Chapter 1On my fourth birthday, Dad rushed me into my uncle's basement. He looked terrified.
"Aliens are coming to Earth! Mom and Dad have to go to space and fight them!"
"Hide here. Don't let them find you until we come back. Got it?"
I nodded frantically.
For three years, I survived on one meal every few days from my uncle.
The old tablet Mom and Dad left me only lit up once a month. That was when they were supposed to call.
But today, a video call from an unknown number suddenly popped up.
I accidentally answered.
There was no spaceship. No aliens.
Just a huge mansion with a pool and a spiral staircase.
My little sister stood in front of a giant three-tiered cake in a princess dress.
Mom and Dad kissed her cheeks.
"Sweetheart, welcome to our new home downtown!"
A rat ran past my feet.
My cardboard helmet was so stuffy I could barely breathe.
I stared at the screen as everyone laughed and cheered.
Had Mom and Dad defeated the aliens?
Then... why hadn't they come back for me?
...
The screen went dark. The basement swallowed back into black.
I sat on that damp rotting mattress, listening to rats gnaw on cardboard by my feet.
Cold sweat pooled under my helmet.
I didn't take it off though.
Dad said it blocked radiation. Take it off and alien rays would turn me to stone.
But there were no rays on that screen.
Just bright chandelier lights and sparkles on my sister Lily's dress.
Heavy footsteps overhead.
Creeeak—
The iron door scraped open. Dusty yellow light spilled through.
Uncle Douglas came down with a chipped lunch box.
"Helen, you hiding?"
He kept his voice low, looking around like something was actually out there.
I shoved the tablet under my pillow and curled into the corner.
"I'm hiding, Uncle."
My voice came out flat.
Uncle looked satisfied. He tossed the box on the floor—clang.
"Alien patrol just flew over. Made a hell of a noise. You make any sound?"
He stared at me with those cloudy eyes.
"No, Uncle. I was quiet."
I reached for the lunch box.
Inside was half a bowl of stale oatmeal with a few pieces of half-rotted lettuce on top.
My rations for three days.
"Eat up."
Uncle Douglas looked down at me.
"Earth's running out of resources. Your mom and dad are fighting a war in space. They could die out there."
"So you'd better be grateful for whatever food you get. And don't cause them any trouble. Got it?"
I scooped up the oatmeal with my fingers and shoved it in my mouth.
Sour taste spread everywhere.
I forced it down and nodded.
"Thanks, Uncle. I'll wait for them to win."
Uncle seemed relieved. He turned and climbed back upstairs.
The iron door locked again with a heavy clunk.
That sound—for three years, it used to sound like hope.
Today, it sounded like a death sentence.
I finished every last bit, even licked the sauce off the edges.
Then the tablet under my pillow buzzed.
I wiped my hands on my filthy clothes and answered.
Mom's face appeared on screen.
She looked flustered. Her fancy curls were slightly messy.
"Helen."
She lowered her voice. White wall in the background.
"I just fought off some aliens. It was intense. Your uncle said you were good today?"
She had on full makeup. Bright red lipstick.
I watched the curve of her lips and answered calmly. "Yes, Mom. I finished all my food."
"Good."
Mom relaxed, her tone turning gentle with that slow, measured way she always talked.
"Helen, you need to be mature. You're the big sister. During times like these, you have to be independent."
"Life in the space station is hard. I worry about you every day."
"Don't touch the tablet randomly. If aliens track our signal, Uncle's house will be in danger. Understand?"
She was testing me. Seeing if I'd seen that footage.
"I didn't touch it, Mom. It just fell."
I didn't ask about the pool.
Didn't ask if Lily's cake tasted good.
I knew if I asked, she'd spin an even better lie. Or have Uncle take away my only connection.
A bright little voice came from off-screen.
"Mommy! Time to cut the cake! Daddy's looking for you!"
Lily's voice.
Mom's face froze.
Her eyes darted off-camera as she quickly covered the mic.
The sound got muffled, but I still heard it.
