Chapter 1

After my mom died, my dad, Tom Collins, brought home a woman who looked just like her.

She was younger and more captivating, and honestly, I had never seen anyone that beautiful before.

She seemed about seventeen or eighteen, with pale skin and a face way prettier than Amanda Lewis, the most attractive girl in our town.

We lived in a remote town, poor and forgotten, where people thought having a happy family and a son was everything.

There were plenty of bachelors in the town, and the only way for them to get a wife was to bring one back from outside.

Therefore, when they saw the woman my dad brought home, they were stunned speechless. The woman was called Selena.

Harvey Wilson, the head of the town, stopped Selena when she tried to enter the town.

He asked, "Tom, where did you find this woman?"

My dad replied, "Out by the east side. She said she got lost and just wanted a place to crash for the night."

"The east side?" A guy was confused. "You mean the graveyard?"

Everyone looked at each other, wide-eyed and uneasy.

Harvey's face went pale the moment he heard that.

He said, "No way. Can't you feel it? She's carrying something dark. She'll bring nothing but misfortune if you let her in."

"Oh, come on, Mr. Wilson. Stop scaring people. No one believes in that superstitious stuff anymore."

"Yeah. I agree."

The men, emboldened by each other, started chiming in and sided with my dad.

I just stared at Selena's eyes—they were so pretty that I spaced out for a second.

There was something eerily familiar about them.

As soon as Selena met my gaze, I stopped breathing, cold sweat breaking down my back.

Her eyes, which had looked perfectly normal a second ago, changed in an instant. Every trace of white vanished, leaving nothing but pure black, bottomless darkness staring back at me.

I freaked out and hid behind my dad, clutching at his shirt.

I screamed, "Dad, she's scary. Look at her eyes."

"Quit talking crazy, you troublemaker," he said unhappily.

He didn't believe a word I said. He slapped me across the face so hard, and I hit the ground, too scared to speak again.

The way I looked made the men around laugh out loud.

"Hey, kid, your mom has been gone for over a year. It's time for your dad to move on. Give him a break, will you?"

"Yeah, and honestly, she's a real beauty."

"Tom, if you're scared, just let her stay at my place."

My dad was pissed. "Shut up. I ain't scared."

Egged on by them, he brushed off Harvey and took Selena by her hand, leading her home.

I just stood there, watching them leave, and the scene of Mom dying right in front of me came rushing back.

That night, the storm was wild. My dad was drunk again, and he beat my mom brutally.

Once Dad collapsed in a drunken sleep, she sneaked out, limping toward the forest behind our house, every step heavy with pain.

I followed close behind, asking again and again where she was going.

However, she just looked at me and said I shouldn't come. She told me to go back home.

I didn't go back. I just stood there, waiting for her to return so we could go home together.

Then, out of nowhere, my mom fell from a rock—her body twisted and broken—landing right at my feet.

"You'll regret it," said Harvey.

He glanced at my father and Selena, shook his head, and walked away.

When I got home in the evening, I found my dad's room lying in darkness, eerily silent.

However, from the guest room where Selena stayed came the muffled sounds of their moans and grunts.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I quietly pressed myself against the window to look inside.

The sight before me froze my blood. I gasped, a scream clawing its way up my throat.