Chapter 3Ghosting My Toxic Family

Day 4 of being dead. The house is a chaotic mess.

Dad’s episodes are getting more frequent. When I was alive, things were manageable because I was the emotional buffer.

He used to dislike me too, but I was persistent. Compared to Mom’s suffocating obsession, a kid wanting to play catch was easier for him to stomach.

Mom loved that he loved us, so she never stopped our bonding. Sometimes she’d even drag my brother—who always looked like he was attending a funeral—to join in. We almost looked like a happy family back then.

But this time, Dad snapped hard. He even injured my brother.

The doctor had to sedate him just to get him to stop screaming.

"Mom, it’s been years. Just let him go," my brother says, collapsing onto the sofa, arm over his eyes. He looks done with life.

My brother, Damian, inherited the core traits of both parents. He’s been a nihilist since birth. When I was a kid and asked why he was always sad, he told me his future was pitch black. I said, "That sounds like a great time to nap," and he dragged me to the roof of a 50-story building to "sleep."

As we got older, he got more unstable. He only tolerated me. Then he met his "Luna"—his soulmate, the one who could heal him. But then his brain rot kicked in, and he decided he was scared she’d stop loving him, so the logical solution was a murder-suicide pact.

I told him, "Great, your future is bright now, literally. Because you’ll be walking into the light."

He actually smiled at that. He took Luna on a trip, but they just got back to this madness.

Mom glares at him.

"Get lost. You don't understand anything."

Damian doesn't bother arguing. You can't fix crazy.

He sits up, sighing. "Where’s Sunny?"

I’m usually the fixture in the living room. He’s surprised I’m missing.

Mom is too focused on Dad’s sleeping form. "She said she was visiting a friend. Still hasn't come back."

Damian calls me. "The subscriber you have dialed is busy..."

He doesn't call again. He leaves a voice note: Come home soon. Then he walks away.

I sigh.

Bro is definitely thinking about deleting himself from the server again.

Shortly after he leaves, Mom gets a text from the Ex.

It’s a photo of me when I was alive.

“Sunny looks just like her father.”

Mom scoffs. "Psycho."

"She’s his biological daughter. Who else would she look like?"