7
That evil woman.
lako died not knowing she killed him!
<
Jake died not knowing she killed him!
My parents were enabling her!
I was about to turn into a ghost and swallow
Sarah whole, but the reaper stopped me.
“Why are you stopping me? I’m gonna kill that
evil woman! She deserves to be punished!”
My screaming didn’t faze him.
The reaper said, “You’re dead. You can’t
interfere with the living.”
I yelled, “Am I supposed to let her get away
with this? No way! I can’t let Jake die for
nothing!”
The reaper sighed. “That woman will get
The reaper sighed. “That woman will get
what’s coming to her. It’s just a matter of
time. I was gonna let you go early, but things
got messed up. Okay, I’ll stick around for a
few days, until you see Sarah get her
comeuppance.”
“What do you mean?”
“They caught the drug lord. The cops will find
out what really happened to Jake. You just
gotta wait for them to do their thing.”
The reaper wasn’t lying.
Sarah got her just desserts soon enough.
The police chose to make their move on
Sarah and Mark’s wedding day.
L
Jake’s old boss, Detective Reynolds, put on a
“Hero Recognition Ceremony” on the wedding
site.
My body, sliced into pieces, looked beautiful
as I was lying on the stage.
My parents saw as the detective walked on
the stage, saying, “She gave her life, but in
exchange, we found the man. A true warrior
of light.”
People around the stage were teary eyed.
My folks walked up to see me one last time.
Meanwhile, Sarah and Mark were toasting the
guests. Reynolds marched in, carrying a
coffin.
く
A bunch of cops, with tears in their eyes,
started telling everyone how I took down the
drug lord.
Even after I’d been hacked apart, my hands
were still gripping the guy’s neck.
They said, “She was a hero.”
They said, “She was a martyr.”
The guests stared, confused.
My parents couldn’t believe what they were
seeing.
Sarah and Mark looked terrified.
Sarah was already trying to run…..
く
But the police had the place surrounded.
Reynolds showed Sarah the arrest warrant!
She was being arrested for “working with
drug dealers and leaking information about
Jake’s operation.”
Sarah resisted.
Reynolds showed everyone the evidence.
The place went wild.
My parents realized Sarah had killed Jake.
They realized how messed up they’d been.
They cried over my coffin.
く
They got on their knees and begged my
forgiveness.
But it was too late.
I was already dead.
That forty–grand wedding turned into my
funeral.
Everyone was talking about my life, my story.
My parents were bawled as the funeral
attendees spoke against them.
[How could you favor your daughter’s ex, you
didn’t listen to your own child?]
[You were so nice to your son’s wife, and it
turned out she killed him!]
L
[We told you not to be so hard on your
daughter. Too late now!]
[You were useless parents, but you gave birth
to two heroes.]
And then some folks told my parents not to
feel too bad.
[Both kids are gone. Don’t be too hard on
yourselves. You know the truth now. You
gotta move on.]
[They don’t blame you. You gotta work with
the police. Help them catch the bad guys.]
That day.
My black and white photo was all over the
news.
Г
The whole country knew I died to catch a
drug lord.
I got the highest honors, just like Jake.
I left the world forever, just like Jake.
When I left with the reaper, I found out Sarah
got the death penalty.
The information she provided led to the
capture of other drug dealers.
Reynolds managed to catch them all.
Mark was charged with covering for Sarah
and scamming my parents. He got twenty
years.
didn’L
(
く
I didn’t really care about my parents anymore.
I followed the reaper to the afterlife.
The reaper said, “Your brother’s being reborn
into a good family. You wanna go see him?”
I said, “Yes.”
The reaper nodded. “Wait here. I’ll pull some
strings.”
I was surprised. “Is this, like, nepotism?”
The reaper said, “Not really. You caught the
drug lord, you got medals. You were a good
person. Good people get good things. And
you have a lot of people praying and giving
money, so you’re rich…‘
く
I said “…‘
The reaper cleared his throat and turned to
run.
I waited.
I was excited to meet Jake.
Then a cloud of smoke appeared.
I shielded my eyes.
When I opened them again, I saw two shaky
figures in the smoke.
The smoke cleared…
I saw my parents.
く
They were staring at me, tears streaming
down their faces.
I took a step back.
“Mom. Dad, how are you…‘
I didn’t get to finish my sentence before I saw
the images around them.
They’d jumped into a lake. The doctors were
trying to save them.
They were dead, but not quite.
I watched, shocked.
“Song, we’re sorry. We were wrong.‘
<
Dad said. He looked so much older.
He was hunched over, and his hair was gray.
Mom looked even worse.
I balled my hands.
I didn’t want to feel anything for them.
Anything I showed to them would be wasted.
I turned away.
I didn’t want to see them.
But they knelt in front of me.
They asked, “Can we make it up to you?”
Г
I didn’t answer.
They said, “We love you. We really do. If it
wasn’t for all those misunderstandings…”
I bit my lip.
My eyes were full of tears, not because of
what they were saying, but because the
reaper wasn’t back yet.
I didn’t want to be there.
I don’t know how long they knelt.
I don’t know when they left.
When the reaper came back, I was a mess.
<
The reaper said, “They’re still your parents.
You really didn’t have anything to say to
them?”
I shook my head.
I couldn’t see things getting better.
My heart was dead.
The reaper looked at his watch and said, “Go.
It’s time. Go see your brother.”
