4

Mia, at Liam's house, had no idea what was happening that day that would change her life forever.

While she experienced, for the first time, a glimpse of freedom... something terrible was beginning to unfold in the shadows.

Hours earlier...

As soon as the old pickup truck turned the corner from the school, João glanced intently in the rearview mirror. His wrinkled face, hardened by years of running and silence, tensed. A black van had appeared behind them, keeping an exact distance. Not too far away. Not close enough to attract attention.

But João knew this kind of silence.

"Honey... hold on.

I think they found us."

His voice sounded firm, but the tension made his fingers grip the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.

Tereza, in the passenger seat, turned around immediately. The black van followed like a living shadow, its dark windshield reflecting the gray Chicago sky. She felt her stomach drop.

“My God... João...”

“Don't panic. Not yet.”

He stepped on the gas. The truck's engine screeched, panting, protesting against the effort. The vehicle swayed as it passed over a pothole, but João kept his hands steady and his eyes on the road.

Tereza pulled her cell phone out of her purse with trembling hands.

“We have to tell Elisa! She needs to pick up Mia from school. Now!”

But before she could dial, the van accelerated and crashed into the back of the truck.

The impact was sharp and brutal. Tereza screamed as she was thrown against the dashboard. Her cell phone slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor.

João cursed. He tried to control the car, but another blow came immediately after, even harder. The truck shook violently. He turned the steering wheel hard to maintain control.

“Those sons of bitches never got this far before,” he growled through clenched teeth.

This time, they weren't just watching. They were hunting.

“Go! Speed up! If we can reach the main avenue, maybe—”

“I know what to do,” João interrupted.

He turned right onto a narrow, pothole-filled side street in a desperate attempt to lose them. For a few seconds, the van disappeared from the rearview mirror.

“Could it be—”

“No. They don't give up easily.”

And they didn't give up.

The van reappeared, turning the corner at high speed, quickly gaining ground.

Tereza squeezed her eyes shut. Her voice failed her.

“João... what if this is the end?”

He didn't answer. He just reached out and squeezed her hand tightly.

An alley appeared on the left. João turned the steering wheel sharply and turned into it, the truck's engine roaring like a wounded animal.

That's when the others appeared.

Two black cars closed off both sides of the street, blocking any escape route. It was a trap.

Tereza grabbed her cell phone again and dialed Elisa.

She called once.

Twice.

Three times.

“Answer... for God's sake, Elisa, answer!”

Her daughter's voice came through the speakerphone.

“Mom? What—”

There was no time for anything else.

One of the cars advanced.

The impact against the side of the truck was violent. The world turned upside down. Glass, metal, screams. A deafening spin in the air, as if time had broken.

The truck rolled over. Twice. Then once more.

Silence.

When the dust settled, all that remained was the twisted shell of the vehicle.

Slowly, as if time obeyed some other logic, the door of the black van opened. Two men got out. They were dressed in black, but it wasn't their clothes that caught the eye. It was the way they walked.

An unnatural calm.

And their eyes.

There was something in their eyes.

The taller one approached the truck. He looked at the bodies trapped in the wreckage, as if analyzing something disposable.

“Tell me I'm wrong, but...” he muttered. “If they were the right ones, they'd already be healing.”

The other snorted.

“Yeah. Maybe they have something in their blood. But... too diluted. Irrelevant.”

They stood in silence for a moment. Then, without ceremony, they turned and went back to their cars.

Nothing was said.

Nothing was done.

João and Tereza were not killed.

They were left behind.

Abandoned in the middle of the street like broken pieces of an old game.

Meanwhile, in a diner in the city center, Elisa, always alert, was losing patience because Mia wasn't answering her calls, but before she could call again, her cell phone rang.

It was her mother.

She sighed, drying her hands on a dirty cloth before heading out the back door. She answered with her cell phone wedged between her shoulder and her ear, more concerned with breathing than talking.

“Mom?”

What she heard was not an answer.

It was a scream.

An impact.

Silence.

“Mom?! MOM!”

The call dropped.

Elisa froze. For a second. Then panic exploded.

She tried calling again. Three times. Voicemail.

Her whole body was shaking.

She didn't need any explanations. She knew what it meant.

They had found them.

—

She ran back into the diner, grabbed her bag, ignoring the manager's shouts. Once on the sidewalk, she practically threw herself in front of the first taxi.

“Roosevelt High School. Now.”

The driver didn't even ask why. One look at the desperation on her face was enough to step on the gas.

Elisa clutched her cell phone to her chest. She tried calling Mia. Once. Nothing. Twice. Nothing. Three times.

“Mia, answer... please, answer...”

Nothing.

As the car weaved through traffic, one thing became clear: she had to get there before it was too late.

—

The taxi had barely stopped when Elisa jumped out of the back seat, opening the door so hard she almost ripped it off.

“Hey! Are you going to run away without paying?!” shouted the driver, indignant.

She spun on her heels, reached into her purse, and handed him a fifty-dollar bill without looking at him.

“Keep the change.”

Then she ran.

The school's facade seemed larger than she remembered. The glass doors swung open, and she stormed inside.

“I need to see Mia! NOW!”

The secretary stood up, startled by the way Elisa had burst in.

“Ma'am, please calm down. We can—”

“It's an emergency!”

The principal appeared. Tall, imposing, with a rigid posture.

“We'll call the student. You can wait here.”

Elisa tried to control herself. She sat down, stood up, paced. She muttered. She felt time dragging the seconds like razor blades.

“She needs to be here... she needs to be here...”

Then the secretary returned.

Pale.

“Ma'am... your daughter is not at school.”

Silence.

“Are you sure she came today?”

Her world collapsed.

“NO!”

Elisa screamed. She ran down the hallway, pushing anyone in her way. A security guard tried to hold her back. Another tried to calm her down.

That's when her cell phone vibrated in her hand.

Mom

She answered with trembling hands.

“Mom?! Where are you?! Did something happen?!”

But the voice that answered wasn't Tereza's.

“Hello, this is Central Hospital. Are you related to the owner of this cell phone?”

Elisa didn't answer right away. The floor seemed to sink.

“It's my mom's...”

“Ma'am, we're very sorry. Your mother and her companion have been in a serious accident. We need you to come to the hospital immediately.”

She didn't answer. She didn't cry. She didn't even move. She just hung up.

She stood up.

She walked out.

She couldn't feel her body.

—

The hospital was chaotic with voices, white lights, and hurried footsteps. But everything seemed distant. Elisa entered through the revolving door as if passing through a veil.

At the reception desk, she rested her trembling hands on the counter.

“I got a call... about my parents.”

The receptionist just stared at her.

That look.

That damn look of pity.

Soon after, a doctor appeared. Young. Eyes downcast. Neutral voice.

“Ma'am... we're so sorry. They... didn't make it.”

Elisa blinked. She didn't break down. She didn't cry. She just asked:

“What did they die of?”

“An accident. The truck overturned. There were no witnesses. But... we would like to request permission for an autopsy.”

At that moment, something snapped.

Elisa smiled. An empty smile. Cold. Crooked.

“No.”

The doctor hesitated.

“Ma'am—”

“Don't touch them. No one is going to touch them.”

She turned on her heels and left. Quickly. Determined.

And that was when Liam called.