Melissa was dying. A rising shriek grew in her chest as she watched the chair rise, her husband’s screams, the sickening crack below. Melissa’s eyes, glazing over into fragile glass beads.
This wasn’t what she wished for. Ten years ago, when she finally wished for her perfect love, she never imagined something like this. When she met him, when they married, and when she finally became pregnant with Melissa, she never imagined watching her perfect love beat their daughter to death in front of her.
Just… stop already. She barely mustered her voice. Her throat, if she had one, was shattered from screaming. And even if he could hear her, he never listened, anyway. Ever since Melissa was born, he became someone different. That had to be the moment he changed. Or maybe he never changed at all. Audrey couldn’t remember.
She embraced Melissa’s body, hiding her from the worst blows. The man kicked her off, sending her sprawling to the floorboards. If someone, anyone, could stop that man right now…
Audrey prayed for a miracle.
A discordant whistle pierced through the door.
For an instant, the entire room froze. This, Audrey thought, was also not what she wished for. That smiling monster was outside the door. A hollow melody. She knew its smile. Oh, she could picture its rubbery grin, its glassy, lifeless stare. Why was he here, now of all times? Or did he respond to her prayer?
“What the hell?” the man whispered. “Who’s outside! Go away!”
The doorknob jiggled.
Her husband faced the door. “It’s locked! I’ll call the police!” He raised his chair higher.
Audrey inched to her daughter’s side. If she didn’t know better, it almost looked like Melissa was sleeping. But the woman knew that underneath her clothes were blood-swollen bruises, torn skin, and she could already see the stains seeping into the girl’s dress. Could a hospital fix something like this? Was it already too late?
Oh god, Melissa, Audrey whispered. Please stay with mommy now. Don’t leave me here. I love you.
Melissa’s expression scrunched. Her body convulsed as she coughed a pool of bloody spit. Her breaths sounded like gurgles, straining past her throat.
Someone knocked on the door before shaking the doorknob again. Despite being locked, the door creaked open. A single glazed eye peeked from the slit, and before her husband could react, the door swung wide, revealing a perfectly inhuman smile.
“Good evening, Mister and Missus,” the smiling man’s voice was completely flat. “And Melissa Cardoso, pretty little rabbit.”
The chair in her husband’s hands clattered to the floor. The smiling man grew taller as he approached, until his head dragged against the ceiling. His rubbery smile swayed gently above them, back and forth.
Why are you here? Audrey asked shortly.
“She will die,” the smiling man said. Audrey glanced at Melissa, and her hair bristled with shock. Even under the glowing sunset, Melissa’s face was lifeless pale, almost gray. Her gasps for breath had turned into choked whispers.
Can you— Audrey’s voice caught in her chest. She knew better than to ask the smiling man for help, but she couldn’t think straight. Please, help me. Save Melissa.
The man grabbed her husband’s shoulders, turning him to face her. “I will help you. May I kill him? It will help you.” Her husband’s eyes widened as the smiling man’s voice hummed above him.
“Don’t kill me!” her husband screamed, craning his head to meet the smiling man’s eyes. His expression paled as the man’s rubbery smile only grew wider, stretching and straining until he could see every perfect-white tooth, down to the bloodstained molars.
Why? Isn’t there any other way?
The smiling man paused. For a moment, his smile abated. “I pity you, truly. You weren’t meant to be a mother. Your daughter surely agrees. Poor little thing. What made you think you could finally be happy? When you found ‘love’ again, why did you think this time would be any different? Should I leave? Should I leave the girl to bleed away? Tell me, little rabbit; tell me who should die.”
Audrey fell silent. Why, why did everything have to become so cruel? She had to save them both. Who could support Melissa if he died too? Where could she go? And Melissa couldn’t work. Only he worked, made money, bought food. He worked so Melissa could live, otherwise she would have died a long time ago.
Save him. She had to save him. Then he could support Melissa. Save her husband and leave Melissa to die—
What the hell was she thinking?
The smiling man looked at her husband, then looked at her with his fixed glassy stare. His smile stretched taut. “He can hear you now.”
Audrey froze. Dear?
“Who’s that?” Her husband’s eyes darted across the room. His voice trembled.
It’s me, dear. It’s Audrey! She tried to lift her arm, but it only flopped to her side.