"Be good, honey. Mommy's just deleting spam. I'll be right there..."
Then Mom looked back at the camera and forced a smile.
"Helen, that was... that was the space alarm. I have to go fight again."
"Stay in the basement. Don't go anywhere. For Earth's peace, you have to endure this."
"Bye now. Mommy loves you."
She ended the call in a rush.
Screen went black again.
I stared at the dark tablet, at my reflection wearing that stupid cardboard box.
Pathetic.
Slowly, I lifted my hands and took off that cardboard helmet that had been suffocating me for three years.
No alien rays.
I didn't turn to stone.
Chapter 2
The basement reeked of mold mixed with the rot of ancient junk.
I tore that cardboard helmet into pieces, bit by bit, and shoved them under the bed frame.
After that, I lay back down on the wooden plank with its single thin blanket and stared at the ceiling.
I thought back to my fourth birthday.
Actually, that day was supposed to be my birthday. And Lily's third birthday too.
We were a year apart but born on the same day.
Guests filled the house. A pretty two-tier cake sat on the coffee table.
I stood in the corner of the living room wearing an old washed-out dress.
Lily wore a pink tutu, getting carried around like a little princess by Dad.
"Come on, Lily. Blow out the candles."
Dad grinned ear to ear, holding her tiny hand to cut the cake.
Nobody noticed I hadn't even made it to the table yet.
Later, after the guests left.
Lily was jumping all over the couch.
She stepped on some important documents Dad left on the table.
Dad's face darkened.
Mom rushed over and yanked me forward.
Smack!
The ruler came down hard on my palm.
Mom didn't yell. Her voice stayed calm and dignified. But it was ice-cold.
"Your sister's little and doesn't know better. You're four years old. Couldn't you have stopped her?"
Tears streamed down my face, but I didn't dare make a sound.
"Mom, I was washing dishes just now..."
"Don't make excuses."
Mom cut me off, frowning.
"Helen, why have you always been so dull? Not clever and lovable like Lily at all."
Dad carried Lily into the bedroom to comfort her. Didn't even glance my way.
The next morning, Dad woke me up early.
Panic all over his face as he shoved me into the car and drove me out to Uncle's place in the countryside.
Then that massive lie about aliens locked me down here.
Three whole years.
Was I not good enough?
Was that why they made me stay here and "save the Earth" all by myself?
Maybe they just thought I was in the way.
In the darkness, I rolled out of bed.
I searched through the junk in the basement.
It was full of broken scrap metal Uncle's family didn't want.
I moved silently, like a rat, searching the corners.
Finally, under a rusted metal cabinet, I found something thin and hard.
A piece of wire. About half a palm long.
I wiped it on my clothes and gripped it tight in my fist.
Two days later, Uncle opened the basement door again.
This time he didn't bring food. Just half a bottle of water.
The bottle was wrinkled and crushed. The water inside looked murky.
"Helen."
Uncle came down, eyes scanning the area suspiciously.
"I heard noise down here earlier. What were you doing?"
I hid the wire in my sleeve, curled up in the corner of the bed, trembling.
"Uncle, a rat bit my foot. I just shooed it away."
Uncle walked over, half-suspicious. He yanked back my thin blanket to check.
My ankles were covered in red swollen bite marks. Left over from days ago.
He sneered in disgust.
"Deal with it. War's not comfortable."
He tossed the half-bottle of water near my feet.
"Aliens cut off the water supply. Earth's running dry. Make this last a week."
I looked at that bottle—clearly scooped from a water tank—and nodded calmly.
"Thanks, Uncle."
Uncle sighed and started his lecture, all serious and heartfelt.
"Helen, you're a good kid. Your parents are risking their lives up there for you."
"You might be suffering here, but at least you're safe."
"If you dare run outside, the aliens will snatch you up for experiments. Drain all your blood. Got it?"
He didn't hit me. Didn't yell at me.
He just used the calmest tone to say the most terrifying things, trying to nail me down in this darkness forever.
"I know, Uncle. I'd rather die than go out there."
