Chapter 3 Chapter 0003

•KRISTINA•

I looked down at the cheque that Andrea had thrown at me and felt my stomach drop when I saw sixty dollars on it.

It was the beginning of the month, and I made more money during my weekend shifts when many customers were in a happy mood to tip big.

But now that I had lost the very job that paid for all the bills at home, I didn't know what I was going to do.

For a moment, I felt bad for turning back to Miss Betty's house, but then again, she wouldn't have lived if I hadn't.

I sighed and told myself that I would face my mother and tell her everything that happened before I got to work.

I still didn't understand what had happened in that corridor. The glow, the way it moved through her body, and the way she gasped back to life the moment it reached her chest.

That sort of thing was only possible in the movies I watched. But a part of me was convinced that I imagined everything that happened and none of it was real.

I pushed the thought aside.

I had bigger problems.

My mother was going to be furious. Alexa's college accommodation had to be paid for, and she also had to buy groceries.

I didn't even know where that money would come from. And my father... Gosh, I didn't want to lose him. He was kind to me.

I kept looking behind me as I walked back home. I still felt as if someone was watching me, and that they had probably seen what happened at Miss Betty's house.

I still couldn't get the image of that man in the corridor off my mind. He looked at me so strangely and brought a cold shiver down my spine.

•••

When I finally got home, I opened the front door and called out to my mom. "Mom?"

She was usually at the hospital around this time, to see my father and bring him food. But when I saw her shoes in the corridor, I realized that she was home.

I was ready for anything that she would say to me. I was ready to be grounded and be told that I wouldn't eat in the house until I had found another job.

I was used to that sort of thing, but because she and my father had taken me in since I was a month old, I didn't know any other family but them.

I endured everything they put me through and told myself that they didn't give up on me when my parents did.

"In the kitchen," she answered.

I dropped my bag by the door and walked down the hall. When I stepped into the kitchen, I stopped.

My mother was sitting at the table. Across from her was a man I had never seen before. He had broad shoulders, green eyes, and wore clean clothes that looked too formal for our kitchen.

His hands were folded on the table, and he was watching me strangely. My throat tightened, and I swallowed hard.

On the table between them was a stack of money. It was more than $30,000.

My chest tightened. I looked at my mother. She smiled at me, but that didn't help to settle my nerves. "Kristina, come sit down."

I didn't move. "Who is this?"

"This is Mr. Voss." She gestured to the man. "He's here to help you. So, don't worry, he is a good man."

Voss nodded at me, but he hardly smiled.

"Help me how?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

My mother folded her hands in her lap. "You lost your job this morning."

I blinked. "How did you—"

"Andrea called the house." She cut me off. "Kristina, we can't afford for you to be unemployed right now. Your father's bills aren't going anywhere."

"I know that," I replied. "I'll find another job."

"Mr. Voss has already offered you one." She tilted her head toward him. "He runs a training program. You'll go with him for a few months, learn a skill, and come back with better prospects. A real career."

I looked at Voss. He looked back at me without blinking.

"What kind of training?" I asked him.

"You will do well at the end of it, Kristina," he answered. "I have helped many young people to find their purpose and do well in whatever careers they chose to pursue."

My eyes dropped to the stack of money on the table. It was more than I had ever seen in our kitchen. More than I had probably earned in the past six months combined.

"What's that for?" I asked my mother.

"For us," she answered. "To cover the house while you're away. So we don't fall behind."

I looked at my mother's face and felt like I was missing something. It seemed very weird that after her conversation on the phone this morning, Mr. Voss would show up looking for me.

She told him that I was exactly what he needed and that he could have me in the morning. She sounded agitated for some reason.

My stomach turned.

"No," I replied.

My mother's expression didn't change. "Kristina—"

"No." I stepped back from the table. "I'm not going anywhere with him."

I turned toward the hallway. I got two steps before a hand closed around my arm and pulled me back so hard I stumbled. Voss had moved faster than I expected for a man his size.

I opened my mouth to scream and felt a sharp sting in the side of my neck.

My legs went numb immediately, and then my arms followed. I grabbed the doorframe, but my fingers wouldn't hold.

The floor tilted. I heard my mother's voice from somewhere above me, and she chuckled at first before she spoke to Mr. Voss.

"She's different, you know. She's not like other girls." She cleared her throat. "She'll be worth every cent that you have paid for her."

"What do you mean she's different? And what good would that do me?"

"I don't know, but you will see what I meant when she wakes up."

The kitchen light blurred at the edges.

The last thing I saw before everything went black was the stack of money still sitting on the table and my mother looking down at me with a smile on her face.

"Don't worry, baby. Alexa's father will live because of your kindness."