6
In the back of the funeral home, the old man
pointed to a beat–up old red coffin. “Get in.
No matter what you see or hear, don’t leave
that coffin!”
Then, he pulled out a few silver needles and
stuck them into Chad.
Dark smoke came off Chad’s body, the red
blotches started to fade, and his pain seemed
to lessen. He passed out.
I felt a little better and went to the coffin.
What I saw made my blood run cold.
Inside was a paper doll.
My name and birthday were written on it in
red ink!
I asked, “What is that?”
The old man glanced toward the back gate,
frowned, and said, “That’s your substitute. It’s
there to take all the bad stuff that’s meant to
come to you.”
“You’ve almost made it through the worst
stuff in your life!”
“Hurry up. The person who wants to steal
your life is coming.”
L
I didn’t understand any of this.
But I wasn’t going to argue. I climbed into the coffin, squeezing in next to the paper doll.
The old man slammed the lid shut.
I tried to push it open, but it wouldn’t budge.
I started to panic.
Just then, I heard pounding on the front door,
and Bethany’s voice yelling.
How did she find us so fast?
My heart was racing. I hoped the old man
could stop her.
Through the cracks in the coffin. I saw the old
ཕཕ་་
Seeing his back again, I felt like I knew him.
Then, it hit me. I remembered my last
moments.
I saw the face of the driver who hit me.
It was the old man!
My skin crawled.
I started yelling for Chad, but he was out
cold.
I kicked at the coffin, but it was too strong.
Then, I heard fighting.
In less than a minute Pethany walked into the
o
<
back.
She was insane.
She didn’t even glance at Chad. She walked straight to the coffin, looked at me through the cracks, and locked eyes with me.
Her red eyes flashed with madness. She smiled. “Riley, keep running!”
“I told you, you can’t escape!”
“Give up. You were never meant to be happy.”
She slammed her hand on the coffin lid.
The lid flew off.
She looked down at me, her face twisted in
L
rage, and reached into the coffin.
I freaked out.
I didn’t want to give up.
I was ready to fight, but then I saw that
Bethany wasn’t reaching for me. She was
reaching for the paper doll.
Bethany grabbed the doll and started
laughing. “Riley, are you scared?”
“Why aren’t you begging me?”
She shook the doll.
I was terrified.
Was Bethany crazy?
