When the Glass Breaks

CHAPTER 2

Am I dead?

That was the first thought that came to me as I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

I was sure a truck had hit me. I remembered the blinding headlights, the screech of metal, the way my body lifted off the ground. I remembered the pain.

But now…

I was sitting in front of a mirror in my bedroom. Tears streamed down my face, and the girl staring back at me looked younger. My skin was smoother, my hair longer. Even my eyes looked different, like they hadn’t cried themselves empty for years.

I slowly stood up and looked around the room.

My heart nearly stopped.

This was my room.

Not the apartment Ethan kept me in. Not the cold place I lived in after everything fell apart.

This was my room in my parents’ house.

The same pale curtains. The same bookshelf stuffed with old novels. Even the tiny c***k on the wall beside my window was still there.

Everything looked exactly the way it did before I moved out to live with Ethan.

Before he convinced me to sell the house.

Before he destroyed everything.

“Amanda! For the love of God, go to work!”

My mum’s voice exploded from the hallway before the door burst open and she walked in.

I froze.

For a moment, I could only stare at her.

She looked exactly the same. The same soft brown eyes, the same tired but loving face. Her hair was tied back the way she always did when she was rushing in the morning.

Tears blurred my vision.

“Mum…” I whispered.

She frowned. “Don’t ‘mum’ me. You’re already late…”

I didn’t let her finish.

I ran to her and wrapped my arms around her so tightly she stumbled back.

Tears poured down my face.

She was real.

Warm.

Alive.

“I’m so sorry,” I sobbed. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you, mum.”

She had died two years ago because of Ethan’s schemes. And I never even knew what he was planning until it was too late.

But now she was here.

If I was seeing her again, then I must have died that night too.

At least… at least we were together again.

Smack!

Pain exploded across the back of my head.

“Ouch! Mum!” I cried, rubbing my head. “That hurts!”

I froze.

“…Hold on.”

I blinked in confusion. “Why does that hurt? Aren’t spirits supposed to feel… you know… less pain?”

My mum stared at me like I had grown a second head.

“At this point, Amanda, I think you’ve finally lost your mind,” she said slowly. “Or you’re pretending to be crazy because you don’t want to go to work.”

“Work?” I frowned. “What do you mean work? I quit years ago.”

Then I looked around again.

“…Wait. Do ghosts still work in heaven?”

“Amanda, you are going to be the end of me,” my mum groaned, grabbing her head.

Then she yelled toward the living room.

“Damian!”

My eyes widened.

“Dad’s here too?”

My heart leaped with excitement.

If mum was here and dad was here… then we were all together.

“Damian, I think your daughter has finally lost it,” mum said dramatically. “She said she quit her job.”

My dad walked in a second later, holding a glass of water.

“Quit?” he said calmly. “Her manager just called asking if she was okay. She didn’t show up yesterday or today.”

Mum turned slowly to look at me.

But I wasn’t listening anymore.

I ran to my dad and hugged him tightly, refusing to let go as tears streamed down my face.

They had no idea how much I had missed them.

“I swear to God, Amanda,” my mum snapped behind me, “if you don’t leave for work right now, I will kill you.”

“Oh God, mum,” I said, still clinging to dad. “Did you bring this temper with you to the afterlife too?”

“That’s it,” she shouted. “I will personally send you to the afterlife you keep talking about!”

She started hitting me again.

I yelped and ran out of the room.

“Mum, what did I even do…”

I stopped mid-sentence when I entered the living room.

My eyes landed on the calendar hanging on the wall.

Mum was obsessive about dates. She changed the page exactly at midnight every new month.

Which meant…

The date on that calendar had to be right.

A strange feeling crawled up my spine.

“Mum,” I said slowly, turning toward her. “Hold on a second… what year is it?”

“You are still saying nonsense,” she grumbled. “I really need to fix that brain of yours.”

“Mum!” I shouted. “Just answer me!”

She flinched slightly before replying.

“…2018, of course.”

My stomach dropped.

“Isn’t it… 2026?” I asked quietly.

Mum looked at dad in frustration.

“What is she even saying? Honey, just call her manager and say she’s sick today,” she muttered before collapsing onto the couch.

But I barely heard them.

My legs gave out beneath me and I fell to the floor.

2018.

Eight years ago.

Before everything.

Before, Ethan destroyed my life.

My thoughts spun wildly as I tried to make sense of it.

Then suddenly…

Crash!

The glass slipped from my dad’s hand.

For a brief moment it seemed to fall in slow motion before it shattered against the floor.

The sharp sound echoed through the room.

And then it hit me.

The old woman’s voice rang clearly in my mind.

“You’ll return to the moment your soul first bled… You’ll understand when the glass breaks.”

My heart started pounding.

I wasn’t dead.

I had come back.