The 13th Candle

The flickering candlelight illuminated 13 candles, even though it was only Lily's 12th birthday. Just as she blew them out, she suddenly collapsed. She died instantly, yet the coroner found no trauma, no poison, and absolutely no cause of death—noting only a faded, tightly braided hair bracelet on her wrist. Three days later, Lily's mother was found dead on the cold floor of the town morgue, brutally strangled. The most terrifying detail? The deep, patterned bruises on the mother's neck perfectly matched the weave of the hair bracelet, which remained securely tied to her dead daughter's wrist.