Prologue

Mama never did love him.

Either of us.

She said he was a demon straight from Hell.

He had to be, since he looks so different to everyone else.

His mouth was always just a little too wide for his face, his eyes—while a bright shade of hickory-brown—were darkened by the madness that consumed him, and then there were the voices he always seemed to hear—the things that he saw, that no one else could— convinced her that he needed to be thrown away.

She said I was a jezebel and that it was my fault men fell to the temptation of my bed.

She blamed me for him, though I never understood why.

I was supposed to be wiser because I was older than he was.

I was born first, so the lessons they imparted in both of us should have stuck, but my love for him never wavered.

I never did get the chance to properly know him. She and Papa kept us as far apart from each other as they could.

There were nights that I’d stand in his room and watch him sleep. That was at first; the braver I became, the closer I would get.

Papa caught me one night as I sat on the edge of his bed, watching his chest steadily moving up and down.

He grabbed me by a fistful of my hair and dragged me out. I took the belt that night as best as I could, refusing to cry or show any signs of being in pain.

I never wanted to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they were so close to breaking me, because I wasn’t theirs to break.

That was the same night Mama decided I was sick. She took me to the doctor the next day, filled him up with lies about how I had been behaving, and in turn, he gave her so many prescriptions that I wasn’t sure how she would be able to afford them.

But, Mama had always been a cunning woman, and when she was finally able to get her hands on everything he scribbled on that little white piece of pad paper, my Hell truly began.

Of course, by the time we got back from getting all of the medication, Papa had already sent him away. I’m fairly certain he ran him out of the house while calling him a temptation, but I never did get the full story.

“It’s not your place to question us, Maisie. Shut your fucking mouth and take your goddamn medicine, or so help me God.”

God.

They called on him a lot whenever they decided to punish us.

I knew in my heart that I’d have a score to settle with God one day, but first, I would have to rectify what had been done to us.

I never really thought I’d get the chance.

Especially not after I started getting so damn sick.

My hair would fall out in chunks, and even my teeth were rotting out of my head.

Cracking on pieces of bread, and chipping when I would place a glass of water to my lips. They destroyed my body, made sure that it would stop growing when I was at a time in my life where I was finally starting to feel strong.

My skin started to become as sallow as my soul, and I was so goddamn weak that I decided not to fight back anymore.

I took my medicine as prescribed, and I bided my time.

Eventually, they wouldn’t be able to hold me anymore. I’d find a way to stop taking my medicine, even though they always made me take it in front of them. Papa had insisted I open my mouth to show him that the pills had been swallowed down into my body to continue their course of corruption and devastation.

Then, one day, I figured it out.

I would hide the pills under my tongue and show them the empty mouth they always wanted to see.

One night, when I had finally given up all hope, when I was on my knees saying my evening prayers, he showed up at my window.

A sin.

My sin.

He came back for me like he’d promised the last night when I had sat on his bed after Papa woke him up with his yelling.

We’ve taken care of each other as best as we can. We’ve been learning about each other, hiding away from Mama and Papa who by now have probably given up all hope that they’d ever find me again.

And as I sat on the edge of his bed, watching him sleep like I had only once before, I knew it was time.

The only way we’d be able to be together would be to destroy the very essence of evil.

We’d have to go back home.