Page 1

PROLOGUE

Sofia

I woke up because somebody was yelling downstairs. At first I pulled the blanket up over my shoulders, my eyes still closed. Normally the sound just went away if I ignored it long enough. My mom and dad argued all the time for reasons I didn’t really understand. It was easier to go to my room than listen to them.

By morning, Mom will be at the table smiling at me as though nothing happened.

It’ll be over soon; it’ll be fine, I told myself as I turned in my bed and snuggled Mr. Peck, my stuffed rabbit.

But as I was trying to fall back asleep, there was a loud bang.

It was so violent that I sat up before I realized I was moving. It sounded as if all of the windows downstairs were smashed at the same time. The arguing ceased. For a single second, the quiet was terrifying.

Then I heard steps. They were heavy as they moved quickly across the ground. Someone shouted before a strange voice responded. Another bang echoed through the house, and then the dreadful quiet returned.

My chest pounded as I whispered for my mom. As if on cue, she burst through the bedroom door. Mom was beautiful that night, wearing her pretty scarf. But her braid was undone and worry furrowed her brows.

Her chest was heaving as if she’d seen a ghost. She ran to me and grabbed my arm.

“Come with me.”

“Mom, what’s going on?”

Instead of answering me, she pulled me across the room toward the old brown wardrobe. There was a narrow space behind the winter coats where we kept our blankets and Christmas decorations.

She pushed the coats aside so hard that several hangers fell to the floor. “In you go.”

“Why, Mom?” I asked. Her freezing hands caressed my face and a big tear rolled down her cheek.

“Please do as I say, Sofi,” Mom whispered. Her lips were shaking as she said my name. The closet was small and smelled of old blankets and laundry soap. I crouched with my knees up against my chest as Mom pushed heavy coats in front of me.

“I love you…I love you so much.” She kissed my forehead, pulled away, and locked the closet. Boots thudded outside the door. A man shouted, and there was another shot. Mom screamed.

I was sitting in a void. Time stopped, and all I could hear was the thumping of my heart. All of a sudden, I smelled smoke, and my eyes began to sting. The air grew warmer with every passing second.

I put the sleeve of my pajamas over my nose as the smoke thickened in the closet, but it was useless. My throat burned. I continued to stare through the tiny crack between the closet doors, waiting for my mother to return.

She would come back. I just had to wait. The gunshots ceased. The walls bubbled and warped under the intense heat, and every few seconds I heard a loud thud as something heavy crashed down somewhere underneath me. It made the floor under my feet shake.

And then I heard steps. They came up the stairs and stopped outside my bedroom. I could hear my pulse thumping loudly in my ears, hoping it was Mom.

The bedroom door opened, and it wasn’t her. It was a man, wearing all black. He had a mask over his face and a gun in his hand. He searched the room silently. He looked under my bed and behind the curtain.

My breathing stopped as he took hold of the handle and pushed the door open. Light poured into the dark, tight space, and I stared into bright eyes that were surprised to see me. I thought I was dead. The man lowered himself into a crouch so our eyes were on the same level.

“If you want to live,” he whispered, “Don’t make a noise.”

His voice was soft, soothing, almost gentle, and that scared me. He looked behind him as smoke drifted into the room, then stared at me. Whatever he’d been looking for no longer mattered.

He didn’t say a word as he took me out of the closet and carried me through the smoky house. I leaned my face on his shoulder and felt the heat of the fire on us, and I shut my eyes hard until cool air hit my skin.

We were outside. He carried me across the yard, then placed me gently on the grass, away from the house. Without a word, he gazed at me for a moment and then fled into the dark.

I watched my home burn down. The fire consumed it from one room to another until the roof gave way and sparks shot into the darkness. Firemen and policemen showed up mere minutes later, but it was too late. They covered me in a blanket and took me away as I looked from face to face for my mom and dad.

Both of them were declared dead by morning, and the men who’d done it had disappeared.

***