26. PREDESTINED
{LUMIRA} I stared at the old woman like she had grown horns. "What price?" I inquired, wiping my tear-stained cheek with the back of my hand. "You will see," she said, flashing a grin that revealed an incomplete set of brown teeth. Then she came forward, her bony feet felt silent against the floorboards, passing right by me without a glance. My heart hammered as she reached my father's body slumped on the couch. Her gnarled hands snatched something from his neck. It was a piece of a necklace. But not the shiny, gold kind. Rather, a rope with purple beads. The beads suddenly began to glow in her palm. Speechless, I let my eyes wander from her palm to my father's corpse, wondering what purpose the necklace she just snatched served. I noticed his corpse had already begun to d
- Writer
