o!
I lunged towards Eleanor, soaring through the air. I tore free from Alexander’s invisible shackles. Was this why the heavens hadn’t allowed me to leave? To witness this horrific scene with my own eyes? Why did the innocent die while the deserving lived?
Ignoring the futility, I desperately tried to push Eleanor upwards, my entire spectral form wedged beneath her. Didn’t they say souls had weight? Even if I could only lessen her suffering by a fraction! As we fell, Eleanor’s eyes lit up. She looked at me, a gentle smile
blooming on her face. “Audrey, Eleanor is coming for you.”
Then, a sickening thud echoed from the ground.
Then, a sickening thud echoed from the ground.
Eleanor!
I stared at her, an unrecognizable, broken form plastered to the asphalt, and a surge of overwhelming resentment swelled within
- me. Drops of bloody tears leaked from my eyes, mingling with her fresh blood on the concrete.
“Ah!” A piercing scream ripped through the air. The earth shook violently. The sky seemed to rip open, a gaping wound. In an insta-
nt, a torrential downpour began, plunging everything into utter darkness.
Everyone was terrified by the spectacle, including Alexander. He kept repeating, “No, she’s lying. Audrey can’t be dead. I only had
them take a patch of skin from her arm.” He frantically whispered, “The photos are real! She was the one trying to hurt me! Yes,
there’s no mistake.” He seized a police officer’s arm. “Tell me, Audrey isn’t dead, is she? Is she?!”
Slap!
A female officer, unable to bear it any longer, delivered a sharp slap across his face to bring him back to reality. “We just checked,
Mr. Blackwood, Audrey Vance did indeed pass away a few days ago.” She continued, her voice cold. “And if you had simply bothered
to inquire at the precinct, this information wouldn’t have been hard to find.” She stepped back. “Now, Mr. Blackwood, please come
with us for questioning.”
Alexander was led away, still in disbelief, muttering, “It can’t be. It’s not like this. I didn’t want her to die…” But his limp limbs betray-
ed his true state of mind. As he passed below the building, he be free from the officers, collapsing to his knees beside Eleanor’s
mangled body.
“Get up!” he wailed, his voice cracking. “Where have you hidden my Audrey? Didn’t you want money? I’ll give you money! Please,
bring Audrey back!” He frantically pulled out his wallet, then all the cash from his pockets, scattering it on the ground. The next
second, he finally passed out.
I watched him, bewildered. Why was he acting as if he loved me? When I was alive, he wouldn’t even share a table with me at dinn-
- er. Who was he putting on this show of deep affection for now?
Alexander woke up in the hospital, and the police presented him with piece after piece of evidence.
