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Dad gripped a tube in his hand, the one connected to my room's air vent.

His face twisted with rage as he screamed, "Out of money? Then stop breathing! Do you have any idea how much each breath of oxygen costs?"

I opened my mouth wide, trying to gasp for air. My hands shook as I raised my phone.

A bright red warning box flashed across the screen. "Payment Overdue. Air Supply Suspended."

The balance showed zero.

"Dad... I... I'm out of money..." I dropped to my knees and grabbed at his pants. Dignity meant nothing when survival was at stake. "Please... give me air..."

Dad kicked my hands away and stared down at me coldly. "No money? What about your credit card? What about loans? As long as you can pay, you can breathe!"

I fumbled for the credit card in my wallet, my fingers trembling. It was for emergency only, money I'd been saving for a down payment on a house.

I operated the card reader with shaking hands. I processed a cash advance, transferred it, and reloaded my account. 50 thousand dollars vanished in an instant.

"Ding! Reload successful."

Fresh air rushed back into the room. I gulped it down greedily, tears and snot streaming down my face.

The feeling of having my life in someone else's hands was unbearable. I had to call the police. I huddled in the corner and dialed 911 with trembling fingers.

The call wouldn't go through. A red X appeared in the signal bar at the top of my phone screen, showing there was no signal. The entire house seemed to be blocked off from the outside world.

I frantically opened my settings and searched for Wi-Fi. Only one network appeared in the list, named, "Lifeline".

No password was required, but when I connected, an authentication page popped up automatically.

"Internet access fee. 1,000 dollars per minute."

I clicked connect. Money didn't matter anymore. I had to get help.

The moment I connected, my messages exploded with notifications. I opened the family group chat and tapped on conversations with my aunts and uncles.

My fingers flew across the keyboard. "Help! Mom and Dad have lost it! They locked me in and are extorting me! Someone call the police!"

Replies came flooding in immediately.

Aunt Ellie: "Give them the money!"

Uncle James: "Give them everything you have! Right now!"

My cousin Caleb Jones: "Don't hold back, give them all of it! Hurry!"

Every response was identical, down to the punctuation marks. The phone's glow cast a ghostly pallor across my face. These weren't normal replies. The entire world had gone insane.

I threw my phone aside and ran to the window. If the door was welded shut, I'd jump out. This was the third floor, maybe I'd break some bones from the fall, but it was better than suffocating to death.

I grabbed a chair and smashed it against the glass. It shattered on impact. I leaned out, but the sight beyond froze me solid.

Outside the window was pitch black emptiness.

I reached out to touch the darkness beyond. A cold, mechanical voice echoed through the void.

"Warning. Departure will result in death."

I stumbled backward and collapsed to the floor. The chair slipped from my grip and tumbled into the void without making a sound.

I huddled in the corner of my room, shaking until dawn broke. Eventually, Mom knocked on the door to call me for breakfast.

I shuffled to the living room like a zombie. A plate of ravioli sat on the dining table. The ravioli skins were blackened and gave off a strange odor, as if they'd been sitting out for days.

A small sign stood beside the plate. "Premium Nutrition Meal. 100,000 dollars."

I stared at the ravioli, my stomach twisting. "I'm not eating that…"

"You have to eat!" Dad slammed his fist on the table, his eyes bulging. "If you don't eat, you won't have energy! And if you don't have energy, how will you earn money to pay your bills?"

He was still wearing the same old clothes from last night. His eyes were sunken, and he looked even more haggard than I did. Neither of them touched the food. They just stared at me.

I picked up a ravioli and shoved it in my mouth. It was rancid, but I didn't dare spit it out.

The moment I swallowed, a sharp pain tore through my chest.

"Ahhh!"

I screamed and collapsed to the floor, clutching my chest. My body convulsed beyond my control, and my vision went dark.

"Dad… help me… it hurts…"

I reached out to him. He didn't move to help. He just watched me writhe in agony, then pulled a grimy little glass vial from his pocket.

A handwritten label was stuck to it. "Miracle Cure."

The liquid inside was murky and foul, looking even dirtier than the water from before.