Chapter 1

(Sofia's POV)

I should have turned back the moment the trees started closing in. They seemed taller tonight, more oppressive, the branches reaching across the sky like skeletal hands trying to blot out what little light remained. The path ahead was dark, unfamiliar, and yet, I kept going. I didn’t care where I was headed. The aimless drive was all I had left to hold onto.

I gripped the steering wheel tighter, the leather cold against my skin. The hum of the engine was a dull background noise compared to the echo of my thoughts,thoughts I couldn’t outrun, no matter how fast I drove.

I missed them. God, I missed them so much. It had been years, but the ache was still there, lodged in my chest like a thorn I could never pull out. My parents. The people who had given me everything, who had loved me unconditionally… and who had been taken from me without warning. I could still remember that day as if it had happened yesterday.

The phone call in the middle of the night. The police officer’s somber voice. The words that didn’t make sense at first

“There’s been an accident.”

 I thought it was a mistake. It had to be. My parents were careful, cautious. They wouldn’t just… die. Not like that.

But they did.

I blinked hard, trying to push the tears back, but they came anyway, blurring my vision. I swiped at my eyes with the back of my hand, my heart heavy with the memories I couldn’t forget. The funeral had been small, just a few close friends and me, standing in the rain, staring at two cold, gray caskets. I was eighteen, barely an adult, and suddenly I was alone in the world.

No more Sunday morning breakfasts. No more late-night talks with my mom, her voice soft and reassuring as she helped me figure out life’s little problems. No more dad telling me everything would be okay, no matter how bad things seemed. Their absence was a void that nothing,no one,could fill.

And it was all so stupid. They were supposed to grow old. They were supposed to watch me graduate, to see me get married, to hold their grandkids one day. But all of that had been stolen. Just like that. One careless driver, one patch of ice, and they were gone. It wasn’t fair.

 I exhaled shakily, the forest road growing narrower as I drove deeper into the trees. The headlights cut through the darkness, illuminating the gravelly path in front of me, but my thoughts were miles away. I shouldn’t have come out here. I shouldn’t have let the past drag me down like this, but tonight… tonight it was harder to ignore the hole their absence had left.

Why was I still here? I didn’t know what I was doing with my life. Everything seemed so… meaningless. I didn’t have a career, didn’t have anyone left to care about. I felt like I was just drifting, waiting for something,anything,to make sense again.

A flicker of movement on the road ahead snapped me out of my thoughts. I squinted, trying to focus, but it was too late.

A child,a boy,darted across the road, appearing out of nowhere. My heart slammed against my ribs as I slammed on the brakes. Tires screeched, the car jolted forward, and in that split second, everything slowed down.

His face. I saw his face. Wide eyes, startled and terrified, framed by dirty blonde hair.

And then, the impact.

The sickening thud of metal meeting flesh reverberated through the car. I gasped, my hands frozen on the steering wheel, my whole body trembling as the car came to a stop. The headlights flickered, illuminating the empty road ahead. 

No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. Not again.

I unbuckled my seatbelt with shaking fingers and stumbled out of the car. My legs felt like jelly as I moved toward the front of the vehicle, my breath catching in my throat. Please, God, let him be okay. Let this just be some horrible mistake.

But there he was, lying on the cold, hard road, his small body crumpled and motionless.

“No,” I whispered, my voice cracking. I dropped to my knees beside him, my hands hovering over his body, not knowing what to do. “No, no, no…”

He wasn’t breathing. I pressed my fingers to his neck, searching for a pulse, but there was nothing. No warmth, no life. His skin was cold to the touch, his limbs twisted in ways they shouldn’t have been.

I’d killed him.

A sob wrenched itself from my chest, and I recoiled, my hands flying to my mouth to stifle the sound. Tears streamed down my face as I looked at him,really looked at him. He was just a kid. He couldn’t have been more than ten years old. His clothes were torn, his face smeared with dirt, but there was something… odd about him. Something that didn’t quite make sense.

I shook my head, trying to focus. I needed to call for help. I fumbled in my pocket for my phone, my hands trembling so badly I could barely dial. My mind raced, guilt and panic intertwining into a suffocating knot in my chest. I’d killed someone. Again. Just like before. It was my fault.

But before I could make the call, a sharp, searing pain ripped through my chest.

 I screamed, doubling over as the phone fell from my hands. The pain was unbearable, like my bones were being pulled apart, twisted and reshaped from the inside. My body convulsed, muscles spasming as I writhed on the ground, gasping for air.

What was happening to me?

The pain intensified, spreading through every inch of my body, burning like fire in my veins. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. It was like something was clawing its way out of me, tearing me apart.

And then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.

I lay there on the cold, gravelly road, gasping for breath, my heart pounding erratically in my chest. Every inch of me ached, but the fiery pain was gone. In its place was a strange, eerie silence. I sat up slowly, my limbs trembling as I looked around. The boy was still there, his lifeless body a stark reminder of what I had done.

But something else had changed. The air felt heavier, thicker, as if the very forest was watching me. A low growl rumbled through the trees, and I froze, my heart leaping into my throat.

I wasn’t alone.

Shadows moved between the trees, dark shapes shifting in the periphery of my vision. I staggered to my feet, my entire body shaking with exhaustion and fear. My mind raced, but before I could move, they stepped out of the darkness.

Men. Tall, broad-shouldered, their eyes glowing golden in the dim light of the headlights. No… not men. Something.

I backed away instinctively, my heart hammering in my chest. “I didn’t mean to,” I started, my voice trembling, but they didn’t seem to care. Their eyes shifted from the boy’s body to me, and I could feel the weight of their judgment, their anger.

Before I could react, one of them stepped forward, his hand outstretched, and everything went black.