Chapter 6 - My Sister's SecretWe ran upstairs.
The locked room was now wide open.
Inside was a child's bedroom.
Dust covered everything.
A small bed.
A wooden rocking horse.
A cracked mirror.
And dozens of photographs pinned across the walls.
Every photograph showed the same family.
My family.
His family.
Together.
I stepped closer.
There I was.
Six years old.
Standing beside Lena.
Behind us stood my father.
And my father-in-law.
I turned around.
“You knew my family.”
He didn't deny it.
“Your father came to us.”
“For what?”
“He needed help.”
“What kind?”
My mother-in-law whispered:
“To save Lena.”
I looked at her.
“She was dying.”
My heart broke.
“What happened?”
“She had a rare illness. Your father believed our family knew an old ritual that could save her.”
“Did it?”
Nobody answered.
I walked toward the desk.
A leather notebook lay open.
I picked it up.
The first page contained a handwritten sentence:
ONE LIFE FOR ANOTHER.
I turned the page.
Then another.
Names were written in columns.
Dates.
Birthdays.
Deaths.
Then I saw Lena's name.
Beside it was another name.
Mine.
My breathing stopped.
Under my name was a date.
Tomorrow.
I dropped the notebook.
My husband picked it up.
His face went white.
“Dad…”
His father walked toward us.
“Now you understand.”
“You planned this?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Your father did.”
I felt sick.
“My father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you still doing this?”
His answer was quiet.
“Because your father promised something.”
“What?”
He pointed toward the bedroom mirror.
Etched into the glass were five words:
A DAUGHTER MUST PAY THE DEBT.
Then the lights went out.
In the darkness, someone whispered beside my ear:
“Not tomorrow.”
I froze.
May you like
“Tonight.”
And something cold wrapped around my wrist.