His eyes widened. The man hid his face, instantly bursting into tears. Apologies streamed from his lips, countless ‘I’m sorry’s and ‘I didn’t mean to’s that melded into one incoherent whimper. “Please. I don’t want to die. Don’t let me die, Audrey.”
Audrey paused. I didn’t want to die either, she said slowly, tasting each word. Her voice shivered. I didn’t want to die. Don’t you remember? When I had Melissa, I was so happy. I always wanted her. I-I always loved her. You lied. You lied to hurt her.
“I didn’t mean to kill you,” her husband whispered. “It was only an accident.”
Audrey trembled. She believed him. No, it wasn’t that. She really, really wanted to believe him, but now, with Melissa on the floor, she simply couldn’t anymore. Then this was an accident, too?
Melissa coughed more blood behind them.
“Yes,” her husband mumbled. “Please, believe me.”
She’s dying. Our daughter. Audrey felt her voice rise until she began to scream, louder than she ever had at him when she was alive.
You said—you promised!
You promised you would never hurt her again! You promised the day you killed me! What was the point of it all? When you never try? When you never change?
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She paused, breath hitching. When she spoke again, her words were barely a whisper. I can't even recognize you anymore. But maybe he never changed, and she was just making things up. Maybe he never changed but she didn't notice and didn't care. Now Melissa was dying on the floor, her eyes fading glass beads.
Audrey’s voice broke into a weeping sob. In that moment, she remembered everything that led to the scene before her. All her husband’s promises and all the times he broke them. A sickening self-hatred grew in her chest, twisting so painfully in her heart. What illusion did she see back then? If only she never met him, never loved him, never married him—
If only she never brought Melissa into a world like this.
That monster was right. She didn’t deserve to be a mother. Because a real mother would have never given birth to Melissa, into a world where her only choice was to suffer.
Melissa was right. She was never her mother, never in her entire life.
“I did! I tried, I swear!” the man gasped for breath. “I’m so sorry!”
Audrey fell silent. She turned to the smiling man. Her voice wavered. I-I just— Her husband clasped his hands together, praying. He looked so sad. He looked like he would never do it again, even more than when he said it last time. Will he do it again? If you leave? It was hardly a question worth asking. She knew the answer, but her mind couldn’t bear its weight.
“Do what again?” the smiling man asked innocently. “Will you choose to find out? Poor little thing. If I leave, the girl dies. If I stay, the girl lives. Those are the two options, little rabbit. Those are the only two outcomes. Don’t think about anything else.”
Audrey gulped. She looked at her husband, that wretched expression and the man she fell in love with. Even before she spoke, thoughts of shame filled her mind. The words she wanted to say utterly disgusted her. Who was she kidding? She wished for all of this. She wished for a soulmate. Who was she to decide to take that back? This was the man she had Melissa with. Her soulmate, who had always hurt her. She didn’t deserve anyone different. Her punishment.
But for some reason, she also felt a wave of relief. Something gravitated her to take the smiling man’s offer, to finally set herself free from the wish she made what seemed like a lifetime ago.
Then…
Audrey looked away from her praying husband. The smiling man stared back at her, and his emotionless grin twisted with a hint of glee.
Then save Melissa, you devil.
In the end, she made her decision.
Her husband opened his mouth, but he couldn’t even scream before his body began to twist, arms and legs folding upon themselves, wringing dry like a filthy dishrag. The corpse splattered onto the floorboards. Remnants of flesh sank into the ground, and the pools of blood dissolved into nothing.
In an instant, her husband was gone, as if he never existed.
The smiling man clapped twice. “Congratulations. Do you remember who you are now? The flower has wilted, but the roots remain. You are still a killer, little rabbit. Our little killer.”
Audrey caught her breath. I didn’t want to. He’s dead. Oh god. I-I killed him.
The man laughed flatly. “You’ve done worse, little rabbit. What’s changed? Or were the others justified to you? Oh, you’ve done far too much to feel pity for yourself here.”
Audrey shivered. Save Melissa. The woman clutched Melissa’s hand, ignoring the smiling man’s taunts. There was no time for conversation, not when the girl’s skin was ash gray. Melissa wasn’t struggling for breath anymore. She wasn’t breathing.
“It is you who will save her. I shall gift you an ability. You needn't return it.” The smiling man’s expression was as unreadable as ever. He shrunk to a more human height, leaning above Melissa’s body.
Just save her—!
