The Cremation Ashes Necklace from My Best Friend

As I walked out of the hospital, an old man suddenly stared at the necklace around my neck and said, "Young lady, you're pregnant, yet you're wearing the ashes of a stillborn child. This is a trade of life for death. Your child has been exchanged into someone else's womb!"

The necklace was a gift from my best friend after her miscarriage. I hadn’t wanted to wear it, but she insisted and made me put it on. This morning, she found out she was pregnant again, while my previously healthy baby suddenly had no detectable heartbeat.

A chill ran through me. When I got home, I put the ashes necklace around the neck of a pregnant black dog.

——

I stood in front of the hospital entrance, staring blankly at the small silver gourd hanging from the necklace.

Inside, there really was a grayish-black powder. Was this… ashes?

My mind went blank.

“That’s the ashes of a stillborn baby!”

The old man’s expression was grave. “You’re pregnant, yet you’re wearing a necklace containing ashes. This is life exchanged for death. The child in your womb will suffer, while the one who gave you the necklace will give birth to a healthy baby.”

My heart tightened.

The necklace had been a gift from my best friend, Chloe, after her last miscarriage.

I never liked wearing jewelry, but Chloe insisted I wear it.

Today, she and I had come to the hospital together for a check-up.

My previously healthy baby suddenly had no heartbeat, while Chloe was pregnant again.

Overjoyed, she left first. I lagged behind, feeling downcast, only to be stopped by an old man named Mr. Keith just as I stepped out of the hospital.

With trembling hands, I was about to throw the necklace away, but Mr. Keith stopped me.

"The moment you put on the necklace, the ritual began," he said. "If you want to break free, you must find another pregnant woman to complete the ritual in your place. If you just throw it away, both you and your child will die."

I was torn. Wasn't this forcing me to do the same heartless thing Chloe did?

"Mr. Keith, is there no other way?" I asked.

Mr. Keith shook his head. "Before midnight tonight, you must give the necklace to someone else. Once that’s done, contact me again. Remember, whatever you do, don’t alert the target."

After leaving me his phone number, Mr. Keith hurried off.

It was 5 p.m. That meant I had only seven hours to save myself.

I couldn’t help but doubt Mr. Keith’s words.

Chloe and I grew up together. We were as close as sisters. After her last miscarriage, I even took care of her while heavily pregnant myself.

I couldn’t believe she would do something so cruel to me.

But… what if it was true? After all, my baby really did lose its heartbeat.

My mind was in chaos. I stumbled home in a daze.

As soon as I opened the door, I heard the sound of breathy moans from the study, the kind that come after passion.

Then I heard Chloe giggle and say, “Seeing your wife looking all lost and broken after leaving the hospital today, I couldn’t stop laughing.”

Harold comforted her, “Just wait till the ashes necklace ritual is complete and that lump of flesh in her belly falls out. She’ll cry her eyes out, look absolutely disgusting. You’ll enjoy the show even more.”

I felt like I had been struck by lightning. Mr. Keith had been telling the truth.

I wanted nothing more than to rush in and confront them, to demand why they had betrayed me like this.

But Mr. Keith had warned me not to alert them.

I could only leave the home I shared with Harold in silence and return to the apartment I had bought before we got married.

As soon as I stepped through the door, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I broke down in tears.

Wiping my eyes and turning around, I saw my black dog crouching by the edge of its cage, far away from me.

I had raised this dog for seven years, but it never warmed up to me or my husband.

Instead, it wagged its tail and acted all sweet toward Chloe.

Looking at the dog’s swollen, pregnant belly, a sudden idea struck me like a flash of lightning.

Mr. Keith never said the ashes necklace had to be given to a person.

That thought hit me all at once.