At eighteen, I found myself on the muddy bank of the river, tears streaming down my face as students of my mother, Lily Lane, walked massive wolfhounds whose jaws sank into my flesh. Writhing in agony, I dialed my mother’s number, desperate for her to come to my rescue. But when she answered, her voice was as frigid as the winter wind. “My students are all well-behaved,” she sneered, “unlike you, you little liar. You’re always trying to hurt others. “You must have provoked those dogs on purpose. If you get bitten to death, it’ll be your own fault. My innocent student would never do such a thing. Stop pretending to be the victim!” The bitterness between us had been brewing since I was ten. A frantic phone call I made had sent my father, Jason Reed, speeding recklessly down that same road, and his car plunged into the raging river beneath the bridge. His body was never recovered. From that day forward, I became my mother’s greatest enemy. Every year on the anniversary of my father’s death, she would drag me to that same riverbank, forcing me to my knees in a cruel ritual of penance. Years later, after I had been torn apart by those wolfhounds, my father, who had faked his death to escape his debts, returned unscathed. When my mother learned the truth, the shock sent her spiraling into madness. ***** A video suddenly popped up in the teachers’ group chat. In the grainy footage, police officers were photographing a mutilated body in a sandpit. The voiceover, belonging to the math teacher, Max Blake, trembled as he relayed the gruesome rumors. “They say the victim was killed by an animal and then dismembered by the killer. The methods were horrifyingly brutal. What a monster. The poor victim must have suffered immensely.” Lily’s eyes reddened, a look of deep sorrow and pity etching itself onto her face. A bitter sadness surged in my chest, tightening my throat. I thought, “Mom, if you knew it was me who had died, would your heart ache just as much? Probably not. After all, in your eyes, I was always the one who had killed Dad. But, Mom, do you know? It really hurt.” “Yes, the police found the victim’s backpack, but everything inside had been discarded by the killer.” Max passed around a photo of the backpack. Lily glanced at it, her eyes falling on the patchwork of worn-out fabric. She sighed and shook her head. Even as a ghost, I felt my heart ached uncontrollably. I murmured, “Mom, you’ve forgotten, haven’t you? That backpack was my tenth birthday present from you. “Of course, you’ve always seen me as a thorn in your side because of Dad. How could you possibly care about the state of my backpack? “Yet, I carried it with me for eight long years.” As the school bell rang, my spirit was inexplicably drawn to follow Lily into the classroom. When we passed by the first row, where a student was coughing softly, Lily stopped. Her face was etched with concern as she inquired about the student’s well-being. For the first time, I saw the maternal warmth she had never shown me. But that tender expression froze the moment her eyes landed on my empty seat. She snorted, her face twisting with disdain. “Boys and girls, never follow the example of someone who thinks they’re above the rules just because they’ve managed to pull off a few good grades. A troublemaker is a troublemaker. In the end, they’ll only become worthless scum, a stain on society.” The students remained unfazed, having heard such words countless times before. No matter how well I performed academically or how much I contributed to the class, I was always the black sheep in her eyes. In her eyes, I would always be the worst, the most foolish student, the most wicked and vindictive daughter. All that remained was a dull, searing pain, as if my heart had been carved with a blunt blade. I realized then that heartache never becomes easier to bear. As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of class, Lily stormed over to the assistant principal, Michael Smith, urging him to give me a major demerit and announce it to the entire school. She couldn’t wait for another opportunity to humiliate me in front of everyone. Only when Michael nodded in agreement did her face finally break into a rare smile. It was as if the more she hurt me, the lighter her own burden became. Hearing the commotion, George Roberts, the principal, hurried over. His face was filled with concern as he asked, “Samantha has always been well-behaved and obedient. She’s not the type to skip class without reason. Surely something must have happened to her?” “What could happen to a murderer like her? She’s probably just being lazy, dodging class. If something did happen, it’s her own karma.” Lily’s expression darkened. George and Michael exchanged uneasy glances, shaking their heads in silent resignation. I couldn’t help but let out a bitter, ghostly laugh. I murmured, “Mom, it’s not that I didn’t want to come to school. It’s that I no longer had the chance to step through those doors. I was already dead. “And it was you who left me by the riverside last night when I was feverish and vulnerable. That’s where I was tormented and killed by those men. “If this is truly my karma, then I accept it willingly. “But Mom, could you please stop hating me?”
