I wriggled desperately in a feeble attempt to escape before the arms shifted behind me, merging together like clay until I felt only two, thin arms wrapped around me.

“Peijin, my sweet girl,” he cried.

His voice was exactly as I remembered, and I recognized it ten years later. It was unmistakable, and though I had heard it just a bit ago, it was solidified now.

“You’re home!”

My entire body trembled—was this fear? No, no it wasn’t. I wasn’t scared of anything in this world. I only felt things deeper. Anxiety, distrust, fury.

Relief, too.

“Hi Dad.” My voice quivered.

He finally pulled back, and I slowly turned to face him. If I wasn’t in my fourteen-year-old body, I’d be a bit shorter than him. But now, the top of my head barely reached his shoulder.

Small man that he was. Thin and tired eyes, a lean frame, but there was an odd serenity around him that made you feel alright.

“You never came to visit me.”

I chewed on my lip. “I didn’t see why I would.”

He frowned, his shoulders falling. “You never even told me why you left.”

What could I say? He was right. After I left home, I never reached out to him again.

“Can you blame me for that?

Dad laughed a bit, a small chuckle as he gently rubbed his temple with his hand. “Your mother was the same way. I admired it for a while.”

“Oh, fuck you,” I spat.

“You were fourteen when you left. Do you know how petrified I was?” Dad’s voice strained with each word. “I did everything for you.”

My nostrils flared, and I took a step back, pressing my palm against my chest. “You don’t get the right to say that!”

“Would you have done everything I did?” He took another step forward.

“Stop it,” I demanded under my breath.

His voice came out more frantic now. “You can’t keep pretending that it didn’t happen.”

“I’m not pretending!” I exclaimed, my back to him as I refused to meet him head on.

“Do you know how hard it was for me? Do you think I wanted to do it?” He whispered, and the hairs on my next stood up. My eyes were wide as I stared down at my feet. “I did it because I love you, Peijin.”

“Stop it.”

“And then you left me with nothing. You really are just like your mother.”

I whipped out Zhige with my good arm and spun around, roaring, “Shut the fuck up!”

He gently stepped forward, pushing the side of Zhige aside with a frail hand. “Do you think I wanted to whore myself out? All for a daughter who would hate me?”

My entire figure trembled, my nose beginning to burn. “I don’t hate you, Dad.”

The words involuntarily cracked as they came out.

I continued speaking, trying to even my tone. “But you should’ve never done it. I would’ve starved with you instead if it’s what it took.”

“And that’s why you left? Without saying anything?”

“No,” I choked out, “You were supposed to protect me. I was fourteen.”

Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring my vision—but I struggled to fight it back. I looked up, still avoiding the ceiling, as I blinked away my tears.

Dad’s eyes widened with realization at my last words, and he rushed forward, pulling me into a tight hug. His frail arms suddenly felt wide and comforting around my small body.

And there we were—a thin, sad man hugging a small child in the middle of a cluttered room.

I remained frozen for a moment; I could feel each of his shaky breaths against my chest. How long had it been? A decade. I knew that, but now, I finally felt it.

My arms wrapped around his back as I buried my face into his chest, the top of my head barely reaching his chin.

“I’ve missed you so much, Dad,” I muttered, the words barely audible, since my voice cracked on each syllable.

The room remained silent other than the sound of my beating heart and a strange radio static in the back.

“...you’re tarnished.”

My blood ran cold at those words, and I immediately stiffened.

“What?” I whispered, trying to pull back, but his grip was too strong.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

His fingers dug into my back as I felt the blue hoodie try and pull me away to no use.

“You’re dirty and tarnished. How could you ever think you were worthy of love?” Voice growing deeper. The static grew louder and louder until the ceiling started to contort again, and a smiley face began to appear.

“Stop it. Stop it!” I screeched, shoving him and falling onto the ground as I grabbed onto Zhige and manically held him in front of me.

Zhige was far too big in my child-sized hands, and the blade quickly shrunk to be more manageable.

The smiley face on the ceiling slowly dripped like slime from the ceiling. Contorted and its features in warped brown lines, it fell onto Dad.

I scrambled onto my feet, running toward the bedroom door and pounding on it.

“Help! Help me!” I cried, my voice a high-pitched squeal.

Desperately shaking the doorknob, I peeked through it, watching shadows walk outside in the hall.

But none came to help me.

“Feiyu!” My voice grew louder.

“Feiyu!” The second was a pleading whisper.

I lifted Zhige and tried to stab the blade through the board, but it was quickly deflected, flying out of my grasp.

I scrambled forward, trying to reach for the blade as Zhige also moved toward me, but I first caught sight of the smiley face.

It had merged with my father’s face, looking as if it were melting off of him. Oozing down his features, it dragged Dad into its cursed image.

