Chapter 1

Three days ago, I was still at school, buried in final exams.

Then my mom burst into the classroom, her makeup smeared and her face a mess, grabbing my hand and dragging me out without a word of explanation.

She said the company went bankrupt and that they owed millions to loan sharks, and if the money was not paid back, those people would not bother with the law but would simply make us disappear.

I believed her because she cried so hard it looked real, her hands shaking as if she could not control them.

So we ran, hiding deep in the mountains, where for three straight days the rain poured down as if the sky split open.

Ever since I drank the half bottle of water Mom gave me, my head felt heavy and foggy, like it was stuffed with wet cotton.

The water tasted a little bitter, but she said it was spring water. I did not eat for two days. My vision kept doubling, shadows overlapping everything. My ears rang nonstop, and even the wind sounded like something screaming.

We were hiding in a damp, freezing cave. Mom was devouring the last half of a compressed biscuit I saved. She ate fast, wiping her tears as she went.

"Elliot, I'm sorry," she said between bites. "I dragged you into this. I made you suffer."

I leaned against the icy rock wall. My vision kept fading in and out, and I did not even have the strength to lift my hand.

I wanted to sleep. However, I did not dare. I gripped a sharpened wooden stick so tightly my nails dug into my palm. The pain was the only thing keeping me awake.

Just a moment ago, the wolves came.

At least, I thought they were wolves. I could not see clearly at all. The rain blurred everything, and that strange dizziness made it worse. All I could make out in the darkness were more than a dozen pairs of glowing green eyes, and a sick, rotting smell that made my stomach turn.

The ringing in my ears drowned out everything, so I could not hear the faint mechanical sounds, thinking they were just the low growl of beasts.

Mom collapsed to the ground, shaking, her words falling apart. "It's over. It's over. They're going to tear us apart."

I stared at the dark shapes closing in, my heart pounding wildly, not because I was afraid to die, but because I was afraid she would.

Dad died early, and she raised me on her own. She was always busy with work and rarely had time for me, but I knew she loved me, and that was enough.

I grabbed a burning branch from the fire, adrenaline surging through my body and pushing past the weakness.

"Mom, run!"

I shouted with everything I had as I rushed out through the narrow gap between the rocks. To the left was a gentle slope, her only way out, while to the right was a cliff, a dead end.

If I ran left, and the wolves could not catch me, they would turn around and go straight for her.

I did not hesitate. I turned and sprinted toward the cliff on the right. I was going to drag them into a dead end. Make sure they never even thought about turning back.

The "wolves" took the bait. They howled and all turned to chase after me.

Behind me, I heard her boyfriend's lazy voice drift over.

"Hey, don't run out of frame. There's no camera set up over there."