Chapter 3

3

When I woke up, my neck was throbbing with pain.

Silas's shadow loomed over me, his fingers tightening around my throat like iron claws. "Vivian can't swim. Were you trying to murder her?"

"How can a woman be so heartless!"

My throat felt like it was closing. I tried to defend myself, but the words were choked off.

He grabbed my wrist and dragged me off the bed, pulling me across the floor to Vivian's bedside.

"Apologize!" he roared, kicking the back of my knees.

I collapsed, my knees hitting the floor with a sickening thud.

"Vivian looked after your child for months, and this is how you repay her? By trying to drown her?"

He stood next to Vivian, their silhouettes blending together. They looked like they belonged to each other.

I tasted blood in my mouth and clenched my fists.

"Silas, it's okay…" Vivian whispered, struggling to sit up and grabbing his sleeve. Her voice was weak and airy.

"I'm sure Celine didn't mean it."

She reached out as if to help me up, acting like a saint.

But when no one was looking, she leaned in and hissed, "You think this is bad? I'm going to make him hate the very thought of you."

Suddenly, she went limp and slammed her head against the corner of the nightstand.

Blood began to seep from her forehead instantly.

"Vivian!" Silas screamed. He turned and kicked me square in the chest, knocking me over.

"Doctor! Get a doctor now!" He scooped Vivian into his arms and bolted out of the room.

He never even looked at me as I curled into a ball on the floor.

After he settled her, he came back. He picked me up by the collar like I was a piece of trash.

His eyes were filled with a terrifying rage. "You weren't always like this."

"What happened? Did being a Death Walker rot your soul along with those corpses?"

As soon as he shouted "Death Walker," the people nearby gasped and scrambled away from me as if I carried the plague.

But I only took that job to feed Ben when we had nothing!

I remembered him holding my hand once, his voice like honey. "Celine, I'm ashamed I can't provide for us yet. But no job is beneath you. Even if the world hates you, you'll always be the best woman in my eyes."

Promises only matter when there's love.

He never loved me.

It was all a lie.

I wiped a tear from my face and laughed. "Silas… are you just embarrassed of me now?"

His gaze was icy and full of loathing. He looked away as if seeing me made him sick.

Ben walked in then. "Daddy, Auntie Vivian says she smells something gross. She says it's making her feel sick."

Silas's eyes snapped back to me.

He grabbed my arm and literally threw me out of the clinic doors.

"Don't let your disgusting stench of death contaminate Vivian."

I stumbled and barely kept my balance, suddenly exposed to the judging eyes of the crowd outside.

"Look! It's the Death Walker!"

"God, what bad luck. How embarrassing."

"A woman touching dead bodies? She's a disgrace to her ancestors. She should be drowned for real."

"Stay back! If you catch her bad luck, your whole family is doomed!"

The insults buzzed in my ears like a swarm of angry wasps.

Then, someone threw a piece of rotting cabbage at my shoulder.

It was the spark that lit the fire.

Suddenly, everything was flying at me.

Old vegetables, rotten eggs, dishwater, and even sharp stones from the road.

"Get out of our town!"

"You filthy omen!"

"Just go die already! You're disgusting!"

The curses were followed by filth. Within minutes, I was covered in grime and reeking of trash.

Silas stood at the top of the clinic stairs, watching it all with a cold, detached expression.

Vivian leaned against him, a tiny, satisfied smirk playing on her lips.

I felt like I was being burned alive by their stares. My dignity was being trampled into the mud.

After what felt like an eternity, a pair of polished boots appeared in front of me.

"Do you admit you were wrong now?" Silas asked, his voice coming from high above.

I let out a raspy, broken laugh that sounded more like a sob.

"I admit it. I was wrong from the very start. I was wrong for picking up an ungrateful snake like you from the side of the road!"