Chapter 3Bleeding To Save My Mothers Soul

The tragedy hit sooner than I expected.

Frank found me. He realized I was the only leverage he had left to squeeze more money out of Valerie.

I was visiting my grandfather—Valerie’s father—when Frank showed up. He was drunk, his eyes bloodshot from a losing streak at the track. He tackled me to the ground and screamed into his phone.

"Valerie! Send me half a million right now, or your daughter dies today!"

Grandpa tried to intervene, swinging his cane, but Frank shoved the old man hard. He fell, his head cracking against the stone steps of the porch.

"Grandpa!" I screamed.

Valerie arrived minutes later, tires screeching. she sprinted to my grandfather, shielding him. "You’re dreaming, Frank! You’re never getting another cent from me!"

Frank froze, then let out a manic laugh. He hauled me up by my hair and slammed me back down. I felt my partially healed ribs give way again. The world spun.

"Fine. Then all three of you die today."

Frank stepped toward Valerie, his face a mask of pure malice. "You really thought a divorce was that easy? I told you, that System is tied to your life force. It’s tied to your cancer. You can't delete it. You can only... transfer it. Like a cell."

My heart stopped. Transfer?

[Casey, get out of there! Run! He’s going to kill you!]

[This is unbearable. Why won't her mom save her?]

[Shut up! You think it’s easy for a mother to watch her child suffer when she's paralyzed by a curse?]

Frank swung a heavy fist toward Valerie. I don't know where the strength came from. I lunged forward, throwing my body in front of hers. I took the blow full in the face.

The world turned to static. I collapsed.

Frank stopped, surprised. He kicked my limp body. "Still protecting her? After she threw you away for the boy? She doesn't love you, kid."

I struggled to my knees, spitting blood. I looked at Valerie with a gaze like ice.

"You think I did that for her? Grandpa likes his porch clean. I just didn't want her trashy blood staining his stairs."

Valerie’s lip trembled. She reached out, her fingers twitching as she held my grandfather’s arm. She said nothing, but her eyes were a deep, agonizing red.

I didn't look back. I pressed the electrodes in my sleeve. I kept pressing until my skin charred, until the pain was so great I started seizing on the ground.

Frank finally got scared. If I died, his leverage was gone. The System would have no target.

The distant wail of sirens echoed through the neighborhood. Frank panicked and bolted into the trees.

Valerie tried to help me up, but I flinched away. "Don't touch me! I don't have a mother!"

I managed to stumble around the corner of the street before the copper taste in my throat became a flood. I vomited a massive amount of blood. A sudden, sharp pain exploded in my stomach—a pain I recognized from Valerie’s medical files.

[Oh god! The System found the loophole! It’s transferring the cancer to Casey!]