“Don’t talk crazy. The blind man’s been dead for ages!”

  “But I swear I saw him,”

  Dad said, his voice edging up a notch.

  He was starting to freak out.

  But freaking out wouldn’t solve anything.

  Right now, the top priority was figuring out how to bury Grandpa.

  “If you leave the coffin empty and unburied, it’ll bring doom for seven generations,”

  Dad said, shooting me a glance and hesitating.

  “We gotta find Dad’s body. Can’t bury an empty coffin. It’s bad juju for the descendants.”

  Dad was worried sick about me.

  Truth was, my health was hanging by a thread.

  One more shock and I might crumble.

  Mom didn’t waste a second.

  “Let’s go.”

  “Go where?” Dad asked, looking lost.

  “To the blind man’s place,” Mom said.

  “You said you saw him. Besides, there’s nowhere else in the village to stash a body. The blind man’s got two empty, run-down rooms.”

  My heart sank when I heard we were heading to the blind man’s.

  Before I could open my mouth, my parents rushed out, telling Anbay to watch over me and not let me step foot outside.

  I knew what they were thinking.

  This whole mess was super strange.

  But they were in denial.

  They thought their booming business in the city had made some folks green with envy, and now someone was playing dirty tricks.

  But I had a hunch it was way more complicated than that.

  “Anna, don’t be scared. It’s gotta be someone jealous of our sweet life. They’re too chicken to face us, so they’re pulling this sneaky stunt. Mom and Dad will surely find something. Once they’ve got proof, they’ll come back and call the cops,”

  Anbay said, trying to sound confident.

  That “surely” turned out to be a long wait.

  By sunset, they still hadn’t shown up.

  The village wasn’t exactly huge.

  It should’ve taken twenty minutes tops to hit the blind man’s and hightail it back.

  I started to panic, and Anbay wasn’t far behind.

  “I’ll go check it out. You wait here for me,” he said.

  “I’m coming too!”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  I shot up from my seat.

  Seeing his hesitation, I blurted out, “I’m scared to be alone!”

  Anbay caved and took me with him.

  There were no streetlights in the village, just the moon casting a faint glow.

  Anbay gripped my hand tight, like he was afraid I’d trip and fall.

  When we got to the blind man’s house, I held my breath without thinking.

  The door was ajar, and it was pitch-black inside.

  Even though it was the middle of summer, a chill ran down my spine.

  “Dad! Mom?!” Anbay called out.

  Silence.

  Anbay flicked on his phone flashlight and we inched our way in.

  The first thing that hit us was a musty smell.

  Then, there was this other smell I couldn’t put my finger on.

  It wasn’t sweet, but it wasn’t fishy either.

  It tickled the back of my throat as I breathed, making me want to gag.

  And the source of that smell was...

  Anbay dropped his phone and slapped his hand over my eyes.

  His palm was clammy. His voice cracked.

  “Don’t look, Anna. Don’t look.”

  Too late.

  In that split second, I’d already seen it.

  There was a chair in the middle of the main room.

  Someone was sitting on it.

  I didn’t know who.

  Because their face had been peeled clean off and tossed aside.

  The pale slab of skin was lying at the corpse’s feet, and my heart lurched.

  Anbay practically dragged me out.

  My legs had turned to jelly from fright.

  He wasn’t in much better shape, but with our parents MIA, he had to hold it together for my sake.

  After the initial shock wore off, I realized my clothes were soaked through with sweat.

  “Brother, where are Mom and Dad?” I stammered.

  Anbay’s eyes were wide with horror, but he forced a calm fa?ade.

  “It’s okay, Anna. It’s okay. I’ll call the cops right now!”

  But the call wouldn’t go through.

  We tried over and over, calling the police, calling our parents.

  Nothing.

  It was getting darker by the minute.

  Just thinking about that corpse made my skin crawl.

  Anbay clutched my hand.

  “Let’s go find someone!”

  There were other people in the village.

  Surely someone’s phone would work.

  But as we went from door to door, desperation set in.

  The village was dead silent.

  Every house had its doors shut tight, not a single light on.

  No one even bothered to answer our frantic knocking.

  Anbay pounded on doors, sweating bullets.

  “Brother, stop,” I pleaded.

  “No one’s gonna open up.”

  Anbay gritted his teeth and squeezed my hand harder.

  “Anna, don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

  I was still shaky from before, and all the walking had worn me out.

  I’d been smelling a fishy-sweet scent for a while.

  It was familiar.

  I opened my mouth to call Anbay, and then I coughed up a mouthful of blood.

  “Anna!” Anbay screamed.

  I wanted to tell him I was okay, but the blood kept coming.

  I could feel my body getting colder as it drained out.

  Finally, I blacked out.

  When I woke up, I was in a bed.

  A wrinkled face peered down at me and let out a sigh of relief.

  “You’re awake.”

  Where was I?

  I could still taste blood in my mouth.

  The old man handed me a cup of strong tea.

  “Rinse your mouth. You’ll be okay now that you’re awake.”

  “Grandpa.2?!” I recognized him.

  Grandpa.2’s frown lines smoothed out.

  “If you can still recognize people, you’re not in too bad a shape.”

  “Your brother carried you all over the village until he found me.”

  Anbay walked in just then.

  Seeing me, he rushed over and pulled out a medicine bottle.

  “Anna, take your medicine.”

  This medicine could stop my bleeding, at least for a while.

  As I took the medicine, I heard Anbay say he’d lugged me around, begging door to door for help.

  But nobody lifted a finger.

  It was only when we got to Grandpa.2’s that we saw a glimmer of hope.

  I suddenly remembered the corpse.

  Grandpa.2 waved me off.

  “No need to call the police.

  This is something the living can’t handle.”

  I was floored.

  What did he mean?

  “The one you saw on the chair was your grandfather.”

  My head spun.

  “Impossible!”

  Grandpa was the nicest guy.

  He’d helped so many people in the village.

  He’d never rubbed anyone the wrong way.

  Who’d steal his body and do something so heinous as skinning it?

  Grandpa.2 took a long drag on his pipe.

  In the lamplight, his eyes looked a bit yellowish.

  “Do you two know what day it is today?”

  Anbay and I looked at each other, clueless.

  Grandpa.2 tapped his pipe on his shoe.

  “Twelve years ago, on this very night, the blind man got married.”

  My hands balled up into fists.

  Twelve years ago, that cold, rainy night was etched in my memory.

  But what did the blind man’s wedding have to do with my family?

  Grandpa.2 gave me a hard look.

  “Girl, your grandfather wasn’t as innocent as you think.”

  I was taken aback, then furious.

  “Grandpa.2, I respect you as an elder, but you can’t talk smack about my grandfather!”

  I didn’t want to hear anyone badmouthing Grandpa, especially now that he was gone.

  I grabbed Anbay and stormed out.

  Grandpa.2 didn’t try to stop us.

  He just mumbled a few words as we left.