Turning Red

Chapter 12: The Ritual

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A week had gone by since the incident at Tyler's. It was now the night of the 4-Town concert, and Miriam, Abby, Priya and (Y/n) stood in front of the ticket booth with there box of cash. They were all wearing 4-Town shirts and had 4-Town paint on their faces.

"Alrighty, general admission eh? How many tickets?" The guy at the ticket booth asked.

Miriam sighed, and opened the box. "Four please."

...

Back at the temple, Mei was sitting at a table in the courtyard eating dinner with his family. He looked up longingly at the lights that shined the number 4 on the clouds.

"What is that?" Mei grandma asked, pointing up at the numbers.

"Um, I think it's coming from the SkyDome mother." Ming answered.

"Four is the worst number." She said in disgust.

"You know, Vivian was due on the fourth, but I held her in until the fifth." Lily bragged.

"Quiet Lily!" Mei's grandma snapped. "Hurry up everyone. It's almost time to start the ritual."

"Nervous Mei-Mei?" Mr. Gao asked.

"A little." Mei confessed.

"Oh, well, I've got 50 years experience as a shaman. This will be a piece of cake. And mostly painless." He chuckled.

Mei let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Mr. Gao...Wait, 'mostly'?"

Mei's grandmother tapped a spoon against her glass to gain everyone's attention.

"Long ago, the spirits blessed our family with a great challenge. Mei-Mei, tonight is your turn. Like all the women around this table, you too will banish the beast within and finally become your true self. May Sun Yee guide you and keep you safe."

Everyone cheered and toasted to that.

"Uh, it's almost time. The Red Moon is about to begin." Mr. Gao announced.

"Mei-Mei, go get ready." Ming whispered.

"Yes mother."

Mei got up and walked passed his father who he gave an excited smile. But Jin noticed that as soon as he looked away, his posture became sad. Jin frowned in concern for his son.

"Jin!" Mei's grandma snapped. Help clear the table."

Jin nodded and quickly began to scoop up the dishes.

...

Jin carried chairs down to the basement and set them down in the floor. As he did, he knocked the video camera onto the floor and the screen popped open.

Jin picked it up and looked at it. It was the video Mei and his friends had recorded. He watched as they danced and sang to one of 4-Towns songs and laughed.

...

Mei was looking himself over in the mirror. He was wearing a red robe over his clothes, and black shoes. As he was looking at his reflection, a flashback of him attacking Tyler appeared. Mei gasped and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.