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Short filmTranscript
00:05my mom called me a liar from the day i was born not because i actually lied but because of
00:10this
00:10thing around my neck the verity choker mom was luna of silver moon pack and she believed one
00:15thing above all lying was the mark of a weak wolf we were her daughters future alpha heirs
00:20weakness was not an option so when my twin sister emma and i were born mom clasped these chokers
00:27around our throats which had witch magic to detect lies green light means truth red light means you
00:33were lying emma's choker always green she could shred mom's ceremonial cloak and blame the cat
00:39and gem would glow a steady green not me green light believed me mom i'm hungry and flash red
00:49light the choker choked tight i shifted on instinct a small white wolf pawing desperately at the gem
00:55around my neck claws scraping against it unable to get it off i'm not lying not lying please but mom's
01:02eyes had already gone cold instant punishment mom's punishment wasn't gentle no food locked in my room
01:09no contact with anyone in the pack the truth necklace doesn't lie stella starve now study later
01:16i'm doing this for your own good after 10 years of this i started believing it too maybe i really
01:22was
01:22born wrong new year's eve everything changed mom was getting ready to take emma to the pack's bonfire
01:28celebration and that's when the pain hit like a knife twisting in my gut i collapsed on the floor
01:34my skeletal frame curling into itself mom please the choker flashed red and choked tight she looked down at
01:43me disgusted in her eyes in your dream stella faking an illness to ruin our night she grabbed emma's hand
01:51and headed for the door i wanted to howl but my wolf was too weak to answer i shifted anyway
01:57forced it a small white wolf trembling on the floor ribs heaving maybe in this form the pain would hurt
02:03less it didn't i couldn't even hold the shift i slipped back into myself without meaning to
02:09sorry mom i won't lie anymore but the pain got worse way worse the door handle turned for one second
02:16i
02:16thought mom's coming back she came back for me hurry up the bonfire is starting emma's waiting
02:23mom i reached out with a shaking hand please something's really wrong i feel like i'm dying
02:30she glanced at my neck the gem was flashing red over and over she crouched down grabbed my chin
02:37stella how long are you gonna keep this up can't you just be honest and stay here and think about
02:43what you've done dad appeared in the doorway honey should we at least leave her some food
02:51food she has a stash of snacks she bought with stolen money she won't starve lock the door
02:57when that gem turns green we'll talk but but what it's because you spoil her that she turned out this
03:05way look at emma her gem has always been green stella is a liar an alpha heiress who can't tell
03:13the
03:13truth she needs discipline but my cabinet was empty emma stole that money emma ate those snacks emma just
03:21stood there with her glowing green gem saying not me and mom believed her i tried to defend myself
03:28it wasn't me red light the choker choked tight i tried to shift nothing happened deep inside my wolf
03:37barely stirred mom locked me up for three days with nothing but water and stale bread mom turned to
03:44leave emma peeked through the door made a face at me bye sis we're gonna see the bonfire
03:50her gem glowed a steady green so pretty the door locked the house went silent i called my wolf
03:58nothing came back not even a whisper just me alone the pain was unbearable but i kept thinking mom's
04:08right the gem doesn't lie it's red so i must be lying i'm not in pain i'm not in pain
04:16i'm not
04:18in pain i kept repeating it like a prayer eventually i almost believed it the pain
04:25dulled or maybe i was just going numb i crawled to my desk i had to write that was the
04:32rule
04:33if the gem glowed red i had to pen a thousand word apology or mom would never let me out
04:40i am a liar
04:41write it down and maybe mom would forgive me maybe she'd even let me out i opened my journal
04:49pages and pages of apologies i'd written over the years sorry i lied i won't do it again but this
04:56time
04:57i wanted to write the truth my vision blurred my hand shook as i wrote mom i really love you
05:05it really hurts why won't you believe me please believe me just once the moment i finished the
05:13last word the pain vanished just gone i felt light weightless i looked down i was floating and there
05:24slumped over the desk was my body motionless the gem still flashing red around a dead girl's neck
05:31oh i'm dead and then she came out my wolf stepping out of my body like she'd been waiting
05:39all along small skinny barely holding together she looked up at me and once soft and low in the
05:49pack's old stories they say when a wolf dies young her spirit doesn't cross over alone her wolf walks
