Chapter 3 - The Shadow by the Arch
Ethan whipped his head around, his breath catching in his throat as his eyes locked onto the spot Sophia was pointing toward.
Standing just beyond the main double doors of the funeral hall, entirely detached from the screaming crowd of fleeing guests, was a man in a dark grey trench coat. He held a small silver pocket watch in his left hand, his face obscured by the low brim of a felt fedora. The moment he realized Ethan had spotted him, the man casually closed the watch with a quiet click, turned on his heel, and melted into the foggy afternoon rain outside.
“Ethan!” Emma screamed, scrambling across the floor toward the raised platform. “Help me get her out!”
Ethan snapped out of his trance. He scrambled to his feet, leaping onto the platform alongside his younger sister. Together, they pried away the jagged wooden boards that still trapped Sophia’s legs.
Sophia collapsed forward into Emma’s arms, trembling violently, her skin as cold as ice. She was gasping for air, her fingernails digging deep into the fabric of Emma’s mourning dress as if she were terrified of being pulled back into the dark.
“You’re safe, Sophia, you’re safe,” Emma sobbed, kissing her sister’s forehead, wrapping her loose chestnut hair around Sophia’s shivering shoulders. “I knew it. I knew you weren't gone.”
Ethan knelt beside them, his mind reeling. He reached out to touch Sophia’s arm, but the moment his hand brushed her sleeve, Sophia flinched hard, shrinking away toward Emma.
Her wide, terrified eyes stared at Ethan not with relief, but with a deep, unsettling suspicion.
“Sophia,” Ethan said softly, his voice shaking. “It’s me. It’s Ethan. What happened to you? The doctor signed the death certificate three days ago. Your heart had stopped!”
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Sophia didn't answer him. She pressed her face into Emma’s neck, her voice barely a raspy whisper against Emma’s skin.
“He gave me the injection, Emma,” Sophia whimpered softly so only her sister could hear. “He told me Ethan paid him to do it.”
