Chapter 1 The Night It All Went Wrong

GENESIS'S POV

“I swear if Dad sings one more song, I'm jumping out of this car.”

I burst out laughing as Hope's voice came from the back seat.

“This is good stuff,” Dad announced proudly, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. “You have to commend my excellent taste in music.”

“Excellent taste?” Mom repeated from the passenger seat. “You call someone singing a love song about a woman named Jolene, when he's married to a Helen, an excellent music?” she looked at dad. “You need to do better, John.”

“Sometimes It's not all about the lyrics, honey, but the beat.”

“Oh, my God.” Hope groaned.

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.

Honestly, I couldn't blame her. Dad had been singing for almost an hour, and somehow, every song sounded worse than the last. If he ever decided to pursue a career in music, our family would have to move to another country out of shame.

“Genesis, your father listens to you, tell him to stop embarrassing us,” Mom said to me.

I leaned forward between the front seats. “Dad, please. Mom said to stop embarrassing the entire family.”

He glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “Tell your mom that I'm just getting started.”

Hope snorted from the back seat.

I grinned and settled against my seat, watching the familiar trees blur past our windows. It was late night, and the road stretched ahead of us like a dark ribbon. Rain had started falling about twenty minutes ago, tapping against the windshield while the headlights illuminated the wet asphalt.

We were supposed to have arrived hours ago, but Dad had insisted on stopping at a roadside restaurant, where he'd spent all our time arguing with the waiter about the correct way to prepare a traditional cheeseburger.

Mom said she was going to divorce him one day because of his stubbornness.

Dad said she'd miss his shenanigans too much.

I loved them. Even when they were both ridiculous and cringe.

“So,” Mom began, turning slightly toward us, “are my girls excited about our little getaway?”

“I'm excited about sleeping for twelve whole hours in a luxurious hotel bed without worrying about school,” Hope replied.

“And i'm excited about having some time to myself and not forced to listen to Dad's whacky playlist,” I added.

Dad gasped. “Betrayal. From my own flesh and blood.”

“You'll survive.”

We dissolved into laughter again.

For a moment, everything felt so ordinary that I wished I could freeze it. The warmth inside the car, Mom's familiar perfume, Hope's complaints, Dad's terrible singing.

I didn't know then how badly I would want those ordinary moments back.

“Genesis, sweetheart?” Mom called.

“Hmm?”

“When we get there, remind me to give you something. I've been meaning to give it to you for a while.”

I leaned forward. “What is it?”

“It's a surprise.”

“Come on Mom, you know I hate surprises.”

She smiled at me. “You'll love this one. Trust me.”

“Is it money?”

“Of course that's what you ask,” Hope muttered.

“What? I'm now a young responsible woman that needs cash. Lots of it, since I'll be going to college anytime now.”

Dad laughed. “You're nineteen and you spent your last birthday allowance on shoes. I doubt that's entirely responsible.”

“Those were beautiful sets of shoes, you can't deny that.”

“Given how expensive they were, they ought to be beautiful.” Hope added.

“Beautiful and expensive. The perfect combination.”

Mom shook her head, smiling.

Then Dad stopped singing.

It happened so suddenly that I noticed immediately.

His fingers tightened around the steering wheel, and he leaned forward, squinting through the windshield.

“What is it?” Mom asked him.

“Did you see that?” Dad asked.

“See what?”

I took a look closer. Something moved beyond the headlights.

At first, I thought it was a deer. We were surrounded by trees, and it wouldn't have been unusual for an animal to wander onto the road.

Then the thing stepped into the light.

My smile disappeared.

It was enormous.

Far too tall to be a deer, with shoulders that seemed unnaturally broad and limbs that bent at strange angles. Rain slid over its dark, glistening skin. For one impossible second, I thought I saw a face where its head should have been.

Then it turned toward us.

Its eyes were burning red.

“Dad watch out!” I screamed.

He swerved.

The tires shrieked against the wet road. Mom grabbed the dashboard, Hope shouted my name, and the entire world seemed to tilt sideways.

Something struck us.

The glass of the car exploded.

My head slammed against the window, and a sharp pain burst through my skull.

Then everything went black.

When I opened my eyes, I couldn't breathe.

The car was upside down.

