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It’s all I hear anymore.
I miss my mom.
But my dad … he saw them take me and didn’t do anything.
I yank away from the memories surfacing and place my hand on Payton’s cheek. Her skin is ice-cold, and my heart nearly stops.
Everything does as reality crushes down on me.
The reality that my sister is dead.
52
HADLEY
Time freezes.Nothing exists. I can’t breathe.
“I can’t breathe,” I whisper. “Help me.”
“Take my hand,” a boy whispers. “Come on, Had; move.”
“Hadley, move out of the way!” Alex shouts, yanking me from the foggy memory.
I blink and focus on my surroundings, on Payton lying in front of me, dead.
Payton is dead.
Alex climbs onto the bed beside me, pushes me out of the way, and then grabs ahold of Payton’s arm.
“What’re you doing?” Tears drip down my cheeks as I stare at my sister.
She looks so pale, her lips tinted blue. She’s wearing the dress she had on this morning, but the hem is torn and one of her shoes is missing.
Alex pulls the needle out of her arm and tosses it aside. Then he lines his fingertips to Payton’s neck.
“I already checked. She doesn’t have one,” I whisper numbly. “She’s dead.”
Oh God, my sister is dead.
Tears sting my eyes.
This can’t be happening.
I’m a failure.
I failed her.
I’m the reason she’s dead.
“You’re the reason she’s dead,” my father says to me. “Did you know that?”
I swallow hard as memories continue to emerge in bits and pieces that don’t make sense.
Why did he say it was my fault?
Alex is breathing loudly as he frantically moves his fingers around Payton’s neck, like he believes if he looks hard enough, he’ll find a heartbeat hidden inside her. A couple of seconds go by, and then he blows out a deafening exhale.
“She still has a pulse.” He removes his hand from her neck. “It’s faint, but it’s there.”
