Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
Then, calmly, Lily said, “Yunice’s weakness is her father’s grave.” As long as she kept Will’s grave under her watch, she could control Yunice; Yunice wouldn’t dare take things further.
Owen and Elsie both understood Lily’s meaning, but neither said anything-neither wanted to be the bad guy. After all, they were the children; they couldn’t be the ones to disrespect their father’s resting place.
But Lily could say it. Gripping the armrest and frowning, she muttered, “The Saunders family’s been going through one storm after another lately. It’s gotta be the family tomb acting up. Owen, tomorrow, get someone to check your dad’s grave. If something’s wrong, maybe we should move him somewhere else and change our luck.”
Owen met Lily’s eyes, and it was clear there was more to her words. Sure, the grave might be moved, but only he would know where it ended up. He fell silent for a moment before giving a quiet nod. If this was what it took to keep Yunice in line, then so be it. Under control… because I don’t know what I’ll do if she doesn’t listen.
As she said that, the hand resting on the armrest trembled nonstop. It was the same hand that had held the knife earlier-almost slicing off Yunice’s finger. She knew she was being biased, but she couldn’t help it. Between Yunice and Elsie, she could only choose one. She couldn’t bear to see Elsie’s fingers broken. But the more decisive she was in the moment, the more guilt consumed her afterward. Yunice was her daughter too; she didn’t want to hurt her. She could only hope Will’s ashes would be enough to rein Yunice in. As long as Yunice behaved and didn’t cause trouble with Elsie, she wouldn’t have to keep making these painful choices-or force herself into doing something she’d regret.
Owen didn’t return that night. Elsie had already fallen asleep in the hospital bed. Lily lay on the caretaker’s cot, drifting off and waking up again and again. What haunted her by day found her in her dreams at night. Every time she closed her eyes, she dreamt of the scene where she nearly chopped off Yunice’s finger with the knife. And the last time she tried to force Yunice into marriage-she’d nearly strangled her. Those memories jolted her awake in terror. Again and again, she dreamt of Yunice lying lifeless on the bed after being strangled-and every time she did, she shot up in a cold sweat, flipping off the cot and crashing to the ground.
Heart pounding, she looked around in a panic, only to see the dim glow of the bedside lamp. She was still in the hospital; Elsie was still sleeping peacefully in the bed beside her. Lily let out a breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead. But just as she was about to get up, she felt her hand touch something on the ground.
She picked it up and froze at the sight of a severed, blood-soaked finger.
Her head snapped up: Yunice lay lifeless on the bed, eyes wide open in death. One limp hand hung off the edge, dripping blood, while the rest of her mangled fingers thudded to the floor beside Lily’s feet.
With a gasp, Lily jolted upright, her breathing sharp and erratic. She was drenched in cold sweat. Looking around again-she was still in the hospital. Elsie was still asleep in the bed next to hers.
But this time, there was no Yunice on the bed, and no fingers on the floor. It had been a dream within a dream. It took Lily several minutes to calm down, but even then, she didn’t dare fall back asleep. She turned on every light in the room and leaned against the headboard, scrolling through her phone.
But she couldn’t focus on anything. Her mind was scattered. After aimlessly flicking through a few news headlines and videos, something flashed across the screen-a picture.
Lily blinked, thinking she’d imagined it. She scrolled back up. Just a normal video. No picture.
She let out a breath. “I’m scaring myself,” she murmured. She kept scrolling, almost out of habit-until a black-and-white photo suddenly stared right back at her.
It was Will’s photo. On the screen, his eyes seemed alive-fixed and stern, staring straight at her.
“Ah!” Lily shrieked, flinging her phone away like it was cursed.
Elsie shot up, startled. “Mom? What’s wrong?”
Lily lunged toward her, pointing at the cot with a look of sheer terror. “Your dad! Your dad’s alive! No-he’s not alive-his spirit came back to find me!”
Elsie gave her a strange look, then walked over and picked up the phone. Lily immediately curled into herself, as if she were afraid Will might crawl out of the screen.
Elsie turned the phone toward her and scrolled up and down. “There’s nothing here, Mom. You’re just under too much stress.” She set the phone down and pulled out a bottle of calming pills from the drawer. “Here, take these with some water. You’ll stop having those dreams.”
Lily wiped the sweat from her forehead. Maybe it was just the stress. She grabbed a cup and headed to the water dispenser. She pressed the button; the sound of water filled the quiet room.
She took a deep breath, waited for the cup to fill, then bent down to turn off the dispenser-and froze. Her pupils dilated. The liquid coming out of the dispenser wasn’t water-it was red.
The cup in her hand was filled to the brim with bright red liquid. No-not liquid. Blood. It was blood!
“Ah!” Lily shrieked and hurled the cup across the room, collapsing onto the floor in panic.
Elsie rushed over and pulled her up. “What happened? What’s going on?”
But after a quick glance, her voice grew annoyed. “There’s no blood, Mom. You’re scaring yourself over nothing.”
“That’s not…” Lily’s words faltered. She went stiff. There was no blood on the floor. Just a puddle of water from her cup.
Refusing to believe it, she reached out and touched it. It was clear.
Elsie looked at her, worry written all over her face. “Mom, I’m gonna go find a doctor to check on you.”
After Elsie left, Lily sat in silence. Was it really just my imagination?
She’d never seen herself as someone who believed in ghosts. After all, she’d lived in the mountains for fifteen years. She’d been through every creepy environment imaginable.
