Chapter 4

4: 4

The incense was lit.

Eighteen thin sticks, laid out flat across the floor.

I drew a deep breath and knelt down onto them.

"Sssss!"

A faint sound, like meat hitting a hot pan.

My face twisted with the pain.

A dense field of burns bored down into my flesh.

I clenched my fists and bit down on my lip, forcing it back, sweat breaking out on my forehead, my whole body shaking despite myself.

My mother covered her mouth, her eyes going red.

My father turned his face away, unable to look.

Hunter seemed shaken too. He muttered under his breath.

"This... how long does she have to kneel like this?"

No one answered him.

The incense burned down to half.

I could smell my own flesh scorching.

My legs started to tremble on their own, my whole body trembling with them.

I wanted to shift, just to kneel on a different spot.

"Don't move!"

Elder Harper snapped low.

"You can't rise before the incense burns out. Stand up and the rite fails."

He thought I was about to back out.

My parents heard it and rushed forward in a panic, one on each side, pressing down on my shoulders.

"Valerie, bear it a little longer, it'll be over soon."

"Yes, if you give up now, all of this is for nothing."

They pressed hard.

The incense that had only lain against my skin now sank deep into flesh and bone.

"Ahh!"

The pain tore a scream out of me.

Somewhere in the haze, I thought of Grandma.

The winter I was six, I ran a high fever, and Grandma carried me three miles on her back to the clinic in town.

The mountain road had iced over, and she slipped and fell, splitting open her knee.

That scar stayed with her the rest of her life.

Every damp, rainy day, I would see her rubbing ointment into it.

I asked her once.

"Does it hurt?"

She shook her head, smiling.

"No, no. Your Grandma's tough as old leather."

Only now do I know how much a knee like that can hurt.

Then I thought of the year I was fifteen, the day Grandma left us.

She lay in bed, worn down to nothing but bone.

She gripped my hand, her lips moving, and she got out only a few words.

"Valerie, take care of yourself... don't worry about your parents..."

Back then I didn't understand what she meant.

Now, I understand.

What came after, I don't remember.

I thought I heard Elder Harper call out.

"The rite is complete. Rise!"

I couldn't rise. I fainted straight onto the floor.

"Valerie! Valerie! Are you all right?"

My father fumbled the burn ointment out with shaking hands.

My mother rolled up my pant legs, and the flesh lay bare in front of them, still smoking.

Red, charred black, one big bloody stretch of it.

Elder Harper's face changed.

"Get her to a hospital, now! The flesh is burned through, you can't just put ointment on this!"

My father shuddered in fright. He scooped me up and ran out of the family hall.

My mother grabbed the school bag I'd left on the floor and hurried after us, calling out.

"I'll bring the car around."

Hunter didn't move. He only stared at that spent coil of incense, something complicated in his eyes.

I didn't wake again until the next morning.

My knees were wrapped tight in gauze.

I tried to move one, and the pain went straight through me.

The family member in the next bed pressed the nurse call button for me, and a nurse came to change my IV bag.

"Lucky you got here in time. That's the only reason we could save the knee."

I looked around. My parents weren't there.

The nurse hesitated, something aching in her eyes.

"Your mom and dad left this morning. Said they had things to do today, they'll come back tomorrow."

My phone was charging beside the bed, two unread messages on the screen.

"Valerie, your dad and I headed back first. It's your brother's birthday today, we couldn't get away."

"Just rest and heal. We've hired a caregiver for you. Whatever you need, tell her."

I opened her social feed.

My mother had posted a grid of photos: a round banquet-room table with a lazy Susan crowded with dishes.

Hunter making a wish over his cake, eyes shut, the corners of his mouth turned up.

The caption: "Our family's little prodigy, happy fifteenth birthday! The exam-prep academy is all set, next year we win for sure! You've got this, son!"

Beneath it, dozens of likes and comments.

"Hunt's got this for sure!"

"A prodigy come down to earth. Ivy League's a lock for him now!"

"The Harpers' luck has finally turned!"

I set the phone down and looked back at the nurse.

"I want to check out."

She was stunned.

"You're still injured, you can't be discharged!"

I shook my head, resolute.

"Get me some medicine. I'm leaving right now."

Looking at how set I was, the nurse could only run off to find the attending physician.

I peeled off the gauze and pulled out the IV needle.

After pressing on the spot for a while, I tried to sit up.

There was a rental wheelchair by the bed, and I edged myself over into it.

Once the discharge paperwork was done, I shouldered my school bag.

Inside were my college acceptance letter, my new bank card, my old ID, and the receipt from changing my name...

The phone lit up. Someone had tagged me in the family group chat.

"Valerie, how come you didn't come celebrate Hunt's birthday today?"

I didn't reply.

My parents didn't reply for me either.

I left the group, then went through my contacts and blocked every one of the Harpers, one by one.

I was going to Sandport.

That best school Grandma always talked about.

The place that held my faith and my dream.

And they could go on guarding their self-styled prodigy.

From here on, the road runs long and the waters run wide.

Between me and the Harpers, nothing was left.