We Died Waiting For You Chapter 2

[Minor’s soul synchronization at 100%. Gateway fully activated.]

The moment the system’s cold notification exploded in my mind, ripples of pale blue light blossomed in the empty air by my feet. It looked like thin ice forming over a deep autumn lake. Fine particles of light drifted up, wrapping around our fragile, untethered souls.

I looked down at Sammy. His eyes were open, a damp tear still clinging to his long lashes. His face was paper-white, but the agonizing grimace of pain was gone.

He tilted his head back to look at me, his eyes shining like they were full of stars. "Mommy, where are we going?"

I crouched down, wanting so desperately to pull him into my chest. But my arms still passed through him, a draft of cool air against his spirit.

I hovered my arms around him anyway, my voice barely a whisper, terrified I might shatter this fleeting peace. "We're going home, Sammy."

"Which home?" He cocked his head, his fingers reflexively reaching for the hem of my ghostly sweater. "Is Daddy going to come find us?"

A knot formed in my throat. I didn't answer right away.

I took one last look at the devastated ruins swallowed by the night. In the jagged hole of the second floor, Frank was hunched over, carefully tucking his only jacket around Sammy's lifeless body.

His back was to me, his shoulders trembling violently. His suppressed, gut-wrenching sobs cut through the thick dust and the night wind, carrying all the way to my ears.

Behind him, on the concrete slab, my own body remained pinned by the rusted rebar. The dark blood had seeped deep into the gravel, looking like a grotesque flower blooming in the heart of the wreckage.