Chapter 1 - The Breach
The wood gave way with a sickening crack, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the pristine living room. David didn’t stop. He swung the solid brass fire-stoker again, and again, tearing through the expensive oak flooring, ignoring the splinters slicing into his palms.
"David, please!" Elena shrieked, crawling toward him, her hands leaving bloody smears on the ruined floorboards. "You don't understand! I kept him safe! The world is too dangerous, David!"
He ignored her. Below the splintered gap, a small, filthy hand clung to his wrist with a desperate, trembling grip. David dropped the iron and fell to his stomach, plunging both arms into the suffocating darkness beneath the foundation.
"Leo!" David roared, his voice cracking with fourteen months of suppressed agony. "Leo, I’ve got you! I’ve got you, buddy!"
He pulled. The space was impossibly tight, but David yanked with the strength of a madman. A small figure emerged from the dust and shadows. It was Leo, but barely. His son’s skin was paper-white, his cheeks hollow, his eyes wide and unblinking against the sudden influx of light. He smelled of damp earth, stale sweat, and human waste.
Leo didn’t cry. He just clung to David’s shirt, burying his face in his father’s chest.
Maya stood in the corner, tears streaming silently down her cheeks.
Elena lunged, not at David, but at Leo. "He's mine! I made him perfect! I kept him pure!"
Before she could touch the boy, David turned, his foot lashing out. He caught Elena square in the chest, sending her sprawling backward into the glass coffee table. The glass shattered, a chaotic web of cracks matching the sudden ruin of her perfect life.
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With one hand pressing Leo to his heart, David pulled his phone from his pocket with his bloody hand and dialed 911.
"My name is David Vance," he gasped, his eyes locked on his sister, who was sobbing amidst the broken glass. "I’m at 442 Crestview Lane. Send the police. Send an ambulance. I found my son."