After school, as Lily drove past the narrow alley behind the school, her sharp eyes caught sight of a group of students viciously beating another boy. She screeched to a halt, abandoning the car as she leaped out and forced the attackers away. Without a moment’s hesitation, she helped the injured student into her car and drove straight to the hospital to get the wounds treated and bandaged. When she saw the bruises and cuts, her eyes welled up with tears of compassion. She couldn’t bear to see a child suffer like this. Without wasting a moment, she returned to the school and spent the entire night uncovering the identities of the bullies. The culprits were identified and punished, and the victim was finally safe. As always, the victim and his parents came to thank Lily. They bowed deeply, but Lily simply smiled, brushing it off. “Protecting my students is my duty as a teacher,” she said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. To prevent such incidents in the future, she organized a school-wide anti-bullying seminar. Standing onstage, she passionately denounced the horrors of bullying. To her students, she was a beacon of justice, a guardian angel. But my heart felt as if it had been stabbed by a sharp sword, twisting in an agony I could barely endure. The very person everyone regarded as a peacekeeper chose to side with the tormentors while her own daughter was being humiliated and bullied. Back then, because of the way she singled me out in front of the entire class, I became isolated. The isolation quickly snowballed into full-blown bullying. They would publicly humiliate me, shouting insults and slurs. Tearing up my test papers and flinging my backpack around were daily occurrences. They also pinned things on me that I never did, smearing my reputation and spinning vicious lies just to tear me down. All I could do was endure it in silence, alone. Lily was already worn out from taking care of the other students every day, and I didn’t want to add to her stress. If I could just nail the role of the ideal, dutiful daughter, I believed there was a chance Lily might not loathe me quite so much. But one day, it all escalated. They dragged me into the bathroom and beat me with a mop until I was covered in bruises. I tried my best to hide the injuries, but Lily noticed. “What happened to you?” she asked. At her question, the floodgates of my emotions burst open, and I sobbed as I told her everything. But instead of sympathy, her face twisted into a mask of fury. “You’re lying! I know my students! They’re all kind and innocent. “It’s you who’s the problem! You killed your father, and now you’re trying to ruin my students? Are you trying to spite me? Is that it? “There’s no daughter more wicked than you! Why are you even alive?” Before I could react, her hand flew through the air, and a sharp slap landed on my cheek. I cradled my cheek, where the sting burned, as I tried to explain. I showed her the threatening letters they had left in my locker, hoping the evidence would make her believe me. But she didn’t even glance at them. Instead, she snatched the papers from my hands and tore them to shreds. “Why would they pick on you and not someone else? It’s because you’re the one who’s done something terrible! “You deserve every bit of this, you little monster!” Her words struck me like physical blows, each one cutting deeper than the last. The quiet living room echoed with my sobs. She shot me a look filled with contempt, as though I were nothing more than trash, before she turned on her heel and strode away. My heart shattered into a million pieces. “Mom, can’t you trust me just this once?” I whispered. “Can’t you look at me, really look at me, for once? Yes, it was me. I’m the reason my father is dead. How could I ever think I deserve her sympathy?” Surprisingly, Lily had scheduled me for cleaning duty with the very same group that had given me trouble before. Usually, such tasks were the class president’s domain. “Mom, this wasn’t intentional, right?” I asked. Yet, she turned away from my silent plea, leaving me chilled to the core. “What’s shouting going to do for you?” one of them taunted as we cleaned. “If your own mom has given up on you, who do you think is left to protect you?” “I heard you’re why your dad’s gone. No surprise your mom can’t stand you. She put us on duty together on purpose, didn’t she? Then, we could all get a chance to give you a piece of her mind, huh? She probably wishes we’d beat you to death. It’s just so pathetic. Tell me, what’s the point of you even being alive?”
The pain of the beating was nothing compared to the agony of my shattered heart. Yet, I fought with every ounce of strength I had left, screaming and pleading for help. I thought, “What they were saying about my mother couldn’t be true. Surely, if she heard my cries, she would come running. If she saw the violence with her own eyes, she would finally believe me.” Through my tear-blurred vision, I thought I saw her standing in the doorway. The room fell deathly silent as everyone froze, their hands mid-strike. The empty classroom echoed with my desperate screams. “Mom, save me! Mom, please…” But she only glanced at me coldly as I lay sprawled on the floor, even if my face was covered in blood. Then, without a word, she stepped back and quietly closed the door. I felt my soul go numb. My chest was crushed by the weight of her rejection. I gagged, spitting out a mouthful of blood. The blows rained down harder and faster, but I no longer felt the pain. My body was numb. “Mom, you’re really not going to save me? Is this what you want? For me to die?” I murmured. But I didn’t die that day. I was saved by Selena Chase, who had come looking for me. I was rushed to the hospital with multiple fractures and spent a month bedridden. Lily visited the hospital only once to warn me not to go to the police and cause a fuss. Selena, furious on my behalf, tried to argue. Lily frowned and sharply retorted, “You’re alive, aren’t you? What more do you want? You’re just trying to ruin my reputation and get me fired!” Slamming the door behind her, she walked away, leaving me to wail in silence. It was only when Selena called her father, the school board chairman, that the matter was finally resolved. When I finally pulled myself out of the painful memories, tears were already streaming down my