05:56beside her until they find the door together i knelt down she pressed her nose into my ghostly palm
06:03finally we were together now but i never learned how to be honest sorry mom i heard laughter mom dad
06:12emma coming through the front door tonight's bonfire was beautiful the best one yet just like our emma
06:20perfect in every way i'd never heard her sound like that when she talked about me i floated toward
06:27them my wolf patting silently at my side moving on instinct i wanted to help them take off their
06:33cloaks that's what i always did mom my arms passed right through her body like wind why is it so
06:41cold
06:41here is the hearthi out i stood there staring at my transparent hands my wolf pressed against my leg
06:48and looked up at me with sad eyes right dead wolves couldn't hug the living shall we go and
06:54see stella she hasn't eaten yet still the good cop i looked at mom hopefully if she found me dead
07:01would she be sad would she regret it she won't starve she is a werewolf not a human pup this
07:10whole fake
07:11sick for attention thing is out of control i laughed bitterly mom wasn't wrong werewolves heal
07:17but i hadn't been able to in a long time last winter the choker left bruises that stayed for days
07:24that hadn't happened before i reached for my wolf she was still there but the warmth never came
07:30she was too hungry just like me mom never noticed
07:36she only ever looked at my neck for one thing the gem and whether it was red or green mom
07:42pushed
07:43open my door didn't even turn on the light just for a second her eyes flashed gold her wolf might
07:49have known mom didn't listen in the dim glow from the hallway she saw me slumped over my desk
07:55i looked like a skeleton hadn't moved still putting on an act you're 10 years old not five grow up
08:04mom
08:05i'm not playing i'm dead look at me touch me i'm freezing she couldn't hear me she only believed what
08:14she wanted to see emma squeezed past her held up her choker with that smug little grin look my gem
08:20is
08:21green stella's is still red she's lying even in her sleep that's my good girl ignore the liar
08:28let her stay there maybe she'll learn how to be honest should we at least put her in bed it's
08:35freezing put her in bed look at that red gem still lying come on leave her we have to visit
08:42grandma
08:42tomorrow the door locked again i floated next to my corpse my wolf curled silently at my feet
08:50staring at that single point of red light in the darkness mom if you'd just stepped closer if you'd
08:57just touched my hand you'd know i was ice cold but you didn't you believed the choker not the daughter
09:03you carried for nine months that night a rat crawled out of my empty cabinet i used to scream whenever
09:09i
09:09saw rats but now i just floated by the ceiling watching it scurry across my dead body the rat bit
09:16into my toe i didn't feel anything my wolf charged at it anyway and passed right through landing on the
09:23other side she turned back to look at me confused lost i pulled her close and buried my face in
09:30the
09:30fur of her back it's okay you can't feel it anymore it'll be over soon she let out one low
09:38growl then
09:39went still against me finally no more pain for either of us the next morning sunlight streamed
09:46through the window no warmth reached my body in the kitchen i could hear mom making breakfast the
09:52smell of roasted meat crept under my door my favorite but mom always said liars don't deserve
09:58meat so i only ever got steamed vegetables she was clanging the pots extra loud on purpose trying
10:05to tempt me out trying to make me give in and apologize for things i never did in the old
10:10days
10:11i might have caved i might have confessed to anything for one bite of roasted meat but i don't need
10:17food
10:17anymore stella still hasn't come out yet dad asked reading the pack notices she is so stubborn she can
10:25eat or not i don't care emma walked to my door and made a big show of sniffing the air
10:32then she screamed dramatically mom stella's room smells like poop did she poop in there i floated by
10:42the door watching my sister with a bitter smile my wolf sat beside me ears flat eyes low the hearth
10:50was burning hot after just one night my body started to rot mom stormed over pounding on the door
11:04i remembered being six i had food poisoning couldn't make it to the toilet in time mom didn't
11:11help me clean up she made me stand outside pointed at me and told the neighbors look at this she's
11:18such a
11:19mess she can't even use the toilet herself now she thought i was dirty again leave her let her sit
11:25in
11:25her own stink but dad stood up frowning that smells really bad i should check could it be a dead
11:33rat or
11:33something my heart if i still had one leapt dad please open the door i'm right here just turn the
11:43handle and you'll see i'm not moving i waved my transparent arms frantically my wolf ran straight to
