AUTHOR’S POV
Lala kept calling out to her mother, panic sharpening her voice as she watched her mother stand frozen for several seconds before her hands flew to her chest as if she had just seen a ghost.
Mrs. Volkov's breath stuttered in and out, uneven and frightening, and Lala rushed toward her as she tried to get up. “Mom--Mom, please, sit down!”
She sat her back down and then scrambled for the glass of water on the dresser. She pressed it into her mother’s trembling hands, and Mrs. Volkov gulped the water down, each swallow shaky, while Lala hovered beside her, terrified.
Finally steadying her breath, Mrs. Volkov reached down with trembling fingers and picked up the phone she had dropped. She hit play again, and the video lit up the screen, Akari's face filling the frame.
A tear
