Chapter 2

The world twisted.

One second I was standing on the sidewalk, the next I was slammed against the dirty metal wall of a moving van. Dizziness washed over me. I looked down at my hands, my clothes. They were Ethan's.

The swap had happened.

He was back home, safe in my body, ready to become the grieving brother. And I was here, in his place, exactly where I wanted to be.

The memories of the last life flooded back in. The cold stares of the Benton uncles. The endless, back-breaking work on their compound. The constant fear. And worst of all, my parents' faces as they decided to throw me away like trash.

My resolve hardened into something cold and sharp. This wasn't just about Ethan anymore. It was about all of them. They would all pay.

The van ride was long and bumpy. I feigned sleep, listening to Mama Rose and Jennifer talk. They bragged about how easy it was, how stupid kids and their parents were in these forgotten Rust Belt towns. They thought I was just another piece of merchandise.

Perfect.

We finally arrived at the Benton compound. It was just as I remembered: a collection of rundown buildings surrounded by a high fence, deep in the woods, cut off from the world.

Mr. Benton, the patriarch, came out to meet us. He was a hard man with cold eyes. With him were his two brutish, unmarried brothers. They looked me over like a piece of livestock.

In my first life, I screamed and fought. This time, I stared at the ground and mumbled, playing the part of a slow, terrified boy.

Mr. Benton grunted, satisfied. He handed a thick envelope of cash to Mama Rose.

As the deal was being finalized, I saw the two Benton uncles staring at Mama Rose and Jennifer. It was a hungry, leering look I remembered all too well.

I chose my moment.

I looked at the uncles with wide, innocent eyes.

"Do you have wives?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly.

They grunted, shaking their heads.

I pointed a shaky finger at the two women.

"They told me everyone needs a family," I said, my voice filled with a child's simple logic. "Maybe they can be your family!"

The air went still.

The uncles looked at each other, then at Mr. Benton. A slow, greedy smile spread across Mr. Benton's face. Why pay for one boy when you could get two women and keep the cash?

Mama Rose and Jennifer realized what was happening too late.

"What is this?" Mama Rose stammered, her kindly facade dropping. "We had a deal!"

The Benton men moved fast. They grabbed the women, who screamed and fought. One of the uncles clamped a hand over Jennifer' s mouth while the other twisted Mama Rose' s arm behind her back. They dragged them, kicking and struggling, toward an old shed.

Mr. Benton snatched the envelope of cash from Mama Rose' s hand and pocketed it. He then picked up their car keys from the ground.

The last thing I heard before the shed door slammed shut was Jennifer' s muffled cry.

I stood there, watching. The first part of my plan was complete. Mama Rose and Jennifer were now prisoners on the compound, about to experience the exact life they sold children into.

A perfect, terrible justice.