Prologue
Serenity
Agony.
Every part of me aches.
There is not a single place on my body that doesn’t hurt.
This pain is something I have never known.
I was left for dead.
I try hard to open my eyes, but my body keeps trying to drag me back under.
There’s something telling me to keep holding on and fighting.
What do I have to hold on for?
My family is gone. They have been for a long time.
I’ve been alone in this world for far too long. It only seems fitting that I leave the same way.
Don’t give up,
screams a voice inside my head.
I want to.
Last night, I went to bed like it was any other day; just a day as any other, spent going through the motions and avoiding connection.
What was the point when everyone leaves in the end?
My family was killed in a fire when I was sixteen years old. I was with my friends, having snuck out for a couple of hours.
Those couple of hours had taken everything from me; but also saved my life.
My brother and sister, along with my parents, were sleeping in their beds without having a single worry or inkling that someone was intentionally setting our home on fire with all of them inside of it and no way for any of them to escape.
Their doors were obstructed so they couldn’t leave even if they wanted to. So was mine.
I had taken off from home after everything that happened. I was unable to access the insurance I was entitled to until I turned eighteen. I had made myself invisible until then.
Once I had the money, I moved it around so I could disappear again.
I had no idea that someone was watching me.
The person who started the fire was coming back for me.
I didn’t know why my family was targeted, why they were killed, and why whoever did it came back to finish the job.
If I make it through this, I will find out who is responsible for all of this and get my revenge.
I finally open my eyes and look around the apartment that has been my home for six months.
There is blood all around me. I’m struggling to breathe, but the urge to get up and get out of this place is strong.
I don’t know what’s pushing me to keep going, and I also don’t know whether to be pissed off or thankful for it.