Chapter 5

Clara had an amazing time.

Through their eyes, I also got to see sights I had never experienced in my life.

We lived in the warm south, and I had never seen real snow. But today, I saw the majestic, snow-capped peaks of the mountains.

When they returned to the resort after a day of sightseeing, my mother's phone suddenly rang.

It was the HOA representative from our apartment complex.

"Hello, Mrs. Miller. We've received several complaints from your neighbors about a terrible odor coming from your unit."

My mother's eyebrows knitted together tightly.

"An odor?"

My father muttered, "Could Chloe be doing something stupid just to spite us?"

My mother's face instantly darkened. She opened our chat history. The five hundred dollars she had sent on Venmo had just been automatically returned to her account because it went unclaimed for too long.

Tears instantly spilled from my mother's eyes. "She's doing this on purpose!"

"She chose this exact moment to pull this stunt! She wants to ruin her sister's very last day! She wants to make sure Clara doesn't have a single moment of peace!"

My mother sobbed louder and louder, and my father rushed to comfort her.

The HOA representative on the phone sounded incredibly awkward. "Is there anyone home? We've been knocking on your door for hours, but no one is answering."

"Also, several neighbors mentioned that your younger daughter hasn't been seen leaving the apartment for days."

My mother lost her temper and screamed into the phone, "If she wants to stay inside, let her stay inside! Even if she dies in there, it has nothing to do with me!"

I watched her quietly. She couldn't see me. I let out a soft sigh. "Mom, I actually am dead."

The shouting woke Clara up. She pushed open her bedroom door, her voice groggy.

"Mom, what's wrong? Why are you so angry?"

My parents froze.

My mother flew across the room and locked Clara in a desperate, crushing hug. "Clara... my Clara... you're still here..."

"Thank God, you're still here..."

She held Clara so tightly, as if she wanted to fuse Clara into her own flesh.

Even my father, who always tried to play the tough guy, began to weep silently.

The HOA representative, still on the line, asked, "Should we go ahead and open the door then?"

My mother snapped, "Open it! I want to see what kind of sick game Chloe is playing!"

The representative started a FaceTime video call to show them the entry. They unlocked the door and pushed it open.

The moment the camera panned inside, the hysterical relief on my mother's face vanished.

Her mouth hung open, but no sound came out. She could only make raw, choked noises from the back of her throat.

"How... how..."