They Called Me A Killer But I Am A Ghost

My father had a custom pool built in our backyard, supposedly to help me conquer my fear of the water.
But I was terrified of even dipping my toes in, so he never pushed it, letting me stay on the deck with a super-soaker while he swam laps.
Then my little brother, Leo, was born, and he became the sun this entire household orbited around.
The day everything changed, Leo was standing by the edge, his feet slipping on the wet tile. I instinctively reached out to grab him, but I was small and clumsy, and we both tumbled into the deep end.
I fought to keep his head above the water. By the time Dad rushed over, all he saw was me shoving my brother's head under.
His eyes were blazing with a terrifying, primal fury. He grabbed the heavy-duty skimmer pole and brought it down on my hand with a sickening crack.
"Killer! You tried to drown your brother!"
He hauled Leo out, but he left me, the child who couldn't swim, thrashing in the deep end. Then, he yanked the ladder out.
"Stay in there and think about what you did! Maybe this will beat some sense into you!"
They were too busy performing CPR on Leo, too frantic to look back at me, bobbing and struggling just a few feet away.
Water burned my nostrils and lungs, but even in that crushing agony, the last thing I wondered was if they would still love me, once I was saved.
1
My body felt impossibly light.
I was floating.
I looked down and saw the small formthe one always dressed in ill-fitting, hand-me-down t-shirtscurled up at the bottom of the deep end.
My hair fanned out like dark seaweed, obscuring the pale, tiny face.
The motion-sensor lights in the backyard flickered, illuminating the scene.
Outside, the siren's red and blue strobed across the front of our suburban mansion. Medics rushed in with a stretcher.
My mother, Vicky, her face tear-streaked and hysterical, clung to Leo's hand.
"Baby, don't you dare scare Mommy! Please, don't you dare!"
My father, Richard, hovered over them, his face a mask of panicked concern.
They rushed the stretcher out to the ambulance, their footsteps ragged and urgent.
From start to finish, not one person glanced back at the backyard.
The ambulance wailed into the night, carrying away all their hope and worry.
The house sank back into a deathly silence.
I floated above the pool, watching the water smooth out.
When the last ripples vanished, the dark-blue water was like a massive, polished sapphire, perfectly concealing the horror beneath it. From the deck, the surface was flat as glass; there was no hint of the dead child at the bottom.
After the ambulance left, my father strode back to the patio.
He still had the broken skimmer pole clenched in his hand, his expression so dark it felt like the air itself was condensing around him.
"You little sociopath! Get out here!"
He stopped at the glass doors, his gaze sweeping the empty yard like a predator's.
I floated right in front of him, close enough for my spectral presence to brush his nose.
I tried to whisper, "Dad," but no sound came out.
He couldn't see me.
His eyes passed over the pool's tranquil surface, pausing for barely half a second before moving on.
No waves, no splash.
To him, that meant I had climbed out, and now I was running, hiding out of guilt.
"Oh, you think you're tough, now, do you?"
He sneered, slamming the skimmer pole onto the cobblestone patio. The metal scraped against the stone, sending up a shower of sparks.
"Tried to murder your brother, and now you want to play hide-and-seek? Grow up!"
He stomped toward the utility shed, kicking the door panel hard.
"Come out! Don't think for a second I'll let you off just because you're hiding! You have a toxic heart! That's your brother, and you attacked him!"
"You always seemed so meek, but you're just a poisonous, ungrateful brat!"
Every word was a shard of glass, embedding itself into my dead body at the bottom of the pool.
He had convicted me long ago.
No trial, no evidence needed. If Leo cried, I was the sole culprit.
The shed was empty, save for a few terrified cockroaches scurrying away.
Not finding me only fueled his rage.
He turned around, hands on his hips, his chest heaving violently.
His eyes fell back on the pool.
This time, he stared at the dark-blue water, and a flicker of pure disgust crossed his face.
"Hiding? Fine. Let's see how long you can hide."
He must have been convinced I was watching him from a corner, waiting for him to cool down.
He stalked toward the pool's control panel.
There was a red button there.
The switch for the automatic pool cover.
It was usually only used to prevent leaves from falling in or when closing the pool for the winter.
The cover was made of thick, heavy, canvas-like material. Once sealed, it could hold the weight of several grown men.
I didn't understand what he was doing.
Not until his finger slammed down on that red button.
"RUMBLE"
The roar of the motor starting up was jarring in the dead quiet of the night.
The spool at the end of the pool began to turn, and the thick, opaque, dark-blue fabric began to roll out, like a massive mouth slowly swallowing the water's surface.
No!
I shrieked soundlessly, trying desperately to pull his hand away.
Dad, I'm right here, under the water!
If you cover it, truly no one will ever find me!
The canvas scraped along the rails, a nerve-jangling, grinding sound.
Three feet, six feet, nine feet...
The water, which had been gently glimmering, was slowly smothered by darkness.
Richard stood by the switch, a look of vindictive satisfaction on his face.
"Since you like hiding so much, don't come out."
"That'll stop you from running off and hurting someone else! Let's see how long this little menace can stay hidden!"
He thought that sealing the pool would prevent me from ever pushing Leo in again.
He didn't know he was sealing his own daughter inside her tomb.
The motor whirred to a stop.
Click.
The lock engaged.
Air-tight.
The entire pool was now a flat expanse of dark-blue canvas, a colossal coffin lid.
Richard turned toward the glass doors. Before going inside, he made a point of sliding the old-fashioned deadbolt home.
The sound of the bolt locking was sharp and final.
Through the glass, he glared at the empty patio, at the sealed pool. He yelled, his voice laced with venom:
"You can feed the damn mosquitos out here! Think about your black heart!"
"And no one is opening this door for you until morning!"
With a sudden, violent movement, he yanked the heavy blackout curtains closed.
The warm indoor light was completely cut off.
The world outside dissolved into a perfect, impenetrable blackness.

First, search for and download the MotoNovel app from Google. Then, open the app and use the code "312105" to read the entire book.