Chapter 15 - THE FOURTH MASK
Fourteen months after the fire, Grace replaced every smoke detector in her townhouse.
Not because the old ones were defective.
Because Ellie wanted to watch her test the new ones.
Each alarm chirped.
Ellie checked the hallway.
Then the kitchen.
Then the upstairs landing.
Noah was visiting for the weekend under the siblings’ expanded schedule.
His treatment had helped.
He still struggled with impulses when anxious, but he no longer had access to ignition sources, and nobody pretended the problem would disappear if they refused to name it.
That afternoon, Grace announced a fire drill.
Noah groaned.
Ellie became serious.
Grace carried a new emergency bag into the living room.
Dark burgundy.
Ellie stared at it.
Grace unzipped the top.
Four masks.
One for Grace.
One for Ellie.
One for Noah.
One spare.
No names.
No ranking.
“No person gets assigned less safety,” Grace said.
Noah looked at Ellie.
“What if I freak out?”
“Then I help you,” Grace answered.
Ellie added, “And I still get out too.”
“Exactly.”
They practiced the exits.
Nobody pushed anyone.
Nobody disappeared through a window.
Nobody told Ellie she was strong enough to manage alone.
Later that evening, an envelope arrived through the approved family-contact program.
Mark had written to Ellie.
Caroline had not.
Ellie turned the envelope over in her hands.
“Do I have to read it?”
Grace answered without hesitation.
“No.”
“Can I save it?”
“Yes.”
“Can I throw it away later?”
“Yes.”
Ellie carried it upstairs.
Grace did not follow.
A few minutes later, Noah came running down.
“Ellie says movie night.”
Grace smiled.
She found Ellie already under a blanket on the couch.
Mark’s unopened letter rested on the bookshelf.
Not hidden.
Not opened.
Not destroyed.
Simply waiting for Ellie to decide what it meant.
Grace placed the burgundy emergency bag beside the front door.
Four masks remained inside.
For the first time in Ellie’s life, nobody had decided in advance which child mattered more.
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Whether she would ever open her father’s letter was still uncertain.
The choice itself was not.
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