Rain poured through the broken windows, soaking my face and clothes. My ears rang so loudly that I could barely hear anything else. For several seconds, I couldn't understand why the roof was beneath me or why my seat belt was digging painfully into my stomach.

Then I remembered.

“Mom?”

My voice sounded strange. Small.

“Dad?”

I tried to move, but pain shot through my head. Warm liquid trickled down my forehead and into my eyebrow.

Blood.

My blood.

“Hope?”

A weak groan came from somewhere behind me. “Genesis?”

Relief flooded through me so quickly that I nearly cried.

“I'm here!” I shouted. “I'm right here, Hope!”

I twisted around as far as my seat belt allowed. Through the shattered rear window, I could see Hope slumped against her seat, her face pale and streaked with blood.

“Don't move!” I called. “Okay? Just stay there. I'm going to get us out.”

I had no idea how I planned to do that.

I fumbled with the seat belt until it finally released. My body dropped against the crushed roof, and pain exploded through my shoulder.

I bit back a scream.

“Mom? Dad?”

There was no answer.

The silence was worse than the crash.

I crawled through the broken window, cutting my palms on the jagged glass. The moment I reached the road, cold rain struck my face.

Then I saw them.

Dad lay several feet from the car, completely motionless.

Mom was farther away.

Something was standing over her.

My brain refused to understand what my eyes were seeing.

It was the creature from the road.

Up close, it was even more terrifying. Its body seemed to shift beneath its skin, as though something else was trying to escape from inside it. Long claws extended from its fingers.

And its mouth—

Oh, God.

Its mouth was full of sharp looking teeth.

“Mom?” I whispered.

The creature turned.

Its red eyes settled on me.

I couldn't move.

It looked almost human for a moment. Then its jaw stretched wider than any human jaw could possibly stretch, and a strange sound escaped its throat.

My mother stirred. “Genesis!”

She was alive.

I stumbled toward her, tears mixing with the rain.

“Mom! Oh, my God, Mom!”

“Stay back!” she screamed.

The creature seized her by the throat and lifted her off the ground.

I screamed.

I grabbed a broken piece of metal from beside the wreckage and crawled toward it. I don't know what I thought I could accomplish. I was nineteen, bleeding, and terrified, but that was my mother.

I wasn't going to leave her.

The creature flung Mom aside as though she weighed nothing.

She struck the ground.

Something inside me shattered.

“No!”

I crawled to her, pressing my hands against the blood spreading across her clothes.

“Mom, please. Please look at me.”

Her eyes fluttered open.

For one brief moment, she smiled.

Then she gripped my wrist with surprising strength. “Listen to me, Genesis.”

“Don't talk. Please, we need to get you help.”

“Don't let them smell your blood. Always wear your necklace.”

I stared at her.

“What?”

Her fingers tightened around mine.

“Whatever happens, don't ever take off your necklace. Don't let them take you.”

Before I could ask what she meant, the creature let out a horrible roar.

Fire erupted from its hands.

I stumbled backward, shielding my face as the flames illuminated the road. The creature's body twisted, its bones cracking beneath its skin.

Then it smiled at me.

My heart stopped.

It took a step toward me, sniffing the air.

Its expression changed.

I looked down at my hands. My palms were cut. Blood dripped from my fingertips, falling onto the wet asphalt.

The creature inhaled deeply.

Then it laughed. A horrible, delighted sound. “Angel blood.”

I scrambled backward, trying to reach the car, but my legs wouldn't cooperate. My vision blurred, and the pain in my head became unbearable.

The creature crouched beside my mother.

“No!” I screamed, lunging toward it.

It turned on me so quickly that I barely saw it move.

Its claws caught my arm, throwing me against the wreckage. Pain tore through my body, and the breath left my lungs.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't scream.

All I could do was watch as the impossible unfolded before me.

This wasn't an animal attack. This wasn't a nightmare.

Whatever stood before me wasn't human neither was it an animal.

And it had killed my parents.

The creature turned its attention back to me. I

ts red eyes glowed brighter as it approached.

I tried to crawl away, but my arms gave out.

The last thing I saw was its terrible smile.

Then it leaned toward me and whispered something that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

“You belong to me.”

Then the darkness swallowed me whole.