He Locked Me in the Dark and Watched Me Die

My boyfriend said he wanted to propose to me in a haunted house.

But the moment I stepped inside, he yanked every breaker and locked the door from the outside.

The claustrophobia I'd carried since being kidnapped as a child erupted all at once. A suffocating pressure clamped around my throat.

I collapsed to the floor, pounding on the door with everything I had.

"Allan... open the door, please. I'm scared..."

But what I heard from the other side wasn't his voice. It was a woman's — playful and coy.

"I can't believe she actually fell for it. You told her you'd propose in a haunted house on April Fools' Day, and she bought it."

"You won the bet. Tonight, I'm all yours."

Every drop of blood in my body went cold. I knew that voice. It belonged to the livestreamer Allan Fox had been obsessed with lately.

So that was what ten years of love amounted to — a tool to win another woman's affection.

But when I actually died in that pitch-black haunted house, what was there left for him to cry about?

——

My heart stopped beating. I lay on the freezing floor and watched my soul drift free from my body.

Outside the door, Allan was still laughing without a care in the world.

"Come on, Liv, you're just too much of a scaredy-cat. Think of it as exposure therapy."

"Once you get over your fear, you can join me and Pauline for all kinds of extreme sports."

I floated beside him, tears rolling down in heavy drops.

He'd forgotten I had a heart condition. Forgotten that something like this could actually kill me.

Pauline Henson started a livestream, swinging the camera toward herself and Allan, flashing a bright smile at her followers.

"Here's my special guest for the day."

"Pauline made a little bet with him — if he could trick his girlfriend, the one with the heart condition, into a haunted house on April Fools' Day..."

"Then tonight, I'm his."

The moment she finished, the chat exploded with praise.

"This guy literally sacrificed his girl for a beauty. What a legend."

"So are you two gonna sneak in some R-rated content tonight?"

Pauline shot Allan a bashful glance, her voice dipping into a whine.

"What are you guys even saying? This was just an April Fools' challenge. I lost the bet — what was I supposed to do, back out?"

Allan leaned in and kissed her.

"No backing out."

I watched the two of them tangled up in each other, lips unwilling to part. My heart had already stopped, and yet somehow it still ached — a sharp, uncontrollable pain.

Two weeks ago, both sets of parents had been pushing us to get engaged.

Allan had knelt at my feet, promising he'd give me a home soon.

I'd thought today would be the happiest day of my life.

The boy next door I'd loved since childhood, down on one knee. Flowers. Applause. Congratulations.

Instead, what greeted me was his April Fools' joke.

Allan glanced back at the haunted house. No more screaming. No more desperate, gut-wrenching cries from inside.

He raised an eyebrow at Pauline and gave a thumbs-up.

"Your desensitization method actually worked. She's not even scared anymore."

Pauline lifted her chin, smug.

"Obviously. She's probably having the time of her life in there — totally hooked on the thrill."

The livestream chat started urging Pauline to take them on a haunted house tour.

Allan took the phone from her, carefully adjusting the angle.

They walked forward, and some invisible force dragged me along. I tried to drift somewhere else, but the moment I floated too far, I was pulled right back to Allan's side.

He laced his fingers through Pauline's, and together they pushed open the door to another haunted house.

A blood-curdling scream split the air. Instinct took over, and I threw myself into Allan's arms — only to pass straight through his body without meeting any resistance.

A bitter smile tugged at my lips.

Right. I was dead. What was there left to be afraid of?

I looked up and saw Allan gently covering Pauline's eyes with his hand.

"You don't have to act brave today. I'll protect you."

The chat complained that the two of them were being sickeningly sweet.

And I stood behind Allan, watching him hold Pauline's hand tight, shielding her with his body, keeping her safe.