She Locked Me In Basements And Called It Love Called It Training Chapter 05

She Locked Me In Basements And Called It Love Called It Training Chapter 05

“Where is she? Where is my daughter?” Dad screamed, clutching the empty safety line as his voice broke into a frenzied panic.

Audrey collapsed onto the snowy deck, staring down into the abyss in utter denial. “Lily, stop playing around. Where are you? Please come out!”

Mom marched forward, violently pulling Audrey away from the ledge. “Get back from there, it’s dangerous,” she snapped.

She rolled her eyes, pointing a dismissive finger at the empty harness. “What are you two losing your minds over? I saw her strap into both safety lines before she went down. Only one is here, which means she got scared and begged someone to pull her up while we were gone.”

Hearing her logic, Dad and Audrey let out a collective sigh of relief, turning instantly to the trembling ride operator. “Where is our daughter? Tell her we’re waiting for her at the platform.”

But the operator’s face was deathly pale. He stood frozen.

After a horrifying silence, he managed to choke out the words, “No… none of our staff pulled her up. There’s no one else out here.”

Mom’s temper flared instantly. “That little brat! Not only did she sneak back up early, but now she’s deliberately hiding to play some sick game of hide-and-seek? She really thinks she’s clever now, doesn’t she?”

“I knew she was entirely useless,” Mom continued to rant. “She can’t handle a single bit of discomfort without resorting to lies. Just like that time she couldn’t take five minutes of exposure training and sneaked off to the ER just to play the victim and beg for sympathy!”

“Shut up! Don’t you dare bring up the hospital!” Dad yelled, his anger boiling over. “If I hadn’t shown up that day, Lily would have died in that room!”

“There’s a blizzard rolling in and it’s getting dark,” Dad said, looking out at the freezing mountain. “Where could she have gone alone? I’m going to find her.”

“Dad, I’m coming with you!” Audrey cried, desperate to follow him out into the snow.

But Mom stepped into their path, blocking the exit. “You are not going out there. It’s freezing. What if Audrey catches a cold? Let that girl hide. We’ll see how long she lasts before she comes crawling back.”

“Mom! Please!” Audrey begged, tears streaming down her face. “What if she’s lost? Just let us find her first, please!”

Seeing her daughter’s relentless sobbing, Mom finally let out an irritated sigh. She pulled the walkie-talkie from her pocket and clicked the transmission button. “Lily, get out here right now! I’m telling you, if your sister wasn’t begging for you, I’d leave you out here to rot. You want to see what happens when you’re left to fend for yourself?”

To everyone’s surprise, the red indicator light flared to life, accompanied by a faint crackle of static.

A mocking smirk immediately returned to Mom’s face as she looked at Dad and Audrey. “See? What did I tell you? She’s perfectly fine. She’s just throwing a tantrum to pitch a silent fit.”

One second passed. Then two. Then three.

The walkie-talkie remained entirely silent, radiating nothing but dead static.

The smirk vanished from Mom’s face. “Did you hear me? Answer me!” she demanded into the mic. “You think you’re tough now, ignoring me? Fine! Then you can stay out here forever!”

Hovering in the freezing air, my spirit wept silently.

That’s not true, Mom.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to answer. I couldn’t.

The reason only one rope came back up was because the main safety line had snapped, plunging down into the ravine along with my body.

Right before I died, I had tucked the walkie-talkie securely into my pocket and

zipped it tight. My own body had shielded the device from the impact, keeping
it functional enough to maintain a signal.

I wasn’t lying, and I wasn’t hiding.

“You’re still lying to yourself!” Dad roared, lunging forward to rip the
walkie-talkie out of Mom’s hand. “You locked the gate! How could she have
come back up? She’s terrified of the dark—where could she possibly go?”

He turned to the park ranger, screaming, “Call the police! Report a missing
child! Get a search party into the mountains right now!”

Before the ranger could run to his radio, the park’s emergency PA system
crackled to life across the valley.

“Attention all park guests and staff. A body has just been discovered at the base
of the mountain near the trail exit. Will any families with missing parties
please report to the ranger station immediately.”