Chapter 2

The screen flickered to life, and the entire auditorium fell silent.

Every pair of eyes locked onto the display, expecting to see the rapist's face immediately.

But what appeared wasn't from the night Laura was attacked.

The memory extractor worked by capturing scenes tied to emotional spikes.

What projected now were fragments from my daily life over the past month since Laura's death.

Rain hammered down in the scene. My skeletal frame moved through the hallways of St. John's High School.

Suddenly, a group of boys burst out, led by Tom. Laughing, they dumped a bucket of ice-cold filthy water over my head.

The me on screen shivered violently, collapsing to the floor.

Then Jessica stepped forward, her heel grinding into the back of my hand.

"You covered for him! Why don't you just die?" On-screen Jessica's smile was venomous. "Those clothes you're wearing—Laura gave them to you, right? Doesn't it disgust you, wearing a dead girl's clothes?"

The scene shifted to the cheap apartment I'd rented to escape the harassment.

But they'd found me anyway.

The flimsy wooden door lay in splinters. The once-clean walls were defaced with glaring red paint: "DIE" "BITCH" "RAPIST'S BITCH."

In the center of that ransacked room, Boo—my dog who'd been with me for years—lay stiff in a pool of blood, his belly brutally cut open.

The me on screen knelt beside Boo's body. I didn't cry out. I just bit down on my own arm in silent desperation until blood came.

In the auditorium, I'd hoped for a shred of sympathy.

I was wrong.

"Oh please. Are we supposed to pity you now?" Jessica's voice dripped with mockery. "Look at that pathetic act! It's just a dog. How does that compare to what happened to Laura?"

"Exactly! She brought this on herself! If she hadn't protected the killer, would anyone treat her like this?"

The curses from the stands crashed down like waves. I kept my head down, numb. Each breath tasted of blood from my failing lungs.

Zayne stood before me, eyes fixed on the image of Boo's corpse. His jaw twitched for a moment, but that flicker was quickly replaced by deeper coldness.

Arms crossed, a cruel smirk played on his lips:

"Helen, you think showing me this will make me go soft? What you've suffered doesn't compare to a fraction of Laura's pain! You deserve to be abandoned by the whole world!"

My heart was breaking.

They didn't know that Boo was a gift Zayne had given me years ago.

They didn't know that I'd fled my old place to hide in this broken-down shack with no proper door, couldn't even afford painkillers for my terminal illness…

Because I'd sent every penny from selling my belongings, every cent of my savings, anonymously to the woman they'd just called out—Laura's mother, the one they claimed I'd "heartlessly turned away."

The screen flickered as my emotional turbulence dragged the memories further back.

Last summer.

Laura's face appeared. She wore a faded old t-shirt, her hair in a ponytail, arms full of thick review materials, beaming at the camera.

"Helen! I got the full scholarship! The principal said they'll keep supporting me next semester!" The Laura in the memory hugged me, spinning in place.

The me on screen was just as happy: "That's amazing, Laura! Let's celebrate with pizza tonight! My treat!"

"No way, you're working hard for your living expenses too. When I become a big-time lawyer someday, I'll take you to fancy restaurants every day!" Laura looked at me earnestly, her eyes shining with boundless hope for the future.

The noise from the stands quieted slightly.

Laura had been popular at school before she died.

Though she came from poverty, she was bright, excelled academically, and had been a source of pride for many.

The scene changed to the grassy hill behind school.

Zayne's birthday. On screen, Zayne wore a white shirt, lying lazily on the grass.

Laura sat nearby reading while I carefully held a piece of cut mango to Zayne's lips.

"I don't want it. Too sweet." Zayne turned away with a frown.

"Just one bite. Laura waited in line in Chinatown to get this for you." I coaxed him.

Zayne reluctantly opened his mouth, took a bite, then pulled me into his arms, pressing a deep kiss to my forehead:

"You're sweeter than any mango."

Laura rolled her eyes and laughed, tossing her book at Zayne's back: "Get a room, you two! I'm still sitting right here!"

The three of us dissolved into laughter under the sunshine.

Back then, when Zayne looked at me, his eyes held nothing but devotion.

Back then, we thought those days would last forever.

"ENOUGH!"

Present-day Zayne's furious roar shattered my memory.

He stormed to the control panel, eyes bloodshot as he glared at the screen:

"Helen, you disgust me! You're deliberately showing these scenes to remind me how good we had it? Trying to make me go soft?"

Strapped to the chair, I didn't even have the strength to shake my head.

"You called Laura your sister, but when she was suffering that inhuman torture, you chose to protect that fucking rapist!"

Zayne pointed at my face, his finger trembling. "You see her smiling like that—doesn't she haunt you at night, covered in blood?!"

"I didn't..." I mumbled, blood dripping steadily from my mouth. "Zayne... don't watch anymore... please..."

"Please? So now you want to beg?"

Zayne acted as if he'd heard the world's funniest joke. He turned to face the students below, shouting:

"Everyone, look! This is our former model student, my wonderful girlfriend! She's still trying to use these pathetic tricks to escape judgment!"

The students erupted again.

"Hypocritical bitch! Laura was killed by your disgusting fake friendship!"

"Zayne, don't go easy on her! Max out the power! We want to see the killer's face!"

"Yeah! Expose the killer! Avenge Laura!"

Zayne turned back to me, the last trace of warmth in his eyes completely extinguished.

"Helen, you hear that? That's what they all want. Today, even if you die in that chair, I'm going to rip that animal's face from your brain!"

He slammed the power to maximum.

"BOOM—"

Violent current tore through my nervous system.

My failing organs convulsed. White light exploded before my eyes. Blood gushed from my nose, mouth, and ears.

My body arched backward at a grotesque angle as death rattles escaped my throat.

"WARNING! Subject's vital signs dropping rapidly! Abnormal brain wave fluctuations detected!"

"CONTINUE!" Zayne roared. "She's a liar! She's faking it!"

After the violent white flash on screen, the image plunged into darkness.

Then, accompanied by the sound of pouring rain, an oppressively dark memory began to surface.

I knew. This was from the night Laura was attacked.

I bit through my tongue with every ounce of strength left, trying to use the pain to cling to consciousness, desperately trying to slam that door of memory shut.

Don't... Zayne... you can't see this... it'll break you... I screamed silently in my mind.