PROLOGUE: VANYA, AGE SEVEN

Daddy promised that he would be here.

I fought the tears as I searched for Mommy around the yard. She said that she was going to call him when I asked her.

What if he forgot again? What if he had a meeting that was more important than my birthday party?

Giving up on my search outside, I entered the house.

The kitchen was empty. Nobody was in the living room and Mommy wasn’t in the bathroom.

There was only one room Mommy went to whenever she wanted to make a call, but I wasn’t allowed inside the room.

I bit my lip as I hesitated in the hallway.

My friends were laughing and running around outside and I wanted to join in on the fun, but it didn’t feel like fun without Daddy here.

With my mind made up, I hurried down the hall, towards Daddy’s office. The door stood open halfway and I could hear Mommy talking inside.

Entering the room, I paused and glanced around until I spotted her. She stood at the window that faced the backyard with her phone pressed to her ear.

Mommy looked pretty in the dress she wore. I wanted one just like that.

“You promised that you’re going to be here, Rafael. What am I supposed to tell her? Can’t you just make one exception for your daughter?” Mommy gasped. “Are you serious right now? No, you—” Mommy turned and froze when she saw me. “I don’t care. Make sure you’re here when we cut the cake.”

“Does he have an important meeting?” I asked her as soon as she ended the call.

“Yes,” she sighed, “but he promised to be here before we cut your cake.”

I stared down at the floor. I knew it was a lie. Daddy was going to be late. He was always late these days.

“Vanya… it’s rude to listen in on other people’s conversations,” she scolded me. “It’s your birthday, so I’m going to let this go, but if this happens again…”

Daddy always made sure that she gave me a punishment if I was naughty. It was never something bad and sometimes Mommy made it fun.

“Let’s go back to the party.” Mommy held out her hand as she smiled down at me. “It’s your party and you need to be there in order to celebrate it.”

***

Daddy wasn’t on time.

He showed up hours after the party ended and I had gone to bed. I stayed up in hope that he would come to say goodnight to me like he had done a hundred times when I was younger.

But he never came, so I got out of bed and crept down the hall towards their bedroom. The door was closed firmly like it was every night, but I could still hear them arguing.

“It’s about the fact that you promised her—”

“If I knew that having a kid was going to be like this, I would have made you get rid of it!” Daddy yelled. “I told you we are not ready for a fucking kid, but you pushed and pushed just like you’re doing now.”

Tears filled my eyes as I moved away from the door.

He doesn’t want me.

The door to the bedroom suddenly opened, making me gasp. I spun around and ran back to my bedroom. Diving back in bed, I pulled the covers over my head and squeezed my eyes closed.

Daddy doesn’t want me.What if Mommy doesn’t want me either?

I waited for Mommy to check in on me before I got out of bed and searched for my school bag. If they didn’t want me, then it would be better for me to leave. I didn’t want to stay and listen to them arguing. I didn’t want to stay and make Mommy hate me like Daddy hated me.

Not all of my clothes fit inside my school bag.

But I managed to get enough inside. Zipping the bag closed, I swung it over my shoulder and pulled my flashlight out of the drawer next to my bed.

I sighed in relief when it worked. For a moment, I was worried that I would have to walk in the dark.

Wiping the tears from my cheeks, I snuck out of my bedroom and then out of the house. Daddy forgot to set the alarm when he got home, but there were guards outside by the front gate.

I snuck around the side of the house and ran into the forest that was part of our backyard.

It was scary.

Are there really monsters living in the forest like Daddy used to tell me?

I gasped when I spotted eyes staring at me from between the trees. But when I pointed my flashlight in that direction, all I saw was trees.

Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. I don’t want the monsters to eat me.

But I couldn’t find the way back to my house. I tried and tried, but there was no end to the forest.

A sound from behind me made me freeze. I held my breath as I slowly turned around.

It was big.

Big, black and bleeding.

And growling at me with sharp teeth on display.

It looked like one of the big cats I had seen from my bedroom window. Mommy called it a panther.

I took a step back and tripped over something. The flashlight slipped from my hand and rolled away. It was suddenly dark. Black like the big cat.

“I can’t see,” I cried as I scrambled to my knees and started feeling around for my flashlight.

My hands brushed dirt and leaves and twigs. A whimper fell from my lips when I found my flashlight. I flicked it on and screamed when I saw the panther’s face inches from mine.