When our house caught fire, my father shoved me back into the burning room and pulled my brother to safety. My mother said they could not lose their son and abandoned me in the flames. They thought I was gone, but they never knew I escaped...

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad," I said, my voice cutting through the chilly night air like a razor blade. "Hi, Tyler. Did you miss me?"

Carol dropped her flashlight. It shattered on the charred floorboards. She fell to her knees, screaming, covering her ears. "A ghost! It's a ghost! I knew I heard her!"

David looked like he had been struck by lightning. His face was entirely devoid of color, his chest heaving. "Hannah...? No... you died. We... we tried to save you..."

"You tried to save me?" I laughed, a terrifying, mocking sound that echoed off the ruined walls. "You shoved me, Dad. You looked into my eyes, saw my terror, and you pushed me back into the fire so your precious miracle son could walk out without a scratch. And you, Mom—you decided my life wasn't worth the risk."

Tyler was shaking, backing toward the exit. "Hannah, I didn't know... I swear I didn't know they left you..."

"Shut up, Tyler!" I snapped, flashing a look of pure hatred at him. "You used my death to get sympathy at Apex. You're a fraud, just like them. But don't worry. I already took care of your little career."

David stepped forward, his hands shaking, trying to find his footing as a businessman, a father, a criminal. "Hannah... please. We were panicked. The smoke... we made a mistake. We love you. We can fix this. We have money now—"

"You don't have anything," I interrupted, pulling my phone from my pocket. "The insurance fraud division has the unpermitted wiring records, David. The state police have the audio recordings from your office where you both confessed to leaving me behind to die. I sent it to them twenty minutes ago."

Right on cue, the distant sound of sirens began to wail in the distance, growing louder, closer, heading straight for the gated community before turning toward our location.

"You thought you burned me alive," I said, stepping closer to them, the moonlight illuminating the vicious, angry pink scars on my arms. "But you didn't kill me. You just burned away the girl who loved you. You created Nora Vance. And Nora Vance doesn't forgive."

David collapsed against a charred beam, realizing his life was completely over. Carol was catatonic on the floor, weeping in the dirt. Tyler was crying, realizing the family legacy was ruined forever.

The red and blue lights of the police cruisers began to paint the blackened walls of the ruins, just like they had three months ago. Only this time, the paramedics weren't here to comfort them. The police were here to arrest them.