11:50my bedroom door willing dad to open it dad's hand touched the door handle his hand froze someone was
11:56pounding at the front door a pack elder urgent business dad's face went pale he grabbed his cloak
12:02the border there's an emergency he was already out the door i froze so close one second away if that
12:10knock had come one second later i would have been found maybe then i wouldn't have rotted alone
12:15that afternoon mom took emma to the pack market the house was empty except for my corpse when they
12:21came back that evening loaded down with food and gifts from the market the smell had gotten worse
12:25mom gagged the second she walked in stella are you trying to turn this place into a den of inequity
12:32she didn't even open my door just grabbed cloth strips and sealed the gap at the bottom if you want
12:37to stay in there and make disgusting stew zoos don't stink up my house she patted her hands together
12:42satisfied then went to prepare dinner i stared at that sealed door my wolf pressed her nose against
12:48it and whimpered once so that's it i'm worth less than a venison dinner by day three even the cloth
12:53strips
12:54couldn't contain the smell mom was arranging fresh wildflowers trying to cover it up but the stench of
13:00death is unmistakable sweet rotten oily she cut a rose stem too hard a thorn pierced her hand she snapped
13:07in her
13:08mind i was doing this on purpose not bathing poop on the floor hiding dead rats in my room all
13:14to piss
13:15her off all to defy her authority as luna stella she grabbed a rolling pin from the kitchen stormed
13:22toward my room i'm done with you you disgusting little brat time you learned what real pain feels
13:28like i floated in front of her waving my arms desperately don't come in mom please please
13:36even though she never loved me i didn't want her to see me like that but she walked right through
13:41me
13:42ripped the cloth strips off jammed the spare key into the lock the door flew open the smell hit her
13:48like
13:48a wall she stumbled back retching stella what are you doing she saw me still slumped over the desk back
13:55turned not moving to her this was the ultimate rebellion i'm talking to you she marched over
14:02raised the rolling pin but stopped she wanted to see my face first wanted to see my get up she
14:09grabbed
14:10the back of my shirt grabbed my skin the moment she touched me she froze through the thin fabric her
14:15hand
14:16didn't feel warm flesh she felt cold hard dead meat the kind of cold that seeps into your bones
14:22what but momentum carried her forward she yanked crash my body stiff as a board toppled backward
14:30taking the chair with it and there was my face blue black eyes bulging features twisted in agony
14:36dried foam and blood crusted around my mouth around my blackened neck the verity choker hung lifeless
14:42the gem dark no red no green just silence my journal slid off the desk fell open at mom's feet
14:50the last
14:51page stared up at her mom my stomach really hurts the choker is wrong i'm not lying please don't punish
14:57me mom screamed not a wolf's howl a raw guttural shriek that tore through her throat she stumbled backward
15:06slammed into the bookshelf a clay pot shattered but she didn't seem to feel the pain she just
15:12stared at me eyes wide unblinking no no no no this is not real stella get up stella get up
15:22get up i'm
15:23not mad anymore stop scaring me her hand reached out trembling to touch my arm the second her skin
15:32made contact with my corpse she recoiled like she'd been burned that cold was too real lisa from next
15:39door heard the screaming and went straight to the pack healer when she saw what was in my room she
15:44collapsed in the gate within the hour heavy boots on the floorboards the pack healer and a handful of
15:51pack warriors crowding the entrance mom sat on the floor a warrior's hand on her shoulder she's speaking
15:57it she's always lying it doesn't lie i'm just teaching her no one responded they all looked at
16:06her like she was a monster the pack healer crouched next to my body he muttered under his breath severe
16:13malnutrition organ failure this puppy has been starved for at least a month he carefully tried to
16:20remove the verity choker but it had fused years of tightening had pressed the leather deep into the skin
16:26of my neck damn it he had to use tools to pry it off even dead my soul flinched my
16:33wolf lifted her head
16:35and long raw desperate the kind of howl that should have shaken the walls no one heard it no one
16:44flinched
16:45we were already dead a warrior picked up my journal started reading his face went from neutral to
16:52horrified mom's eyes locked on to that book that's her confession she admits she lied look she wrote it
17:00the warrior pushed her back wrapped the journal in cloth and took it we'll report it to the council
17:09that's when dad got home he saw the pack healer and the pack warriors crowding the doorway saw the
