I Died to End Their Lie novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: Wrong Number

I didn't walk anywhere, because I had no feet.

One moment I was standing in the shed doorway, and the next I was in my parents' kitchen, hovering near the ceiling above the table.

It was night.

The same yellow light hung over the table where I had eaten breakfast alone for thirteen years.

Mom sat there in her robe with a cup of tea, and Dad stood at the counter reading something on his phone.

Cade sat across from her in his pajamas with a plate of toast.

Nobody was talking.

It was Tuesday night, a week after the diagnosis.

Nobody had mentioned my name all day.

Mom's phone rang on the table.

She frowned at the number and let it ring twice.

"Probably a salesman," she said.

She picked up.

"Hello?"

I couldn't hear the other voice, but I saw her face change.

"Yes, this is Phyllis Rittenhouse."

She put one hand on the table.

"I'm sorry, who?"

Dad looked up from his phone.

Cade set his fork down on the plate, very carefully, and didn't pick it up again.

"A deputy sheriff," Mom said to Dad, holding the phone against her chest. "In Briar Hollow."

"Tell him Jesse's fine."

She put the phone back to her ear.

I floated down beside her.

I could hear the deputy then, very quiet, and very sure.

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