I squeezed the boys’ hands.

And the darkness swallowed the lawn.

The door closed.

And the light was gone.

But I was ready.

To fight.

For all of them.

Until the end.

And the beginning.

Of the truth.

That saved us.

Or destroyed us.

The phone lit up again.

This time, it was a message.

“Don’t look back.”

I looked.

And the shadow was there.

Watching.

Waiting.

For the first move.

I took a step.

And the world shattered.

Into a thousand pieces.

Of glass.

And rain.

And blood.

The end of the road had arrived.

But the truth was still hidden in the dark.

And I had to find it.

Before they took my children forever.

The hand on my shoulder tightened once more.

This time, it was not Evelyn.

It was Ruth.

She was bleeding from a cut on her forehead.

“We have to go to the cellar,” she whispered.

“Under the orchard.”

“The papers are there.”

“The real ones.”

She pulled at my arm.

I looked at Daniel one last time.

He was staring at the tree.

He had seen the eyes too.