The Blade of Goodness

When I opened my eyes, the tip of my nose still caught the mixed scent of kindergarten disinfectant and clay. The cartoon clock on the wall showed 9:10, exactly the time the tragedy happened in the kindergarten—not a second off from my memory. I'm Shelly Scott, and I've been reborn. In my last life, my boyfriend Hunter Lewis and my foster sister Rue James teamed up to scheme against me, and I ultimately died in a warehouse fire. This time, I absolutely won't let the tragedy repeat itself. "Shelly, what are you spacing out for? It's time to take the kids out for some activities." Rue walked over, her smile sweet like candy but laced with poison. Her hand lightly rested on my shoulder, but her nails quietly dug into my flesh. I turned aside to dodge, my eyes landing on Nolan James not far away. He's the secret son of hers and Hunter's, five years old this year, but already more sinister than kids his age. Hunter was wearing a volunteer vest from the kindergarten, squatting beside Nolan and whispering something. Sunlight poured through the window, lighting them up—the father and son with their strikingly similar brows and eyes—that stabbed painfully in my chest. In my last life, I only realized as I was dying that they had been secretly plotting together for years. "Morris, give me your building blocks!" Nolan abruptly snatched the toy from the little boy beside him. Morris Williams was an orphan at the kindergarten, timid and always keeping his head down. He reached out to snatch back the building blocks but was forcefully pushed down to the ground by Nolan. With a loud "smack," Morris's forehead slammed into the edge of the table, and blood immediately seeped out. Even worse, Nolan grabbed the plastic scissors from the floor and suddenly jabbed them toward Morris's eye. "Ah —" A piercing scream instantly shattered the quiet of the kindergarten. I rushed over to pull Nolan away, but Hunter gripped my arm tightly. "Mind your own business, Shelly. They're just kids horsing around." His voice was low and forceful, his eyes filled with threats. Rue rushed over and shoved me aside. "What do you know? I've got experience—using lard on wounds stops the bleeding!" she said, grabbing half a bowl of lard from the kitchen and roughly smearing it over Morris's bleeding eyes. Morris trembled in pain, tears mixing with lard and blood, smearing all over his small face. I stared at that greasy bowl of lard, my heart aching as if it were being squeezed. In my previous life, it was this bowl of lard that caused Morris's wound to worsen with infection, almost blinding him in the end. "Mrs. James! There's an investor coming to inspect!" a teacher shouted from the doorway. Rue's expression changed instantly, and she immediately grabbed Hunter and Nolan to fix their clothes. "Quickly, lock that little bast*rd and Shelly Scott in the warehouse. Don't let them ruin everything!" She lowered her voice, dripping with venom. Two security guards came over and lifted the still-crying Morris. I struggled to resist, but Hunter covered my mouth and dragged me forcibly toward the warehouse. The warehouse door slammed shut with a bang, and darkness immediately swallowed us whole.