Prologue

I hurtled through the forest, branches tearing into my skin, but I didn’t slow. My heart pounded in my chest, producing a roaring that rang in my ears. That wasn’t good. I needed my senses. I needed to know where they were. I heard the racing footsteps behind me and lengthened my strides, trying to outrun them, to outlast them. If they caught me, it would all be over, and I doubted it would be quick. I just had to go a little bit farther…

My breathing was coming in harsher pants now, but my body was ignoring my fatigue, fueled by the strength of my adrenaline. Giving up wasn’t an option. Though running was familiar to this body, fleeing wasn’t. My instincts screamed at me to turn around and fight. I had always been the hunter, never the hunted.

The scent I had been searching for reached my nose and I spun around to wait for my pursuers. I could hear them coming, crashing through the trees in a manner that said one of two things: either they were horrid hunters, or they were so strong that they didn’t care if I knew where they were. I could make out several large figures in the darkness through the trees. Several more figures stepped out of the darkness at my sides. In the distance, I heard a howl.

Chapter 1

I was bone tired by the time I left my job at Denny’s. I had been on my feet all day and my last table of the night consisted of a group of very drunk, very rude men who couldn’t even be bothered to leave a tip. I had to walk, too, because my car had just broken down and I didn’t have the money to fix it. It’s hard to make a living when you don’t have a college degree; it’s even harder when you’ve been living on your own since you were kicked out of your parents’ house at 16. I couldn’t really complain. Working at a restaurant, I always at least had something to eat, so things could definitely have been worse.

There was this guy that had been hanging around outside Denny’s for the past few nights. He’d come in, buy a Coke, sit at his table for a while, and then leave. Except, he didn’t really leave. He’d just sit outside and smoke. There was something about him that was just… intimidating. It wasn’t really his appearance, though. He was muscular, but not particularly buff or tall. He had a handsome enough face with spiky brown hair and dark brown eyes. He didn’t even appear to be much older than me, maybe 22 or 23. There was something in his manner that unnerved me. Maybe it was confidence… maybe it was the predatory way he watched his surroundings. Whatever it was, I didn’t like walking past him when I set out for home. I didn’t like him knowing that I was walking in the dark alone. But there was no helping it.

I attempted to leave through the back door a few times this past week, but it didn’t help. To get to my house, there would be some point where I was in his line of sight, and I knew he was watching. He was always watching, especially me. He’d sit in one of the corner booths, eyes following me as I moved from table to table. As I said, unnerving in the extreme.

I walked briskly along the sidewalk, continually glancing over my shoulder. Maybe it was because I was thinking about the man, or maybe it was just because it was dark outside, but I felt like someone was watching me. I walked faster, until I was practically jogging, and my heart began to race. I kept looking over my shoulder, but I didn’t see anything. The feeling kept growing steadily worse, but I was in sight of my house.

I gave up any pretense and sprinted for my door, certain I could hear footsteps chasing after me, but seeing no one. I had my key in my hand, but I fumbled with the lock in my panic. Unexpectedly, the door flew open, and I came face to face with a man inside my house.

Chapter 2

“God, David,” I shouted. I hadn’t meant to shout, but the adrenaline was still coursing through my system. It took me several moments to catch my breath after my irrational sprint to the house. “Couldn’t you have given me a heads up that you were coming over?”

David stared at me with wide eyes, taking in my disheveled appearance. “I didn’t think you’d mind,” he answered slowly.

I waited for my heart to slow its frantic pulsing before I answered. “It’s a little creepy to get home at 3 in the morning to find someone in my house.”

David tried to look solemn, but a shadow of a smile flickered across his lips. “Sorry, Rinny,” David pulled me into a hug. “I should have called.”

A lump formed in my throat when he called me Rinny. Only my family had ever called me that, and I hadn’t talked to most of them in ages, David excluded. My punk little brother was a drifter, sometimes here and sometimes not. He just went wherever his mood took him, without much regard to who or what he was leaving behind. Despite his many flaws, I loved him more than anyone in the world.

“So, what’s up?” I motioned for him to sit on the couch as I sat cross legged on the shabby armchair in my tiny living room.

A spasm of anxiety flickered across David’s face before he covered it up with another smile.

“Is everything okay?” I prodded gently.

He held his hands up, palms toward me, in a mollifying gesture. “Promise you won’t shoot the messenger, okay?”

I rolled my eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Just promise.”

“Okay, I promise.”

“Good.” He hesitated a moment, flicking his dark hair back in the familiar hair flip he had been doing since he was 12. “Okay, so… mom and dad both want to see you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Like separately or together?”

David shook his head, brows furrowed. “No, I said that wrong. Mom asked me to come see if you would talk to her. She wants to see you. And when I told Dad that I was coming, he wanted me to tell you the same thing for him.”

I sighed, rubbing my temples. “I don’t want to see them, David. You know that.”

“Come on, Erin,” David said, eyes wide and pleading. “They both love you.”

I laughed, a harsh, bitter sound that I hated. “They love me? They fucking love me?”

David sighed, eyes sad. “Everyone makes mistakes, Erin.”

“Mistakes? You call a father abandoning his family a mistake? I’m sorry, but that’s not the kind of mistake that I’m willing to forgive.”

“It wasn’t like that,” David insisted, sounding frustrated. “He had his reasons.”

I opened my arms wide in exasperation. “Care to elaborate?”

David shook his head, heaving yet another sigh. “I don’t know what they are, Erin, I just know he had them.”

I stepped forward and reached out to touch David’s face. “It’s so sweet that you always see the best in people,” I said softly. “But I’m not like you. And I can’t just forget everything that has happened.” Tears welled in my eyes. All I had ever wanted for David was for him to have had a different childhood than I had. But I couldn’t give that to him.

David pulled me into a hug. He didn’t even have to get off the couch to do it. “Hey, I’m sorry,” he said, brushing my hair back. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just wanted to pass along the messages. How about I just leave you their numbers and you can think about it, okay?”

I nodded against his shoulder.

“Good, now is it cool if I crash here tonight? It’s pretty late.”

“Yeah, of course,” I said, wiping my eyes as I stood up. “I’m going to go get ready for bed. Do you need anything?”

“Nah, but hey, just in case I’m gone before you wake up, do you need anything? No offense Erin, but you look like shit.”

“Thanks so much,” I replied, giving him a tremulous smile.

He rolled his eyes at me. “You know that’s not how I meant it. But you look exhausted. Do you at least have the day off tomorrow?”

I laughed, without any real humor. “I work a double tomorrow.”

“You need to stop working so much,” David said, looking worried.

I shrugged my shoulders tiredly. “I need to eat.” And then I went upstairs.

David was gone by the time I woke up the following morning. I read the note scrawled in his barely legible handwriting.

Rinny,

Sorry for the disappearing act. I didn’t want to wake you- you seriously need to stop working so hard. I know mom and dad would both be willing to help you out if you’d give them a call. I know you don’t want to hear this, but being angry with them forever isn’t going to make your life any easier. I added their numbers to your phone list. I love you.

-David

I sighed and scowled at the new entries to the phone list that I kept tacked to the wall, above the practically pre-historic phone that was covered in a thick sheet of dust. I wanted to be childish and cross them out, but I managed to refrain.

I poured myself a cup of coffee, grimacing at the bitter taste. I placed the mug in the sink and went upstairs to get ready for yet another long day at work.