I Sold My Sister to Save the World

After being kidnapped to a remote mountain village, I turned around and sold my own sister, the one who came to rescue me, to a crippled man for three hundred bucks to be his wife.

Once I made it back to the city alone, I seduced my sisters fiancs and forced him to marry me.

Then I mailed Scarlett our wedding photos.

The shock and torment broke her.

She lost her mind and hanged herself.

...

Twenty years later, I was paralyzed in a car accident.

My husband and my furious parents together dragged me onto the Memory Tribunal C the sinners dock:

["Your sister died into those mountains for you! And you, you monster, turned on her!"]

["The only way you can atone now is to tell us where shes buried! You owe her that, you bitch!"]

["Otherwise, once we initiate the Memory Trial, you will lose your chance to redeem yourself!"]

Looking at my broken parents and grief-stricken Alexander, I still coldly refuse,

["She got what she deserved. Being left without a whole corpse was her own choice. As for the rest... I can't be bothered."]

...

Hearing my refusal, my mother slumped to the floor with a thud.

Tears streamed down her face, her voice a broken whisper.

["How did I give birth to a monster like you? Scarlett... she'd just gotten into the FBI Academy! Her whole future ahead of her! She went alone to save you... how could you do this to her!"]

Even my father knelt before me, eyes red-rimmed.

["Zoey, please. I'm begging you. Whatever happened back then... she's been gone twenty years. Where is her body?"]

["You were sisters! Do you want her soul to never find peace?"]

t was the second month after I'd been taken to the mountains when my sister, Scarlett defied all danger and ventured alone into that backwater alone.

I still remember the joy on her face when she found me, her eyes shining.

["Zoey! I'm here! I'm getting you out!"]

I saw the crippled man creeping up behind her, but I deliberately stayed silent, watching as a club knocked my sister unconscious.

Seeing Mom and Dad now, faces ravaged by tears, grief twisting them up... my own eyes stung.

Alexander Shaw lunged, fingers digging into my throat. ["Cut the act! Think a few crocodile tears will save you now?"]

["If you have a shred of decency left, tell us where she is! Tell us the truth!"]

A crowd had gathered, pointing and shouting insults.

["That's her! The one who got her sister killed twenty years back!"]

["Heard she shamelessly seduced her sister's fianc too! Always posting their sickeningly sweet photos online! Absolute monster!"]

["Back then, there was no evidence and we couldn't make her talk... had to let the bitch walk free. Thank God for the Tribunal now. Once we extract her memories, the whole truth will come out!"]

The noise swelled. "Monster!" "Subhuman!" "Shameless slut!" "Worthless bitch!"

A bitter laugh escaped me. Yeah. Scarlett's death was on me.

Mom saw me smile and lost again. She lunged forward and seized my throat.

["You monster! How dare you laugh!"]

["Your sister died in despair! What gives you the right to breathe?"]

["I hate you! I wish I'd never given birth to a bitch like you!"]

Alexander's voice was arctic. ["Once the memory extraction works, once everyone sees the truth... if over fifty percent vote her dead, she will drop dead on the spot!"]

My face turned deathly pale, not from fear of death.

From fear of the truth. ["No! You can't extract my memories! You have no right! Let me go!"]

Alexander gave a cruel smirk. His hand came down hard on the Tribunal controls.

Instantly, my brain felt like it was being crushed, reshaped. Agony ripped through me, muscles spasming uncontrollably.

The crowd watching below practically glowed with satisfaction.

["Memory extraction's like brain surgery without anesthesia. Three pain levels. Faster extraction, more pain. For a sister-killing snake? Max setting!"]

["After the Tribunal, Zoey'll be a drooling idiot! Ha!"]

["An idiot's too good! I'm voting for the slowest, most painful death!"]

My mind... it flashed to a scene from ten years ago.

The screen showed Scarlett entering the mountains.

She wore camouflage for easy concealment, her face full of determination.

