The voice on the phone had seemed impossible at first. A cruel mistake. A lie.
But with every pounding step echoing down the street as I ran, the words gnawed deeper into me, clawing at my chest.
It can't be her. It can't be Miss Elsa… please, let it be a mistake…
Flashbacks flickered through my mind: Elsa smiling warmly as she set a bowl of stew before me, scolding me for being careless with rent, patting my shoulder like the sister I never had.
I couldn't… I couldn't afford to lose her too.
By the time I reached the hospital, the world was spinning with dread. A pair of double doors loomed before me, and through the small glass window, I saw her.
Her.
Lying there like a fragile doll beneath sterile white sheets. Unmoving. Machines beeping, wires trailing, nurses moving briskly around her still figure.
"No…" I whispered, the floor wobbling beneath me. "It… it can't be true…"
My knees nearly gave way. Just days ago, she had been alive, vibrant, scolding me to eat more vegetables. And now she was fighting for her life.
"Are you with this lady?"
I turned sharply. A man in a white coat regarded me with eyes that held no comfort.
"She's… she's like my elder sister," I gasped out, breathless from the run. "What happened?"
The doctor's voice was steady, but heavy. "She jumped from the roof of her university building."
My breath caught. "Jumped…? No… not Miss Elsa. She would never…"
"It isn't confirmed a suicide case," the doctor clarified gently, as if it mattered, as if those words didn't already dig a knife into my chest. "But the reason she fell is unclear."
I staggered, clutching the wall. "...Her condition? She'll be alright, won't she?"
Silence.
The doctor's jaw tightened. "…She's in a coma. We can't say anything with certainty. If she doesn't show progress… she may not survive the next three days."
"Three…" My voice cracked. "Three days…?"
"I'm sorry." His words were final, as cold and sterile as the walls around us. "We're doing what we can. Please… prepare yourself."
And with that, he left me to drown in the hollow corridor.
"…No…"
The tears spilled before I realized they had welled. My chest collapsed in on itself, a sob ripping silently through my throat.
She was my savior. The person who gave me a home when no one else would. My family… my sister. Why her? Why now?
And suddenly, Aisha's words slithered back into my mind.
Every wish has a price.
"No…" I muttered. "No! This… this was Bell. This is because of her."
Clenching my trembling fists, I bolted from the hospital, rage and fear burning together inside me.
When I pushed open the apartment door, Bell rushed toward me like a beam of innocence, crimson eyes bright.
"Papa! Welcome ho—"
"Don't come near me!!"
My voice exploded all at once.
Bell froze mid-step, her smile shattering, replaced by wide, glistening eyes. "…P-Papa?"
"Don't call me that!" My voice cracked, raked raw by pain. "Because of you… because of you, Miss Elsa is in a coma!! Because of you—she might die!!"
Bell's lip trembled, her tiny hands clutching the hem of her dress. "I-I don't… understand… Papa, why are you angry…?"
"Get out!" I roared, slamming my bedroom door shut and locking it.
The door rattled. Bell's small fists pounded desperately as her voice broke into sobs.
"Papa… please don't shut me out… please… I-I don't know what I did… Please don't leave me alone!"
Her cries tore into me like daggers, but I pressed my palms over my ears, shoving my face into my knees.
If I hadn't met her… Elsa would be safe. If Bell didn't exist, none of this… none of it would be happening.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the knocking stopped. Her voice faded into silence.
But another voice replaced it.
"Are you so sure?"
I jolted. My head snapped up.
Aisha sat casually on my bed, her silver hair spilling like a curtain, her lips curved in that mocking, poisonous smile.
"You really think it was Bell's fault?"
"You…" I choked out, rage bubbling over. I leapt up, swinging to grab her throat, to strangle the truth out of her—
But my hands passed through. Mist. Nothing.
"Tut-tut." She shook her head. "My existence is the same as Bell's. You can't harm what isn't… flesh. Not in this way."
My knees buckled. I slammed my fist into the wall. "Then why?! Why her?! Why Miss Elsa of all people?!"
"It is not fair for just a small thing like exam you are taking someone life" I said
"It wasn't her." Her tone was chilling—like a teacher guiding a slow student. "The price of your little exam wish… was already paid, via Shu's accusations."
"…Then…" My voice faded. "Why… Elsa?"
Aisha leaned close, her whisper cold against my ear.
"Because you forgot your first wish. On the night of your accident. Do you remember? You wished to live. To be happy."
My gut sank like lead.
"Happiness isn't granted so easily," Aisha purred. "To keep you alive… balance demanded another life."
"No…"
"Yes." Her eyes gleamed like amethyst flames. "Elsa is paying for your happiness, White. You traded her life for your second chance."
My body trembled. "So… I'm the reason…"
"Exactly." Her smile widened into something cruel, almost playful. "Bell didn't cause this. You did. It was your wish. Your desire to live rewrote fate."
The world turned upside down. My breath caught. My hands shook violently. "…If… if I had just died that day—Elsa would…"
"Would still be alive. Yes." Her words slipped like poison.
I staggered back, clutching my head. The truth crushed me, burying me under its weight.
This… this is my fault.
But despair soon morphed into desperate resolve.
I raised my head, voice breaking. "…Then tell me. Is there any way to save her?"
Aisha's lips curled. "Not through me. But…"
Her eyes glinted, flicking toward door.
"…She can save Elsa. Ask her. Pray. Beg. If your wish is strong enough… maybe it will be granted."
She began to fade again into mist, leaving only her haunting words behind.
"Just remember, White… another price will be demanded. Always."
"…Bell." I said
I slammed open the bedroom door, my heart pounding—
Empty.
Sheets cold.
Bell was gone.
"…Bell!!"
I tore through the apartment, the corridor, down the street, shouting her name, but no answer came.
For the first time, I felt it in my bones—
The price wasn't finished collecting.