The Bones They Mourned Too Late

Isadora’s POV

I was the best student, the most obedient, the most compliant—yet the only unloved child in our family.

When my brother got into fights, I took his punishment. When my sister snuck out with boys, I bore the consequences. Mom force-fed me pills and made me get my stomach pumped just to scare my brother away from smoking. Dad dressed ten-year-old me like a prostitute and threw me into a bar to warn my sister against going astray.

In the end, they sold me to a gambler for a few hundred dollars.

I died in a dark pond, and no one heard me calling for help.

But when my spirit drifted home, they were gathered around the dinner table, laughing and talking as if nothing was wrong.

It wasn't until the police knocked on their door that they realized—I had been missing for seven whole days.

Only then did their love come searching for me.

But I was already dead.

A strange woman stood in our living room, scrutinizing me with cold calculation.

"Dad! Mom!" I instinctively ran toward my parents, only to find them standing aside with indifferent expressions. Even my brother and sister looked on with detached disinterest.

The woman walked toward me. I backed away, afraid.

"Don't move." Her voice was harsh, like sandpaper scraping against wood.

She reached out with bony hands, pinching my arms, feeling my legs, examining me like livestock. I tried to pull away, but her grip was iron.

"All limbs intact. Looks healthy enough." She nodded with satisfaction, turning to my parents. "This one will do. She's mine now."

"If you sell her to me, there can be no contact afterward," the woman called Carol continued. "I won't raise an ungrateful brat."

My head spun. The world tilted.

"No! Don't sell me!" I shook my head frantically, tears streaming down my face. "Dad, Mom, please believe me—none of this was my fault! I didn't steal anything! I'm not dating anyone!"

I dropped to my knees, clutching Mom's leg.

"Mom, please don't make me leave!"

But Mom just glanced at me coldly before turning to Madison and Caspian. "You two watch carefully. If either of you messes up again, this will be your fate too."

Then all four of them simply walked upstairs, leaving me alone in the living room with Carol.

"No! Don't go!" I tried to follow, but Carol yanked me back.

She let out a twisted laugh. "See? Your parents only have eyes for your brother and sister. They don't care about you at all! To them, you're just trash they can throw away whenever they want!"

She began dragging me toward the door. I clung desperately to the doorframe.

"Let me go! I won't go with you!"

"Stop wasting your energy, little thing." Carol's hand cracked across my face. "You're my daughter now!"

Carol shoved me into a beat-up van.

She stuffed a rag in my mouth, threatening, "If you don't behave, I'll sell you to a nightclub!"

A nightclub. I'd been dressed up like a child prostitute and thrown into one of those places before. I still remember the way those men looked at me.

I didn't dare resist anymore.

The van drove for what felt like hours before finally stopping at a desolate farm in the middle of nowhere.

Carol dragged me into a dilapidated barn that reeked of dust and mildew.

"Stay here and don't wander off." She tossed moldy bread and a bottle of water onto the ground. "Once I win some money at the casino, I'll come back and take you out for a nice meal."

With that, she hurriedly locked the door and left.

The barn was dim, lit only by fading sunlight filtering through holes in the walls. I curled up in a corner, listening to the sounds outside gradually fade to silence.

I waited a long time to make sure she was really gone before I started feeling around in the darkness. My fingers traced the rough wooden walls until they found the door handle.

I pushed gently. The door opened—perhaps Carol had left in such a hurry she hadn't locked it properly.

I carefully pushed the door open to find it was already deep into the night. Moonlight spilled across the barren farm, and everything was eerily quiet. I had to find a way out. Had to get back home.

Maybe when I returned, Mom and Dad would realize they needed me. Maybe they were already regretting their decision.

I stumbled forward in the dark, my feet sinking into uneven mud. Suddenly, I stepped on something soft and slippery, and my foot slid out from under me—

Ice-cold water engulfed me instantly. I thrashed desperately, but the harder I struggled, the deeper I sank. Filthy water poured into my mouth, my nose. I tried to cry for help, but no sound came out.

Fear, despair, suffocation—they crashed over me all at once.

When my consciousness cleared, I found my spirit floating in the air while my body had sunk to the bottom, disappearing into darkness.

I was dead.