17:15body wrap being carried out saw the long cord that sealed away my entire life his legs gave out he
17:24collapsed on the doorstep emma stood nearby sobbing in confusion she pointed at the discolored verity
17:30choker on the table why does stella have a black collar and i have a green one see she held
17:37up her neck
17:38the gem blinked its steady green it was grotesque the council elders arrived before dawn mom straightened
17:46when she saw them even now even with my body three days cold and rotting her luna instincts kicked in
17:53she lifted her chin squared her shoulders it didn't work today they started questioning mom in the living
18:00room mom grabbed the verity choker off the table like it was a lifeline test it that choker proved she
18:07was
18:07lying red gem means lie i never abused her the choker told me i was just educating her the council
18:18elders
18:19looked at her like she'd lost her mind the pup shows signs of extreme malnutrition months of starvation
18:28aphelion multiple old injuries consistent with prolonged that's just discipline that's teaching her to be
18:35honest then she did something insane you don't believe me fine i'll wear it
18:46watch it'll be green the leather pressed against her skin cold sticky that was my blood she took a deep
18:54breath tried to calm herself she needed to prove she was innocent needed to prove her way of raising an
19:01alpha air was right she held up the gem eyes wild listen i'm rachel i'm stella's mother this is the
19:10truth
19:11the absolute truth the gem flashed red mom's confident expression shattered
19:19i said truth i said truth i am rachel i never abused her i did it for her own good
19:28i love her and suddenly she remembered me 10 years old gasping as the choker tightened around my throat
19:38biting my lip so i wouldn't make a sound is this what it felt like
19:42why is it red i am telling the truth turn green you're broken you're setting me up but the gem
19:50kept
19:50flashing like it was mocking her you're a liar you're a liar you're a liar enough this is just a
20:00bloodstone
20:01i've seen it before it changes color with body heat fear pain anything that makes your heart race
20:09temperature rises it burns red that's all it does no witch magic never was think about your daughter
20:19ruptured appendix organ failure the pain must have been unbearable she was terrified and what did you see
20:27a red gem so you punished her more which made her more scared which made her temperature rise which made
20:37the
20:37stone turn redder you are luna you are supposed to protect every wolf in this pack you couldn't
20:47even protect your own daughter you ignored her cries for help you starved your daughter to death mom's
20:55world collapsed she sat there staring at the flashing gem on her own net and finally understood
21:01for ten years every red light wasn't because i was lying it was because i was scared scared of her
21:09anger scared of being misunderstood scared of eating food that made me sick i was in pain pain that made
21:17my heart race and cold sweat pour down my face i was desperate desperate for a hug for her to
21:25hold me the
21:25way she held emma every signal from my frightened heart she had interpreted as proof of my lies
21:33no get it off
21:38i'm not lying i'm not she tried to shift fur rippling across her skin bones cracking but the leather
21:45cinched harder around her throat the moment her neck began to change she snapped back into human form gasping
21:54i can't get it off stella take it back i'm sorry it's all my fault this little bit of choking
22:02and she
22:03was already breaking mom i suffered for 10 years the council elders needed evidence for judgment so they
22:12opened my journal in front of my parents february 14th sunny mom put celery on my plate i'm allergic
22:20my throat swells i can't breathe i said i can't eat it but because i was scared of making her
22:27angry
22:27my body ran hot the gem flashed red the choker tightened mom said i was picky lying made me eat
22:37the
22:37whole plate that night i threw up blood my throat felt like it was on fire i shifted to ease
22:44my pain
22:44mom saw it and said i'd snuck berry juice that i was faking the choker tightened for 10 more minutes
22:53mom's hand flew to her mouth she was shaking violently she remembered that she really did think
23:01it was berry juice she didn't even look closely just turned away to read emma a bedtime story that was
23:08blood from a swollen torn throat june 1st pups day emma shredded mom's ceremonial cloak emma's heart is
23:18always calm her gem stays green i tried to explain but i was scared of being hit my body ran
23:25hot red gem
23:27choker tightened for 10 minutes it hurt so bad but i didn't cry because crying makes your body run hotter
23:35and mom thinks that means you're not sorry.
23:38So I held my breath, pretended it didn't hurt.
23:42Mom said, see, she doesn't even blink.
23:46She's definitely faking it.
23:48Dad couldn't take it anymore.