["My poor Scarlett! Why were you so brave? Why did you go? We don't want to live without you!"]

The crowd was visibly moved by my parents' raw grief. Eyes welled up everywhere.

On screen, Scarlett held a phone, beaming as she reassured our parents.

["Mom, Dad, dont worry. I will bring Zoey home."]

["I've tracked her phone's last signal. I'll call once I've got her."]

Her face glowed with the thrill of the rescue mission. She never saw me, hidden behind a tree nearby.

Standing beside me was another man. Dark-skinned, powerfully built.

The Tribunal audience gasped, eyes wide with disbelief.

["I thought Zoey was held captive? Why's she just standing there?"]

["Zoey was always jealous Scarlett landed a CEO husband! This was her sick plan to steal him!"]

["Look at Zoey's eyes! Pure malice! She was setting Scarlett up!"]

["'Kidnapped'? My ass! She probably ran off willingly to marry some hillbilly! Poor Scarlett walked into a trap!"]

Alexander's face twisted. Trembling, he grabbed my throat again.

["Who was that man?"]

I choked, but forced the words out. ["Who else? My lover. I'm a slut. Why else would I crawl into your bed, right... Alexander?"]

SLAP!

Dad's palm cracked across my face. ["You shameless, filthy whore!"]

The watching crowd erupted.

["Still taunting him? Unbelievable gall!"]

Mom cried, a mess of tears and snot. ["Zoey, Scarlett was good to you! So what if she was always smarter? So what if the boy you liked preferred her? That's no excuse to hurt her! Tell me! Where is she?"]

I stayed silent. Alexander's eyes flashed cold fury. He cranked the Tribunal extraction speed to maximum.

Finally, the screen showed Scarlett finding me under cover of night.

["Zoey! I finally found you! Let's go!"]

The entire audience held its breath.

Because creeping up behind Scarlett was the crippled man.

["Oh God! Zoey, warn her!"]

["Scarlett risked everything for you! Zoey, SAY SOMETHING!"]

But no matter how much they screamed, the Scarlett on screen couldn't hear a word.

They could only watch, helpless, as the club swung. Scarlett crumpled.

And throughout it all, I remained silent, my attitude bordering on indifference.

Though if anyone had looked close, they might have seen the tear tracing its way down my cheek.

Mom lunged, grief-stricken, grabbing my collar, shaking me violently.

["Monster! You monster!"]

["If I'd known the demon you'd become, I'd have drowned you the day you were born!"]

The curses rained down. I clenched my jaw, silent as a tomb.

["Where is she? WHERE IS SHE?!"]

["I won't tell you. Knowing the truth... it won't help you."]

SLAP!

Alexander backhanded me across the face.

["Fine. If that's how you want it, no more mercy."]

["Everyone knows the Tribunal has three pain levels. But there's a fourth. Ultra. Pain like being run over by a semi, then put back together."]

["Are. You. Going. To. Talk?"]

Blood trickled from my nose and mouth. I shook my head.

Alexander slammed the control to Ultra.

Because the screen now showed Scarlett tied to a post.

The crippled man who'd knocked her out stood facing me.

Scarlett begged me, voice raw with terror. ["Zoey, please! Help me! I don't want to stay here!"]

["Please let me go! I came here for you! I never meant you harm! Alexander and I... we were getting married! Please!"]

The crowd ached for her.

Yet I glanced at her indifferently before speaking to the lame man.

["My sister's missing. If I don't go back, people will get suspicious. What if someone finds this place?"]

The crippled man thought for a second. Then he pulled out three hundred-dollar bills and handed them to me.

["Your sister stays with me. This covers your trip back."]

The crowd exploded.

["So... Zoey sold Scarlett to get herself out?"]

["Three hundred bucks! A future FBI agent! She sold her sister for three hundred bucks to some backwoods cripple!"]

["Zoey Dawson deserves to die!"]