Chapter 2

• It was dead quiet outside the door. The only sound present was the thud of my forehead smacking into the corner of the table.
• The room spun. Red light flooded my right eye.
• “Ah!” Mom’s scream went shrill, but her eyes locked on the consent form splattered with blood and she stopped. “My consent form!”
• She let go of my hair, frantically wiping at the blood drops and cursing under her breath, pissed as hell.
• “You are a damn curse to this family! You did that on purpose!"
• She scowled, disgusted. "You’re just stalling. You want Grace dead!”
• I clutched my forehead and sagged to the floor. Blood ran through my fingers.
• But the throb in my forehead was nothing compared to the ache in my chest.
• Dad stood there watching me as more blood covered my face. His lips moved, and for a second, I thought he’d express concern.
• However, in the end, all he said to Mom was, “Knock it off. Lock her up first."
• He took the blood-covered forms. "I’ll go to the hospital and get another copy printed.”
• “Lock her up? That’s too easy!”
• Mom shot me a look, pure disgust in her eyes. “This ungrateful brat needs a lesson!"
• Her voice rose. "If we don’t show her who’s boss, she’ll never know her place!”
• She yanked me off the floor.
• I was weak from years of malnutrition. One hard pull and my knees scraped across the floor, sharp pain slicing through. But instead of stopping, she just dragged me and tossed me into the basement storage room.
• The basement used to be for junk. After I got here, it had become my ‘bedroom.’
• “Stay here and think it over!” Mom yelled. “When you finally wise up and agree to save our precious Grace, then you can crawl out!”
• The metal door slammed shut with a clang, and the world went dark.
• I curled up on the floor. My forehead pulsed, a steady throb, but I couldn’t care.
• The old scar on my belly started to sting too, because of the cellar’s cold seeping in.
• I got the scar when I was thirteen, after I gave one of my kidneys to Grace.
• Every rainy day, or whenever I was cold and starving like now, it would torture me like clockwork.
• I hugged myself, teeth chattering.
• In the dark, I thought of Grace.
• Grace.
• She wasn’t like Mom and Dad with their ice-cold stares.
• She’d sneak me snacks. Whenever I got punished to stand for hours, she’d pretend she needed to go to the bathroom and slip me a cup of water.
• A month ago, when Mom and Dad were out, she had wheeled herself to my storage room.
• She was paper white and barely breathing, but her grip on my hand was tight.
• “Ella, they’re going to… they’re going to take something from you again, aren’t they?”
• She looked at me, pain and guilt filling those eyes that could see again because of me.
• I nodded, tears spilling down my cheeks.
• “Ella, listen to me.”
• She pulled a folded note from her pocket and pressed it into my hand.
• “I wrote this for you. If… if they really force you, take it out.”
• “Grace…..” I hesitated.
• “Promise me, Ella. Don’t do anything stupid for me again.”
• Her voice was soft, but she had meant every word.
• “Let’s end this together, okay?” she says. “I don’t want to live like this anymore, off your flesh and blood.”
• That note was tucked in the lining of my bra right now.
• But it wasn’t time yet.
• Grace had said to wait until they pushed me to a dead end, when there was no way out.
• My stomach rumbled.
• Hunger constricted my guts, the pain forcing me to curl up into a ball.
• Since yesterday at noon, I’d only had half a bowl of watery porridge.
• Mom said I had to be ready for the OR anytime, so I had to keep an empty stomach.
• I was so hungry.
• Bracing against the wall, I struggled to my feet and felt my way to the door.
• “Mom… I’m so hungry….”
• I banged weakly on the metal door.
• “Please, give me something to eat… I’ll sign. I’ll sign, okay…?”
• I couldn’t die here. I still had to get Grace out.
• Just when I was about to give up, footsteps came from outside, followed by the rattle of a key in the lock.
• The door opened a crack, and Marthe Green—the nanny who took care of Grace—peeked in.
• “Ella, how are you?”
• She saw the blood on my face and sucked in a sharp breath. She hurriedly pulled a piece of bread from her pocket and shoved it at me.
• “Eat, quick! They’re all out—hurry and get something down!”
• I grabbed the bread and crammed it into my mouth.
• I was so hungry that I couldn’t even taste it. All I could do was chew and swallow.
• I had barely stuffed half of it in when a car engine cut off outside in the yard.
• “Crap! They’re back!”
• Martha’s face went white.