23:50This man, who had always put the pack before his own family,
23:53chose duty over his daughter for 10 years.
23:57You monster!
23:58What did you do?
24:00That was your daughter!
24:02You treated her like a stray!
24:04Blood at the corner of her mouth.
24:06Not my fault. Not my fault.
24:09It's her. It's Emma.
24:11Emma's gem was always green.
24:13Emma was a good one.
24:15If it wasn't for that green light making me trust her,
24:18I wouldn't have believed the red light so much.
24:20This is Emma's fault.
24:22That little princess everyone had protected.
24:25One of the council elders walked over,
24:27gently removed the green Verity choker from her neck,
24:30took out a blade,
24:32pried the gem loose right there.
24:34It rolled onto the table,
24:36still glowing green.
24:38Steady.
24:39Unchanged.
24:40The elder picked up the stone.
24:42A glowstone.
24:44That is all.
24:45Your younger daughter's choker
24:46was always going to shine green.
24:49No matter what she said,
24:51did,
24:51or lied about it would never change.
24:55Your so-called Verity choker was a fraud.
24:59That was her truth for 10 years.
25:02That was the evidence she used to convict me.
25:04A common glowstone that put me in hell
25:07while Emma lived in paradise.
25:09So I wasn't a liar.
25:11I laughed.
25:13Laughed until I cried.
25:15Turns out,
25:15ghosts could cry too.
25:17The elder turned to the last page of the journal.
25:19His voice broke.
25:20The handwriting was a mess,
25:22clearly written while dying.
25:24Mom,
25:25if I die,
25:26will the choker stop glowing red?
25:28Or if it turns green,
25:29will you hug me then?
25:31I'm not lying.
25:32I couldn't heal myself anymore.
25:34My stomach hurts so much.
25:36Like knives.
25:38Next life,
25:39please don't make me wear the choker.
25:41Please.
25:42I just want to be a normal pup.
25:44I want to eat mom's roasted meat.
25:46Mom stared at the broken glowstone on the table.
25:49That truth magic she trusted without question?
25:51A worthless stone.
25:53Because of that stone,
25:55she spoiled Emma for 10 years.
25:57Because of that cursed red light,
25:59she tortured me for 10 years.
26:05Mom started laughing,
26:07her voice cracking at every sound.
26:09Worse than crying.
26:11Fake!
26:13All fake!
26:16I killed my most honest pup.
26:18And I worshipped a liar!
26:21She'd lost her mind.
26:23For real this time.
26:25My death became the talk of the entire pack.
26:28Lisa,
26:28the neighbor who had sent for the pack healer,
26:30told everyone what she'd seen.
26:32Every wolf knew by morning.
26:35Luna had starved her own daughter to death.
26:39Monster!
26:40Murderer!
26:41She doesn't deserve to be Luna!
26:43Stones flew at our door.
26:45The word killer carved into the wall.
26:48The council convened within the day.
26:50The verdict was swift.
26:52Dad lost his alpha title.
26:55No wolf would follow him now.
26:56My grandfather,
26:58the former alpha,
26:59read out the judgment himself.
27:01He didn't look at his son once.
27:03Dad walked out of the council hall
27:05and never looked back.
27:07He took Emma
27:07and left the pack that same night.
27:10Emma was a bad seed, sure,
27:12but she was still his blood.
27:14Before they left,
27:15Emma tried to take her green choker.
27:17Dad stomped on it.
27:19Why the hell would you want that piece of trash?
27:22Emma cried as he dragged her away.
27:24Mom got out of the dungeon.
27:26The healer said she had lost her mind.
27:28The council locked her in the home instead.
27:31The one that still smelled like death.
27:33Her mental state deteriorated fast.
27:36She refused to take off the red choker.
27:38She would tighten it herself
27:40whenever the guilt got too heavy.
27:41She said choking was the only thing that eased it.
27:44It was her self-imposed punishment.
27:47I floated in the darkness.
27:49My wolf curled beside me,
27:50watching her unravel day after day.
27:53She'd talk to the empty corner
27:54where I used to stand.
27:55Stella, I brought you some food.
27:57No celery today.
27:59It's all roast.
28:01Just how you like it.
28:02But there was no food.
28:04There was nothing.
28:05Just her hands,
28:06cupped around air.
28:08She'd pretend to set a plate down.
28:10Her hands shook.
