Chapter 5

*Mom, if you had just zoomed in for three more seconds, if you had just looked closer...*

*You would have seen that my chest wasn't rising.*

*I wasn't throwing a tantrum. I was dead.*

*We were so close to the end, and you still didn't see me.*

Finally, the hundredth day arrived. The final prayer was completed.

Dad was the first one to bolt out of the chapel.

"The spiritualist said the curse is broken! Lily is safe! Let’s get home and tell Hazel the good news!"

"She’s been alone in that house for so long. She must be terrified."

Sitting in the passenger seat, Mom’s eyes welled with tears.

"I know I was too harsh on Hazel. But I had no choice, David. The entity inside her was too strong. Now that she's purified, she can finally be our sweet, normal daughter again."

Floating above them in the SUV, I smiled. It was a smile more painful than crying.

*Dad, Mom.*

*I waited one hundred days for this day.*

*But I couldn't make it to the finish line.*

The car pulled into the driveway.

Dad ran to the front door, unlocking it and throwing it open.

But then, he froze.

His eyes fell on the kitchen island.

The bowl of chicken soup he had left out was untouched, covered in a thick layer of green mold.

His voice began to tremble violently.

"Hazel... she hasn't eaten in days..."

Mom froze for a fraction of a second, her face turning pale.

But then, anger took over. She stormed to the pantry door and banged her fist against it.

"Hazel! What do you want from us?! Are you trying to destroy this family?!"

"Do you have any idea what we went through these past few days? We barely slept, trying to find spiritual guidance to save you! And what did you do? You went on a hunger strike to spite us? To make us feel like monsters?!"

Dad grabbed her shoulders, his voice cracking.

"Hazel wouldn't do this! Eleanor, something is wrong!"

Mom’s expression stiffened.

Just then, the front door opened, and Ethan walked in. He held his phone in his hand, looking incredibly confused.

"Mom, Dad, a police officer just stopped me on the driveway. He said a neighbor called 911 because they heard weird noises coming from our house a few days ago."

He looked toward the pantry.

"Hazel, did you call the cops on us? Why would you do that?"

Hearing this, Mom snapped.

"Hazel! You called the police?! You want to ruin this family that badly?! You wouldn't even pray for your baby sister, and now you want to drag us to jail?!"

Dad’s face turned dark and disappointed.

"Your sister is just a baby, Hazel. And you brought the cops to our door? You want the whole neighborhood to think we’re criminals?"

"Hazel, what is wrong with you?!"

They stood there, judging me, condemning me.

But the pantry remained dead silent.

Mom’s eyes were bloodshot.

"I’m done with this!" she screamed, lunging for the door handle.