Chapter 2

The moment I swallowed the second bite, the reaction hit.

My throat began to itch violently, followed by a burning, searing pain.

It felt as if an invisible pair of hands was choking my windpipe.

Breathing became a luxury.

"Cough... ‘gasp’..."

I dropped the fork, clawing at my neck with both hands.

I fell from the chair, my knees crashing heavily onto the cold floor.

I opened my mouth wide, gasping like a fish out of water, desperately trying to get some oxygen.

But it was useless.

No air could reach my lungs.

"Oh, look at her. She’s starting her little show again."

My mother sat in her chair, looking down at me.

There wasn't a shred of worry on her face.

"Audrey, you really are something."

"Just to ruin your sister's night, you even rehearsed a whole seizing-on-the-floor act?"

Chloe covered her mouth, gasping in mock horror.

"Audrey, don't scare me like this."

"I only added a tiny bit of peanut butter for flavor. It can't be this bad, right?"

She turned to my mother, looking terribly victimized.

"Mom, I think she's doing this on purpose to protest."

My mother snorted.

"She's just being dramatic! Hasn't she been like this since she was a kid?"

"When she was five, she didn't want to go to kindergarten, so she rolled on the floor faking a stomach ache."

"When she was ten, she wanted the new clothes I bought for you, so she stood in the rain to get a cold just to look pitiful."

"Now she’s eighteen, and she’s still pulling the same cheap tricks!"

I curled into a tight ball on the floor, weeping in agony.

My fingernails scratched deep, bloody welts into my neck.

"No, Mom."

"When I was five, it was acute appendicitis."

"When I was ten, Chloe locked me out of the house in a storm all night."

"And now... I am actually dying."

With a final surge of strength, I reached out, trying to grab the hem of my mother's pants.

"Help... please..."

The broken words wheezed out of my throat.

"Take me to the hospital... please..."

My mother took a disgusted step back, avoiding my hand.

"Don't touch me!"

"You're really committed to the act, aren't you? You even squeezed out real tears."

She grabbed her car keys from her purse, not sparing me another glance.

"Chloe, let's go."

"What a buzzkill. She completely ruined a perfectly good evening."

Chloe sighed, sweetly wrapping her arm around our mother's.

"Mom, don't be mad. It's not worth ruining your health over."

"If Audrey wants to lie on the floor, just let her lie there for a while."

My mother nodded, pulling Chloe toward the door.

"Come on. I’ll take you shopping to cheer you up. We'll buy that designer bag you've been eyeing."

"Let her stay home and think about what she's done!"

At the door, my mother turned back to give me one last warning.

"Audrey, if you're still lying there when we get back..."

"Don't even think about getting dinner!"

"Slam."

The heavy security door shut.

The apartment fell into a dead, suffocating silence.

My vision began to blur.

The world before me was stained with a dark, bloody red.

My chest felt like it was exploding.

My mouth hung open, but I couldn't make a single sound.

So, this was what it felt like to suffocate to death.

Hopeless, agonizing, and endless.

My hand fell limply onto the floor.

My consciousness slowly drifted away.

I don't know how much time passed, but suddenly, my body felt incredibly light.

I floated up to the ceiling.

Looking down, I saw the corpse lying on the floor, her eyes staring wide and lifeless.

Her neck was covered in raw scratches, her skin pale and blue, her lips turning a dark, bruised purple.

That was my body.

I was dead.

I died on the very first birthday my mother had ever celebrated for me.