The smiling man’s fingers wrapped around Audrey’s neck. He clenched his hand, and a wave of cold seared into her mind, choking her thoughts. She felt something enter her brain, burning her insides like a molten brand.
In the back of her mind, amid her screams, she heard a faint voice.
“Prepare her well,” the smiling man whispered. “She will dance on the stage.”
Melissa opened her eyes.
Her body felt light and strange. Nothing hurt as she lay on the ground, contemplating the midnight ceiling above her. She felt paralyzed. Yet, she felt relieved, too. She wasn’t inside the freezer, and she realized how good that was. She didn’t want to die, especially because mommy wasn’t in the freezer anymore.
The girl clenched both hands, then unclenched them. She squeezed her eyes shut and wiggled on the ground. She shuddered with delight and sat up.
The room was dark. Moonlight peeked from the window, washing the leftover cake with a coat of ash-blue. Melissa reached forward and ate another piece. She tried to think, but the only thought she had was to bask in her painlessness for one more second.
Something knocked on the balcony door. From behind the glass, a very tall man gestured at her to come closer.
The girl walked forward, opening the door. As the man’s face contorted before her eyes, Melissa realized it was the smiling man.
“Good midnight,” he said. Melissa had never heard of such a phrase, but the man continued. “Daddy is gone now.”
“Why?” she asked.
“I killed him.”
“Oh,” Melissa said.
“If you could wish for anything,” the smiling man said, leaning onto the balcony rails, “what would you wish for?”
Melissa propped her chin with her hand, copying the smiling man. They stared at each other. A long time ago, Melissa wished to be in the freezer with mommy, but that was far from what she wanted now. Anything. “I’d wish for mommy back.” That much was obvious, even for her. She stared at the full moon, and it stared back at her, reminding her of potato chips. “And talk with Daan more,” she added as a faint afterthought.
“Those are wonderful wishes,” the smiling man said. “Do you remember the festival? I told you yesterday.”
Melissa nodded. “The festival to wish for anything?”
“You can make any wish you want there. Even wish for mommy to come back from the freezer, and listen to that sweet melody once again. My master can make any wish come true.” He looked at the moon. “I discussed matters with your… friend. She will prepare you nicely. Struggle well, little rabbit. Give me a show.”
The man’s smile creased higher.
Before Melissa could process those words, the smiling man was gone.
Under the silence of night, Melissa held her breath. Any wish. She didn’t quite understand before, but didn’t anything mean…?
The girl watched the bright blue moon and the stars painting the sky. Her hand reached upward, reaching for the cusp of its pale glow. She climbed onto the railing, balancing delicately on the metal bar. She touched the moon, and it hummed in her palm. Somewhere above, Melissa could see heaven where the good people went when they died and mommy was there because she was dead too. With one wish, she could bring her back. The smiling man said so, because he said anything.
She looked down, flinched at the forty-foot drop in front of her, and climbed off the railing. Even then, the brightness in her eyes remained, as if a fragment of the stars had descended to live in her pupils.
Returning inside, Melissa saw Teddy lying flat on the floorboards. “Teddy? Are you sleeping?” She prodded the bear with her finger.
Teddy moaned. Hurts, she mumbled. Tears of blood leaked from her buttoned eyes, gliding off her fur and dripping onto the floorboards. Oh god, Melissa. It hurts.
Melissa clutched Teddy to her chest. She noticed that her own dress was soaked with drying blood. “Daddy hit me with the chair, but I don’t hurt. Why?” she wondered.
Teddy could barely speak. Good, she said with a gasp of pain. Do you love me?
“I love you,” Melissa said easily. She repeated it twice more, and Teddy’s pain seemed to lessen. Her body relaxed, and after a while, Melissa realized Teddy had fallen asleep, nestled in her arms. Was this how her mother felt back when she hugged her? It wasn’t a bad feeling, the girl decided.
Melissa set Teddy beside the leftover cake. She laid her head on the table, staring into the toy’s buttoned eyes. Her conversation with the smiling man floated to her mind. She could wish for anything. Even for her mother to be alive again. Her excitement edged into nausea, twisting drums inside her chest. The exhilaration in her stomach was different from not feeling hungry, she realized. It permeated through her entire body, that blissful feeling, resting on her palish lips and filling her eyes with hues of starlight.
For the first time since her mother died, Melissa’s dreams were filled with hope.