Chapter 2

Just as Lucian's fist was about to land on me, Mom suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked at Lucian in disbelief.

"Lucian, why are you hanging out with thugs?" she asked.

Lucian paused mid-swing, then, with a few punks at his side, started moving toward Mom with a menacing look.

Swallowing the fear from my past abuse, I grabbed a stone and hurled it at him, keeping up my taunts.

"Lucian, you bastard! If you've got the guts, come hit me!" I yelled.

Pissed off by my words, Lucian changed direction with his crew of punks and headed straight for me.

I gripped the edge of my shirt, fighting to keep my body from shaking and forcing myself not to be afraid.

If it meant changing Mom's fate, I was willing to let them beat me to death tonight.

After a while, the pain I was expecting never came. Instead, I heard a security guard yelling, "What's going on here?"

I cautiously opened my eyes and saw the security guard coming out, gripping a baton. Lucian and his gang of thugs, who were about to rough me up, bolted like a bunch of scared rabbits.

I let out a sigh of relief and jogged over to Mom's apartment complex. There, I saw Lucian standing downstairs, putting on a fake act as he called Mom.

"Maddison, I chased off the kidnapper. Come downstairs now. I'll go over the problem-solving steps with you again," he said.

In the future, Mom had only told me Lucian was going to hurt her tonight, but she never mentioned when exactly it would go down.

Suddenly, it hit me. Mom could be in danger at any moment tonight.

Was killing Lucian again the only way to keep Mom truly safe?

I scanned my surroundings, carefully grabbed a hoe from the corner. Timing it just right, I aimed for the back of Lucian's skull.

Just as I was about to land the blow, the hoe passed right through Lucian's body, as if he wasn't even there.

Before I could make sense of it, Mom's grateful voice came over Lucian's phone speaker. "Lucian, sorry for all the trouble. I'll be right down."

I stared at my body, now turning invisible, and cried out anxiously into the phone. "Mom, don't come down! Lucian's dangerous!"

All I got back was Lucian's wicked, triumphant chuckle and the sound of Mom moving around, getting ready to come downstairs.

Frantically, I tried to grab Lucian's phone, but my ghostly fingers slipped right through him again.

No matter how desperately I shouted into the phone, Mom never even reacted.

I was invisible to them now, and they couldn't hear me either.

Just as I was about to break down in tears, my grandma's angry voice suddenly blasted through the phone.

"Out so late? Do you have any idea how important the exam is right now? No dinner for you tonight. Just stay in your room and study!" she barked.

Right after, the door slammed shut, and the call was cut off.

Lucian shouted a curse, smashed his phone to the ground, and stormed off in a fury.

I checked my phone. It was already 9:30 pm.

As Lucian headed off, I breathed a little easier.

The voice in my head once told me that if I could change that dark fate, I'd be gone from this world forever.

Now that my body was starting to fade away, did it mean I'd already saved Mom and was about to disappear completely?

I looked back at Grandma's closed door, feeling a mix of sweetness and sadness in my heart.

When the clock struck midnight, I'd disappear from this world for good, and my mom would finally get to live a different life. I'd finally saved my mom.

*****

After what felt like ages, my mind was slipping into a haze, and my body was getting colder and colder.

Was I really about to fade away completely?

As I drifted in and out of consciousness, someone gently covered my freezing body with a jacket that smelled like fresh laundry.

I felt warm tears fall on my face, and Mom's gentle, soothing voice whispered in my ear.

"Kayla, don't do anything foolish for me again," she said.

Her voice was so clear, I couldn't tell if I was dreaming or if it was real.

I jolted awake again, the bright midday sun streaming through the hallway window, so bright I could barely open my eyes.

Instinctively, I pinched my thigh, and the jacket that had been draped over me slipped to the floor.

It hurt, which meant I was alive.

The voice in my head had said that once I changed Mom's fate, I'd disappear from this world. So why was I still here?

Frantically, I grabbed my phone. It was already 11:30 in the morning.

I ran all the way to school and caught Lucian dumping some white powder into a bottle of water.

Just then, Mom walked out of the girls' restroom.

Lucian quickly twisted the cap back on and strode over to Mom with an eager grin.

"Maddison, you must be tired from the mock exam. Have some water and take it easy. Here's to us both getting great scores!" he said.

Mom smiled and thanked him, taking the bottle without any hesitation.

Lucian exchanged a glance with the thugs hiding in the boys' bathroom, and they started closing in on Mom, holding iron bars and ropes.

My heart was pounding. Right as Mom was about to drink the spiked water, I snatched the bottle away and hurled the water straight at Lucian and the thugs. Then I grabbed Mom and dragged her away at full speed.

If fate had played out the way it was supposed to, Mom would have faced a nightmare last night.