Chapter 47(The Making of a Monster I)

I was just thirteen years old, playing in the backyard. It was my birthday, and I was the happiest boy in the world

Finn, my little brother, was chasing me around. Inside, my mother was baking a cake helped by my father.

For a moment, everything was perfect.

Then the men came.

They moved like shadows, slipping through the gate without a sound. They were four of them, all dressed in black, their faces blank as stone. Finn froze mid-step, his small fingers clutching the hem of my shirt.

One of them—the tallest, with a scar splitting his lip and his right ear missing stepped forward.

“Where’s your dad?”

I didn’t answer. My throat had closed up. I was just a boy, but I knew those men were trouble. Then they heard my mum laughing loudly in the kitchen.

The men moved past me like I wasn’t even there. Finn bolted, scrambling toward the bushes. I should’ve run too. But I didn’t. I followed them, creeping closer to the kitchen window, my heartbeat so loud I was sure they’d hear it.