face, and my heart was gripped by an intense, squeezing pain. I suddenly realized I was already back home, following Lily, who frowned in irritation when she couldn’t find me. “That troublemaker still isn’t back? Maybe she’ll just die out there,” she muttered, storming toward the couch. But as she stepped on a stray pill on the floor, her expression changed. She picked it up, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. “She’s probably faking it again,” she scoffed with an eye roll. “Since when does she just ‘happen’ to get feverish?” I let out a bitter laugh. “Mom, don’t you remember? This fever was your doing.” On the anniversary of Jason’s death, I had accidentally knocked over a plate of food. In a fit of rage, Lily had thrown me out of the house, forcing me to stand in the freezing winter wind wearing nothing but thin pajamas. Amidst the howling gales of the north, where thermometers drop to chilling depths, I froze, each breath crystallizing in the air. When she finally opened the door, I thought she had calmed down with joyous surprise. But instead of letting me in, she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me outside. “Today is the day you kneel by the river! Hurry up!” she yelled. Snowflakes fell on my burning forehead, melting instantly. I pushed through the pain as I implored with all the strength I could muster, “Mom, this fever’s killing me. Can I just not go tonight?” “Dream on! You’re a murderer. Even if you’re on your last breath, you’ll kneel by that river!” Despair flooded my heart, and my tears froze on my cheeks. “I see, Mom. I’ll take my medicine and go.” But before I could even reach for the pills, she slapped them out of my hand. “You’re always lying or pretending to be sick. If there’s any justice in this world, you should have died in your father’s place!” she shouted, yanking me by the hair and dragging me to the car. At the riverbank, the icy wind sliced through me like a blade. I could barely stand. With every last shred of my strength, I clung to the car door and pleaded through tears, “Mom, please, don’t leave me. I’ll die…” But her response was a cold, brutal kick that sent me sprawling onto the icy ground. “If you’re going to die, then do it far away from me! I’m done with you. I’m sick of looking at your face!” I lay there in the freezing snow, watching helplessly as her car sped away until it vanished into the distance. I whispered, “Mom, did you really just leave me? “Mom, I’m unwell.” I jolted awake, startled by the furious barking of dogs. The bullies who had once made my life a living hell were now stumbling toward me. Their breath was heavy with the stench of liquor as their faces contorted into vicious smirks. At their side, the dogs growled, their eyes gleaming with a ravenous hunger as they bared their teeth, saliva dripping from their jaws. My hands trembled as I fumbled for my phone, dialing Lily’s number in a desperate plea for help. But all I heard were her cold, accusing words. When the call ended, my heart shattered, sinking into a void. I knew I would never see her again. “Mom, do you even know what this feels like? “The dogs tore into me, and the pain was unbearable. “The river water swallowed me whole, so cold it felt like it was stealing my soul. “Mom, I did as you wished. I’m gone now. I hope you’re happy without me,” I thought. A deafening clap of thunder jolted Lily awake. She glanced out the window at the storm raging outside as the relentless rain pounded against the glass. A flicker of unease crossed her face as she paced nervously around the room. Then, the doorbell rang. “You wretched thing. You still had the audacity to come back…” When Lily finally made out who it was standing in the doorway, her brow furrowed in annoyance. “Why is it you?” she mumbled. Selena stood there, drenched to the bone, her entire body trembling with urgency. “Is Samantha okay? She hasn’t been to school in three days, and I can’t reach her. Have you heard anything?” Selena was my only friend. Despite being in different classes, we checked in on each other every single day, sharing our studies and our lives. We were inseparable, more like sisters than friends. But Lily turned her head away and muttered, “Who knows where that troublemaker has disappeared to? Probably ran off with some punk.” Selena’s body shook with rage, her fists clenching at her sides. “At a time like this, you’re spreading rumors about your own daughter? Do you even have a heart? “Samantha is cursed to have a mother like you. “You’re not caring about her whereabouts, huh? Fine, I’ll find her myself!” As Selena pulled out her phone to dial 911, Lily lunged forward, snatching the phone from her hand and smashing it onto the ground. “Who said you could butt in?” Lily shouted. “Even if Samantha is dead, it’s her own fault. What right do you have to call the police?” I watched her indifferent face as my heart was heavy with sorrow. Even a friend I’d known for less than half a year was searching for me, yet my mother couldn’t care less about my well-being. I murmured, “Maybe they’re right, Mom. You’ve always wished I was gone. And now, I am, just as you wanted.” Tears mingled with rain on Selena’s cheeks as she screamed in despair, “Lily Lane, you’ll regret this!” Then, she turned and ran back into the storm. I longed to hold my friend to wipe away her tears, but my transparent ghostly form couldn’t touch her. As I stood there, heartbroken and helpless, Lily suddenly fished her phone out of her pocket and started dialing my number. I shook my head and sighed, “My phone is lying at the bottom of a cold river. How could you possibly reach me, Mom?” When no one answered, Lily staggered into the house, and her shoulders slumped. I was bewildered and thought, “Weren’t you supposed to be happy, Mom? Isn’t this what you wanted?” Another frantic knock echoed through the house. Lily, already on edge, yanked the door open irritably. “What now…” Her voice cut off as her eyes landed on the visitor. Her body trembled uncontrollably as she clung to the doorframe for support. I turned, startled, to see who had arrived. Standing in the doorway was the man Lily had pined for all those years and the one who filled me with endless guilt. It was my father who had been “dead” for eight years. He was back, alive.
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