Prologue

ONE YEAR AGO

Thunder shook the house, startling me from a dead sleep. Rain pelted the window repeatedly, and as my eyes adjusted, lightning shattered the darkness that consumed my room.

My heart pounded in my chest like a snare drum, but no matter how many breaths I took, in and out, my heart refused to calm down.

I gripped my shirt, my nails scraping against my skin through the fabric. I could feel the steady thumping of my heart beneath my fingertips.

Storms don’t normally bother me. Quite the opposite, actually, so this reaction has me puzzled.

Had I been dreaming? Grabbing my phone, I checked the time. It’s almost three in the morning. I’ll be getting ready for school in just three short hours.

I flopped backwards, pulling my quilt up to my chin, and closing my eyes in hopes that I could just fall back asleep.

After a few minutes, I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that sat like a dead weight in the pit of my stomach.

Throwing off my blankets, I carefully pushed my feet into a fluffy pair of slippers, but in a moment of silence, I heard a creak in the hallway. Peering out of my door, I saw Caelum standing just outside his room.

“Something is wrong.”

“Go back to your room and wait for me. I’m going to check it out. Don’t come out until I come and get you. Got it?”

Caelum chews on his bottom lip for a moment before nodding. After hearing the click of his door, I slowly made my way down the hall.

With every step towards my mother’s room, the weight in my stomach intensifies until I feel as if I weighed a million pounds. A chill runs down my spine when I hear another noise. This one is less muffled than before. I’m certain it sounded like a popping noise.

The oxygen in the hall feels like it was suctioned out, and breathing was difficult. A chainsaw couldn't even cut through the tense air surrounding me. I held my breath until I was standing just in front of my mother's door.

A flash of lightning illuminated the hall before thunder shook the house and had me pressing my hand to my mouth to muffle a startled scream.

Easing closer, I pressed my ear against the cool wood, listening closely. Another boom of thunder caused me to jump, lightly banging my forehead against the frame.

On the opposite side of the door was the sound of something…. Someone shuffling around. My father wasn’t home. It was just me, Caelum, and mom… And mom was too sick to get out of bed easily anymore.

Had she somehow attempted it? I haven’t seen her feet touch the floor in weeks.

Reaching for the handle, my hand grazed the chilled brass finish just before the door was pulled open from the inside.

A gasp left my lips, and fear consumed me as my eyes met the blackened holes of a ski mask.

Frozen in fear, I stared into soulless eyes as time stood still.

The person pushed me back hard, causing my head to bang against the molding, and everything instantly became blurry before darkness slipped over my eyes.

My head ached when I came to, but it must have only been a few seconds because the sound of the front door slamming had me trying to stand before my body was ready.

I fell to my knees in the middle of the hallway, crawling towards Caelum’s room. The floor seemed to be swimming, and nausea lurched in my stomach. Sparing one last glance at my mother's slightly ajar door, I just knew. Knew she was gone. Knew it wouldn't matter if I turned around and went into that room.

I could still fight for Cae.

Something warm and wet slid down my temples from my hair before clouding my vision further. No matter how many times I blinked, my left eye was clouded with… Swiping at my face with the back of my hand, I saw the crimson stain of blood.

The fall against hard wood must have split open the back of my head.

It took what felt like a lifetime to get to Caelum’s room, and I forced my way inside, seeing Caelum holding up a baseball bat near his bed. The bat fell to the floor the moment he saw that it was me, and he crouched beside me.

Noises came from his mouth, but I couldn’t make anything out. Forcing myself to my knees, I signed, “Call police”

Caelum dialed 911, sliding the phone in front of me, before grabbing a shirt from his drawer and pressing it against the back of my head. I could feel the trembling of his fingers, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t focus on consoling him.

Swaying on my knees, I fell forward again, causing blood to slide down the bridge of my nose, splattering against the carpet.

Drop. Drop. Drop.

Please be okay mom. Please let me be wrong.

The details of the next fifteen minutes were a blur. Honestly, the details of the next twenty-four hours were a blur.

Someone had broken into our house and killed my mother. It was likely that Caelum and I were supposed to die that night too, but when I woke up, finding him in our mother’s room, he panicked and fled instead of finishing the job.

At least that’s what I thought. The police seemed to think it was a random attack. That was actually my father’s idea, because who attacks a sickly mother in her sleep?

Did that mean he planned to come back? Was this simply a burglary gone wrong? A spur of the moment murder or something deeper and more thought out….

It was supposed to be the tumor. We were supposed to have more time. I never got to say goodbye.

I’m sorry mom. I couldn’t protect you. I wasn’t strong enough.