So why would moving Will’s grave scare me like this? she thought.
Right then, the light above her crackled. The bulb flickered. The curtains and the papers on the table stirred-despite there being no wind.
Lily screamed. By the curtain, Will’s shadowy figure appeared. His eyes, dark and sunken, were locked onto her.
With another scream, Lily bolted from the room. Bam! She ran right into Elsie.
The moment she saw her, Lily clung to her like a lifeline, shouting, “Get Owen back! Tell him to come back right now! Will’s here-he came back for me! He thinks I hurt his daughter-he’s here for revenge!”
Her voice trembled so hard it cracked.
Elsie glanced awkwardly at the doctor nearby, nervous and embarrassed. She tried to soothe Lily. “Mom, I’m right here. I’m fine, aren’t I? You didn’t hurt me. You just love Dad too much, and now you feel like you didn’t do enough.”
Lily was still gasping for air when she finally noticed the other people in the hallway. Elsie slipped into the room, wanting to check things over herself.
Elsie had never believed in ghosts or spirits, and she was just as sure Lily wasn’t the type to hallucinate out of guilt. After fifteen years in the mountains, Lily’s feelings for Will had long since dried up. She hadn’t even visited his grave more than a few times over the years, so there was no reason she’d suddenly feel burdened now.
She was convinced someone was messing with them; but everything in the room looked completely normal. Still, Lily refused to go back inside. She demanded a new room, and Elsie had no choice but to go along with it.
The moment they moved to a different hospital room, a janitor wearing a face mask walked into the old one with a mop and cleaned up the spilled water. Every eerie incident had actually been orchestrated by Yunice. The photo on the phone was a program Yunice had written herself. The blood in the water dispenser was because Yunice had slipped potassium permanganate powder into the nozzle ahead of time. As the water mixed with the powder, it turned a deep, blood-red.
What Lily hadn’t noticed was that the inside of the cup already contained a vitamin C solution-which, when combined with the potassium permanganate, turned the red liquid clear again. So Lily saw it come out red like blood, but when she threw it to the ground, Elsie saw only colorless water.
As for the moving curtains and the shadowy figure, that was even simpler. A few lines of code to control the room’s central system-turn on the cold air and the projector-and it was done. Lily had a guilty conscience; that was why she’d fallen for the tricks.
The doctor ran a few tests and concluded she was under severe mental strain. Anxiety, overthinking, and fatigue were to blame. He prescribed her a sedative. But Lily still curled up against the headboard, too shaken to sleep. She called Owen back.
Clutching both of his hands, Lily pleaded, “Owen, let’s not move your dad’s grave anymore…”
Owen was startled. He thought she’d had a change of heart. After all, Will had been gone for years. As his children, they naturally wanted him to rest in peace-not be dug up and used as leverage. But then Lily’s tone suddenly shifted, and her face twisted with hate. “We need to suppress him-lock him away so he never dares cause a scene or hurt anyone again. Let him never reincarnate!”
Owen recoiled, instinctively pulling his hands away. How could she say that…
Outside the hospital room, dressed as a janitor, Yunice heard everything. Her eyes went cold. She turned and walked out of the hospital.
Inside, Owen stared at Lily like she’d lost her mind. “Mom… that’s my dad! He was the husband who waited fifteen years for you to come back. And you, you’re cursing him to never reincarnate?”
Owen had always respected Will. Growing up without a mother’s warmth, it was their father who raised them. He couldn’t understand what his late father had possibly done to make Lily hate him this much.
Lily’s eyes turned red. She gritted her teeth. “You don’t understand. Your dad hates me. He wants me dead-wants me to join him down there!”
Owen had no answer. He didn’t believe in the supernatural either. He was starting to think Lily’s nerves had really…
Lily knew both Owen and Elsie thought she was losing her mind-but she knew better. Will hated her. Will had always loved Yunice the most. He hated Lily for hiding Yunice and locking her away in a mental institution for three years. And now, just as she was about to move his grave, he came back to haunt her; of course, he planned to use his ashes to threaten Yunice.
But after all the fear, what Lily felt most wasn’t terror-it was rage and jealousy. Because of Yunice’s birth, she had suffered fifteen years of misery, wasting the best years of her life. Yunice had lived the life that should’ve been hers for fifteen whole years-yet Will was still protecting her, even in death. He chose to side with Yunice instead of doing more.
I didn’t owe Will anything and I sure didn’t owe Yunice. If anyone was in debt, it was the Sounder family-Will and her, Lily thought. If she’d never given birth to Yunice, she wouldn’t have been dragged into a hellish life in the mountains like an animal. Will spoiled Yunice when he was alive, and now he wanted to back her up even in death? He thought I’d be scared? Not a chance. I don’t believe the dead could win against the living.
Lily grabbed Owen’s hand again, her voice trembling with tears. “Owen, tell me who matters more, the living or the dead?”
Owen wasn’t stupid. He caught her meaning, and his expression darkened. “Mom, what are you trying to say?”
‘s Silence
“Your dad just wants to join him. If we don’t do something, he’s going to drag me down with him. Do you want to lose me too and end up a helpless orphan?”
The moment she said that, Elvie broke down. She threw herself into Lily’s arms, shaking her head and sobbing. “Mom, no! Dad’s already gone. Are you really going to let some vague superstitions matter more than Mom?”
With that kind of accusation, Owen had no choice but to deny it. “Of course not.”