do it big, I'll do it grand, I'll send Ronnie and Georgia off as a proper married couple in the afterlife!”

Kay wanted to scream, but Ronnie's drug worked well, and she couldn't get a sound out. She struggled with it, then had no choice but to plead with me in a whisper.

“You can't bury him, Ronnie isn't...”

I sighed.

I cut off whatever Kay was about to say, spooned the rest of the porridge into her mouth, and as the drug took hold she couldn't speak another word. Her eyes closed and she "fainted."

Once I saw they were both out cold,

I spoke up quickly.

“Mom and Theodore are so overcome with grief they've fainted.”

“We can't drag the funeral out any longer. If they wake up and see the coffin still here, it'll probably crush them all over again!”

“Everyone, please help me get them into bed, and then let's arrange the joint burial as soon as we can!”

Once Kay and Theodore had been carried away,

I had people nail Ronnie and Georgia's coffin shut right away.

The two of them really could hold out. Not a single sound.

But I knew the truth. They were conscious in there.

In my last life, when I was on the edge of death, the two of them had aged, but their eyes were still bright.

“I still remember how you begged and begged when they beat you at that funeral, rolling around on the ground like a dog. The only shame was there were no cameras or recordings back then, or I could've filmed it and savored it later.”

“Whenever I think about how you raised our child as if he were your own, so devoted, and never married your whole life, I just find it hilarious.”

“You think you got sick by chance? No. Once we decided we were done using you and wanted the family together, we arranged it for you on purpose.”

Remembering all of it,

I couldn't help resting a hand on Ronnie's coffin and letting out a few soft, cold laughs.

“I hope the two of you make a good married couple down there. Don't waste my kindness.”

Inside the coffin, Ronnie was panicking. From the moment they started driving in the nails he'd known something was off. It was too loud out here, he couldn't hear what I was saying.

But it still felt wrong to him, a fear coming from nowhere.

Maybe the air inside the coffin was thinning, or maybe he was simply too afraid, but Ronnie couldn't hold it in and started crying for help.

So as the coffin was lifted off the ground, a relative standing fairly close spoke up.

“Wait.”

“There's something moving inside the coffin.”

“It sounds like... save me?”