I looked up at him, eyes hollow.
Uncle seemed satisfied with my obedience.
He even reached out to pat my head, but when he saw my greasy, matted hair, he pulled his hand back in disgust.
"Good girl. Once the war's over, your parents will come get you and you'll live the good life."
Uncle turned and climbed back upstairs.
The moment the iron door shut.
I opened that half-bottle of murky water and took a tiny sip, wetting my cracked throat.
Live the good life?
They'd been living the good life for three years in their downtown mansion.
And me?
I didn't need them to come get me.
Chapter 3
For the next month, the tablet stayed eerily quiet.
No scheduled calls. No hollow reassurances from Mom.
Every day, besides eating the scraps Uncle brought down, I spent the rest of my time practicing in the dark.
Using that rusted wire to poke into the old lock on an abandoned wooden door in the basement.
Without light, I had to rely on my fingertips to feel the lock mechanism.
My fingers got cut on the rust. Scabbed over. Got scraped open again.
I didn't feel the pain.
Until one afternoon in the second month, the tablet let out a shrill ring.
In this dead-silent space, the sound was like thunder.
I quickly covered the screen and swiped to answer.
A delicate little face appeared.
Lily.
She had her hair in two cute pigtails with sparkly clips.
"Helen!"
She smiled at the camera, all sweet with her little dimples showing.
"You finally answered! Mom and Dad wouldn't let me call you. Said it'd interrupt your mission."
I looked at her rosy cheeks, then glanced at my own reflection in the corner of the screen.
Pale and gaunt. Like a drowned ghost.
"What do you want?" I asked softly.
Lily didn't pick up on my coldness.
She excitedly flipped the camera around.
The screen showed a whole wall of glass cabinets filled with limited-edition dolls and stuffed animals.
"Look, Helen! Dad brought this one from Paris on his business trip. And Mom got me this limited edition yesterday."
"My new room is HUGE. It even has a slide!"
She showed off excitedly, completely innocent.
She took all that favoritism for granted and figured I should be happy for her too.
"Helen, is it fun in the space station? What do aliens look like?"
"When are you coming back after you beat them? We can play house together!"
I stared quietly at all those brand-new toys on the screen.
On my fourth birthday, I got punished for half an hour just for glancing at her teddy bear.
"Soon."
My dry voice echoed through the basement.
"I'll be back soon."
Lily clapped her hands. "Yay! I'll ask Mom to buy you one too..."
Her words cut off.
The screen shook violently.
Then came Dad's voice, low and seething with anger.
"LILY! Who told you to touch that tablet?!"
The image flipped. Dad's stern face filled the screen.
His eyes locked onto me through the screen like I was a prisoner.
"Helen!"
"Did you tell your sister to sneak the tablet and call you?"
I shook my head. Didn't bother defending myself.
Mom's face squeezed into the frame too. She pulled Lily behind her.
"Helen, why are you being so difficult? Didn't Mom tell you the signal could be tracked?"
Her brow furrowed, eyes full of disappointment.
"Your sister's young and doesn't know better. You're seven years old now. How can you let her mess around like this?"
"I didn't." I said calmly.
Dad scoffed and cut me off.
"Enough. I'm warning you, Helen. Outside is full of toxic gas. Alien patrols are flying right above Uncle's house."
"If you dare run around or call home randomly and expose our location, you'll be a traitor to the entire planet!"
He paused, his tone softening slightly—classic carrot-and-stick.
"Dad's just trying to protect you. You stay put in that basement, and once it's safe outside, Dad will come get you. Understand?"
I watched them standing side by side under bright lights, dressed to the nines.
Those were my parents.
They used the noblest excuses to turn me into a ghost that couldn't see daylight.
"Understood, Dad."
I nodded obediently, resting the tablet on my knees.
"I definitely won't go outside."
Dad nodded, satisfied, and ended the call with a sharp click.
I slowly put the tablet away.
Picked up that wire I'd polished smooth from practice.
Stood up.
Walked toward that heavy iron door.
Time to end this lie.