Even now, Dad couldn’t protect me.

The blue hoodie jerked upward, trying to get me to stand on my feet. I complied, barely able to stand, before loud banging emerged all around the room.

The sound was so unbearably loud it seemed as if the entire room would crumble in on itself at any moment. Each bang caused a seismic trembling of the room, throwing me back on the ground just before the smiling beast.

“Who are you?” I screeched, swinging Zhige wildly.

“Peijin, Peijin, Peijin, Peijin,” my name echoed all around in short cries throughout the room in sync with the banging.

That’s right—this room was my childhood bedroom with the trashy posters and books littering the ground. Here I was all over again, fourteen, begging, and with the smiling face in my room.

And Dad was gone again. Mom was never here.

“You’re not my Dad! He’d never say such a thing!” Finally, my blade sliced open the chest of the smiley face, causing a black goo to erupt from him in a thin line.

Suddenly, a chilling voice rang out from behind me.

“Of course not! But he sure thought it.”

I whipped my head around and saw myself.

Myself? No, that was impossible. But she looked just like me.

Her black, shoulder-length hair was perfectly styled, her bangs perfectly curled. Her skin was glowing white, and her red lips curved into a bright smile as she let out a childish laugh. Her laugh cracked and sparkled the way a young girl’s would, not matching mine at all.

I looked over my shoulder, and the smiling face was gone. Instead, this freakish woman took its place.

“Who are you?!” I gasped, looking up with insane eyes. I crawled backward before I stumbled back onto my feet. The room was silent, no more of the static exuberating out.

“Me? I’m Wu Peijin.”

“Don’t spew such bullshit, you mother fucker!”

She kneeled down to match my eye level, speaking in that same, overly enthusiastic voice. “Ha ha, I can’t believe I only now meet you here! Although, I do suppose it’s a bit misfortunate in these circumstances.”

My chest heaved with every breath I took. “What the hell are you bitching about?”

“But, oh well, I guess it doesn’t matter. You reap what you sow, especially when it’s about you.”

She emphasized the last syllable before she cupped her face in her hands, staring at me with long eyelashes fluttering in the dim light.

I finally caught my breath, barely able to keep up with my thoughts as I stared at her.

“You’re wrong. My father never thought that. He would’ve never said that, either.”

Letting out another chirpy laugh, she reached into her pocket and pulled out two orange lollipops, handing me an unwrapped one and popping the other into her mouth.

I slapped it out of her hand and watched it roll across the ground.

“Oh, but he really did think that, Peijin. You won’t believe how much he thought about it.”

“Shut up! Who are you?! You’re not real! You’re not my fear, nothing of the sort. How did you get here?!”

“He thought about it so much, Peijin, that it drove him insane,” she whistled toward the end, emphasizing it while she drew circles with her finger beside her head. “After he found out what happened between you and his client, he quit and spent all his savings looking for you.

“Don’t you remember? It was around your birthday, so he had money saved. I guess you would’ve never known though, since you ran away and left poor old Dad all alone.”

My heart fell at those words. Suddenly, every memory came rushing back, and there was nothing I could do other than grip my head in pain and stumble back, collapsing against the wall and hyperventilating.

However, she continued speaking in that childlike tone, and I watched the words flow out of her mouth—my mouth.

“When you never came home, guess what he spent those savings on?” She popped the lollipop out of her mouth with an exaggerated sound as her other hand pointed into the roof of her mouth.

“Bang. Don’t worry though, it didn’t hurt him at all. Clean shot, straight out of the back of his head!”

I cried out as I lunged forward and gripped onto her throat, slamming her against the ground. My hands gripped tighter and tighter around her neck as I tried to crush her airway and strangle her.

She wasn’t impacted in the slightest, her face twisted into an innocent grin as she continued to speak to me. “I suppose it’s only fair of me to tell you what happened with your mother, too. Congratulations, Peijin! You’re an older sister! She’s even in Feiyu’s party. Isn’t that so funny?”

Scathing Reviewer is flickering.

Incomprehensible emotions welled up inside of me as I tightened my grip, banging her head against the floor repeatedly. My teeth were so tightly pressed together I was surprised my jaw hadn’t broken. “Stop it! Who are you? You’re not the real me!”

“Ha ha ha, of course not! I’m no monster. Who are you?”

I screeched, spit flying out with each word as my hair was plastered against my sweaty face. “It doesn’t matter who I am! I’m the real me!”

“Oh, silly girl, of course it matters! But I already know everything about you, 'Jia Li.'”

She let out an innocent laugh again, and her head reeling backward as she easily sat up, removing my hands from her neck without looking at all impacted.

“As for me? I’m Karma.”