Chapter 4
tt
288 Vouchers
But through the thick wooden boards, Zion couldn’t hear my cries for help at all.
“Remi, don’t worry. Seven days will pass quickly. After seven days, I promise I’ll dig you up and take you overseas, where you’ll live the happiest life imaginable.”
It was the voice I knew best–so gentle, so warm–and yet I was trembling all over.
Tears blurred my vision, streaming down my cheeks, but I couldn’t even lift a hand to wipe them away.
Zion, why are you doing this to me?
I’d rather you just killed me outright.
I won’t survive seven days. I won’t even get to see you pretend to marry me, like you promised.
A crushing panic closed in on me, every sound from the outside world suddenly razor sharp.
I heard the coffin being lowered into the grave, heard people whispering above me.
“She got what she deserved…”
“Good riddance…”
“She should’ve died a long time ago…”
I listened as shovelfuls of dirt rained down on the coffin.
Gradually, the voices faded away, until there was nothing left–only the silence of death, the pitch–black darkness pressing in on me.
I drifted in and out of a dazed sleep for what felt like forever, until finally I realized I could move my body again.
I fumbled around inside the coffin, finding only a single oxygen tank.
No water, no food–I wouldn’t last long.
I tried everything I could think of, but there was no way out.
Claustrophobia sent my head spinning, and cold sweat poured down my face.
Memories of all those times I’d been locked in closets came rushing back. I clutched my head and sobbed, screaming until my voice was raw.
Above ground, not a single sound could reach.
This coffin felt like the gaping maw of some monstrous beast, ready to swallow me whole.
0.0 %
00:40
Chapter 4
288 iVouchers
How I longed for even the faintest glimmer of light–just a sliver, anything at all.
On the brink of a breakdown, a sudden thought flashed through my mind.
“That’s right! The Luminous Gem!”
The day I promised Zion I’d give up everything and run away with him, he bought that one–of–a–kind Luminous Gem at auction for 5 million dollars and gave it to me as a token of his love.
I always told him he was the light in my life, shining through the ashes of my past.
Zion had said, if I ever found myself lost in darkness again, I should take out the Luminous Gem. Its glow would be like he was right there beside me.
I fumbled desperately, pulling the Luminous Gem from my pocket. Even the faintest light would be enough to keep me going!
But once again, I was disappointed.
Why? How could this be?
The Luminous Gem sat in my palm, completely dark.
My hand fell limply to my side as I remembered–just a few days ago, Gemma had a Luminous Gem too.
She said she was about to be married, and her fiancé had given it to her as a wedding gift.
Back then, I didn’t know her fiancé was Zion.
There was only supposed to be one Luminous Gem in the entire world.
I had trusted Zion’s love, never doubting for a second that the one he gave me was real.
I’d even acted like a fool, warning Gemma that hers might be a fake, never seeing the mockery in her eyes.
Turns out, I was the one being played for a fool all along.
I started laughing–soft at first, then louder and louder, my laughter echoing harshly in the suffocating darkness.
53.0 %
