62 OUR LITTLE PRINCE

ZOREN

It was already past two in the morning when I was startled from my uncomfortable sleep on the couch when someone pushed the door open, and two nurses came in, pushing a stretcher, followed by Zachary, Jason, and Alex.

I quickly get up and look at the person on the stretcher, and my eyes widen. It's Athena. It's really her. The hospital staff brought an extra bed into the room, and Athena was quickly transferred.

"Why is she covered with bruises?" I asked after the nurses left."

"Dylan was beating her when we arrived. I don't know what will happen to her if we arrive late." Jason replied.

"Who is she?" Zachary asked—the question I dreaded to hear.

"Let's rest first, okay? Let's talk tomorrow. Athena can tell you her side of the story of what happened six years ago, and we can tell ours, too, because we also don't know what happened to her six years ago. We know that she died six ago. We buried her. She even has her grave in the cemetery. We don't know that she is alive.

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ZACHA