28:11The gem flashed red.
28:13She was anxious.
28:14Guilty.
28:15Falling apart.
28:16She smiled,
28:17but her eyes were empty.
28:19The gem is red.
28:20Mom is lying.
28:22Liars don't deserve food.
28:24She pulled the choker tight with her own hands.
28:27Let it choke her.
28:28Her body convulsed against the cold floor.
28:30It hurts so much.
28:32Is this how Stella felt?
28:35I'm sorry.
28:37Mom started reenacting my diary entries.
28:39I couldn't eat celery because of my allergy.
28:43So she forced herself to eat spoiled food
28:46until she vomited blood,
28:47then swallowed it back down.
28:49I was locked in isolation.
28:52So she locked herself in my old room,
28:55lights off,
28:55and bowed to my portrait
28:57until her forehead bled.
28:59Over and over.
29:01Blood on the floor.
29:03Late at night,
29:04she'd see the red glow of the bloodstone
29:06reflected on the wall.
29:07To her,
29:08it looked like my bloody eyes were watching.
29:11She kept punishing herself.
29:13The wounds healed slower and slower.
29:15Her wolf,
29:17exhausted by months of self-torture,
29:20slowly fell into a deep sleep.
29:22Mom didn't care.
29:23She scrawled on the back of my journal.
29:25I'm sorry.
29:26I was wrong.
29:28Red means pain.
29:29Red means love.
29:31Please come back and say
29:32it hurts hurts one more time.
29:34I'll save you.
29:36I promise.
29:36Too bad I'm dead.
29:38Dead wolves can't cry for help.
29:40Eventually,
29:41the new alpha intervened.
29:43Mom's self-harm had gone too far.
29:45She'd nearly choked herself to death
29:47with her own hands.
29:48He ordered her to move to a small hut
29:51at the far edge of the village,
29:52locked from the outside.
29:54Someone posted to watch her day and night.
29:57She was the strangest woman they'd ever seen.
30:00Nobody knew where she'd found it.
30:02A frayed red cord
30:03tied around her own neck.
30:05Her homemade choker.
30:07If anyone tried to remove it,
30:09she'd snap at them.
30:10Teeth bared,
30:12snarling,
30:12wild-eyed.
30:13Don't touch me!
30:16Stella's watching!
30:17She'll be angry if you take it!
30:20Every time the guard called her name
30:21and brought her food,
30:23Mom would grab the red cord
30:24and pull it tight against her own throat,
30:27convulsing,
30:28screaming.
30:29Red light!
30:30Red light!
30:31Don't punish!
30:32Punish me!
30:33I'll eat!
30:34I'll eat!
30:36Even if the food was scalding hot,
30:38she'd gulp it down,
30:40burning her throat.
30:41Wouldn't spit it out.
30:42She was reenacting my final moments,
30:45living my hell on repeat.
30:47Years later,
30:48Emma grew up,
30:49without guidance
30:50and with a trail of shame behind her.
30:52She drifted from pack to pack,
30:54stealing to survive.
30:56No one would take her in.
30:57When she ran out of options,
30:59she remembered.
31:00Mom was still alive.
31:02She slipped back into the silverman pack
31:05under the cover of night.
31:06Not for love,
31:07for money.
31:09Hey, crazy lady!
31:11Dad's dead!
31:12Give me whatever you've been hiding!
31:14Emma stood there,
31:15face hard,
31:16eyes full of contempt.
31:18She looked at Mom's hollow,
31:20broken form
31:21and spat on the floor.
31:23It's disgusting.
31:25Give me what I want,
31:27or I'll send you to meet your daughter.
31:29For a moment,
31:30Mom's cloudy eyes cleared.
31:32She looked at Emma
31:33and suddenly remembered
31:34that choker,
31:36that always green glowstone,
31:38that decade of deception.
31:41It's you!
31:42You lie!
31:44You're the green light that wasn't there!
31:46You killed Stella!
31:48Give her back to me!
31:50Give her back to me!
31:51The last shred of maternal love
31:53twisted into something feral.
31:55Mom lunged,
31:57grabbed Emma by the throat,
31:58should have died!
32:01Not her!
32:02You!
32:04Emma thrashed,
32:06but couldn't break free
32:07from a madwoman's grip.
32:08The guards rushed in,
32:10pulled her off.
