A wave of dizziness hit me. When I opened my eyes, I was in a moving car.
I turned to the window and saw my reflection—I was back in my brother’s body.
The woman sitting next to me, pinning me down, was the same as before. Mabel. The driver, an older woman named Fabienne, was their boss.
They had a system. Fabienne, in her 60s, would play the sweet old lady selling candied apples, luring kids in. Then she and Mabel would smuggle them deep into the mountains and sell them off.
I was just eight years old, so they weren’t exactly on guard around me.
I leaned back in my seat, memories crashing down.
For 10 years, I had only one question. ‘Why?’
‘Why did my own brother do this to me?’
After they found me, I didn’t even get a chance to ask. He swapped back immediately, pinned everything on me, and whispered in my ear.
“Bro, you let me get taken and did nothing. You deserved every bit of it.
“Now that you’re back, you’ll pay for what you did!”
But I did try to stop him! I told him not to go with that woman, but he wouldn’t listen! He even cursed me out, saying I just wanted the candied apple for myself.
He chose to go! And somehow, I was the one to blame…