Chapter 1

The sharp pain in Chloe' s head was a dull, distant throb compared to the screaming. It was Sarah, her step-sister, and her cries echoed through the dense, damp wilderness. Liam, Chloe' s fiancé, was already at Sarah' s side, his face a mask of panic and fury.

"Chloe, what the hell did you do?" Liam' s voice cut through the air, sharp and accusatory. He didn' t look at her, his entire focus on Sarah, who was clutching her ankle on the muddy ground, her face twisted in agony.

Chloe tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. She had slipped on the mossy rocks. They had all been walking together, and she had reached out to steady herself, accidentally brushing against Sarah. It all happened so fast. Now Sarah was hurt, and Liam was looking at her like she was a monster.

"I… it was an accident," Chloe finally managed to whisper, her voice trembling.

Sarah sobbed, a fresh wave of tears streaming down her cheeks. "Liam, it' s okay. I know she didn' t mean it. She was just… upset that you were holding my hand to help me over the rocks."

The words were a gentle poison. Chloe stared, her heart turning to ice. That wasn' t what happened. Liam had been ahead, and she and Sarah were behind. But Liam' s face hardened, his suspicion cementing into certainty. He believed Sarah completely.

"We have to get her out of here," Liam said, his voice flat and cold. He looked at Chloe, really looked at her for the first time since Sarah fell. There was no love in his eyes, only disgust. "Her ankle looks broken. We can' t carry her and help you walk. You' ll have to wait here."

"Wait here?" Chloe repeated, the words tasting like ash. "Liam, we' re in the middle of nowhere. You can' t just leave me." Her own leg was scraped and bleeding, her head was pounding, but he didn' t seem to notice or care.

"I can and I will," he snapped. He scooped a fragile, weeping Sarah into his arms. "I' ll send someone back for you. Don' t move from this spot."

Chloe watched, frozen in place, as Liam carried her step-sister away. He didn' t look back. The sounds of Sarah' s soft cries and Liam' s soothing murmurs faded into the trees, leaving Chloe in a silence that was louder than the screams. A sudden, unnatural chill swept through the clearing, and for a moment, Chloe felt as if something ancient and powerful was watching her from the shadows between the trees. She was alone, abandoned, and a profound, bottomless despair washed over her.