32:11Emma stumbled out of the hut,
32:13terrified.
32:14They're all insane!
32:16She bolted into the forest.
32:18She didn't get far.
32:20Rogues.
32:20The kind that haunted the borderlands,
32:23preying on anyone foolish enough
32:25to run through the trees alone at night.
32:27Emma never saw the moon coming.
32:29By the time she did,
32:31it was too late.
32:32She survived.
32:33Barely.
32:34Both legs shattered beyond repair.
32:37She'd never walk again.
32:38Meanwhile,
32:39Mom was strapped to her cot,
32:41staring at the ceiling.
32:42Tears streaming.
32:43In her dreams,
32:45she finally saw me.
32:46I was ten again.
32:48No choker.
32:49White dress.
32:50Smiling.
32:51Mom!
32:52She reached for me,
32:53crying with joy.
32:55Stella!
32:56But the moment her hands touched me,
32:59I burst into ash.
33:01No!
33:02She woke up screaming.
33:03If she'd been wearing that choker,
33:05it would have been blood red.
33:07Eternal torment.
33:08I stood in the void,
33:10watching it all.
33:11Mom strapped to her bed.
33:13Emma in a wheelchair,
33:14begging on the market.
33:16Dad,
33:16drunk and dead in some gutter.
33:18I felt nothing.
33:20No satisfaction.
33:21Just a flat,
33:23dead,
33:23calm.
33:24My wolf padded over quietly.
33:26She didn't howl.
33:27Didn't nudge.
33:28Just pressed her head against my hand
33:30and held it there.
33:31In the distance,
33:32a door of light appeared.
33:34Soft.
33:35Steady.
33:36Waiting.
33:37I looked at my wolf.
33:38She looked at me.
33:40Yeah.
33:40Time to leave.
33:41This life was too bitter.
33:43Nothing worth holding onto.
33:45I floated to Mom's hut one final time.
33:48She looked ancient.
33:49Hair completely white.
33:50Frail as paper.
33:51She sensed something.
33:52Her cloudy eyes focused on a point in the air,
33:55right where I stood.
33:56Stella?
33:57Is that you?
33:58Her trembling hand reached into the emptiness.
34:00Mom destroyed the choker.
34:02I don't believe in it anymore.
34:04Come back, please.
34:05I'll cook for you.
34:06No salary.
34:07I'll buy you new dresses.
34:08Not Emma.
34:09Tears rolled down her face.
34:11I looked at the red marks on her neck from the frayed cord.
34:14I...
34:14I reached out.
34:16My cold, ghostly finger touched her forehead.
34:19This was my final mercy.
34:20Sleep, Mom.
34:21In sleep, there's no pain.
34:23Her eyes fluttered shut.
34:25She slumped into a deep, dreamless rest.
34:28A breeze blew through the hut.
34:29The old journal on her cot flipped open.
34:31The last page, my dying words, stared up at the ceiling.
34:35But below it, in shaky handwriting, were new lines, written by Mom during a lucid moment.
34:41Next life, let me wear the choker.
34:43Let me be the liar.
34:45Punish me however you want.
34:46Just don't leave me.
34:47I stared at those words.
34:49Felt nothing.
34:50Too late.
34:51Repentance means nothing to the dead.
34:53Mom, I don't hate you anymore.
34:55But I don't love you either.
34:57Let's not meet again.
34:58I turned away.
34:59My wolf was waiting.
35:01In the distance, the door of light still glowed.
35:03Soft.
35:04Steady.
35:04Patient.
35:05I looked at my neck.
35:06The phantom Verity choker.
35:08Still there, even in spirit form.
35:10The nightmare that had changed me for a lifetime.
35:13I grabbed it.
35:14It shattered into nothing.
35:15I felt weightless.
35:17Free.
35:17No red light.
35:18No hunger.
35:19No lies.
35:20Just freedom.
35:21My wolf pressed against my side.
35:23Together, we walked toward the light.
35:25I didn't look back.
35:26Morning came.
35:27A guard pushed open the door.
35:28Rachel, time to eat.
35:30No response.
35:31She walked closer.
35:32Mom's hand clutched the torn journal.
35:34A single tear crystallized at the corner of her eye.
35:37She crouched beside her.
35:38Held two fingers beneath her nose.
35:40Nothing.
35:41She was gone.
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