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And then I heard a noise

The door to the roo, very slowly and very quietly

Footsteps crossed the room and stopped by the table My insides went cold, and it wasn’t because of the potion Who was here? For a ht be Mr Crepsley but he had no reason to co into the house We were set tovery quiet For a couple of minutes there was no sound at all

Then I felt hands on ht onto my pupils The roorunted, lowered the lids, then pried open ue: it felt like a piece of thin paper but it had a strange, bitter taste

After re the object froertips Next there was the sound of a ca photos

Finally he stuck a sharp object it felt like a needle into me He was careful not to prick me in places where I would bleed, and stayed away froans My senses had partially returned, but not fully, so the needle didn’t cause much pain

After that, he left I heard his footsteps crossing the roo, and that was that The visitor, whoever it had been, was gone, leaving , Dad ca e I would have gone to, the job he’d wanted for me He cried a lot

Toward the end, Mom came in and sat with him They cried on each other’s shoulders and tried to comfort themselves They said they still had Annie and could maybe have another child or adopt one At least it had been quick and I hadn’t been in pain And they would always have theirthe cause of soin the world to spare them this

There was a lot of activity later that day A coffin was brought in and I was laid inside A priest came and sat with the family and their friends People streaand sit up It would have been uess they didn’t want her to grow up feeling they’d robbed her of her chance to say good-bye to her brother

Finally, the lid was placed on the coffin and screwed into place I was lifted off the table and led out to the hearse We drove slowly to church, where I couldn’t hearsaid Then, with Mass out of the way, they carried raveyard, where I could hear every word of the priest’s speech and the sobs and moans of the mourners

And then they buried me