Prologue

10 Years Old

" C ome back here," Mama calls. She's sweet, but sometimes, she's mean. She doesn't let me go anywhere. She doesn't let me leave the house or have friends. I can't even go to school.

"I just want to play on the swings. Please, momma," I cry, continuing to back away from her. She shakes her head, her chocolate brown hair drifting over her lean shoulder with the movement.

She steps forward, her eyes leaving mine and darting around the park. She looks nervous. "We can't, honey. You know that. I shouldn't have even brought you out here today. It's not safe."

I scream. So mad. So tired of being locked inside. Training. Learning. Fighting. The guns and the French lessons are fun, but I just want to be a kid. I just want to have a friend. One that doesn't have to hide in a treehouse. A real one that can play with me and come over. I want my Alec to see my dolls and my toys. I want to be normal.

I get so mad that I turn and run away. I run so far and so fast; momma can't catch me. I don't know where to go. I don't get to go anywhere but the park and home. I sneak to the treehouse to meet Alec, but that's only a few houses down from mine. I don't know how to get anywhere, so I just follow my feet. I run until I see the familiar house come into view.

And then, I cry some more. It's big and pretty, but I hate it. I never get to leave it.

I shake my head and cross the street, sneaking through the side gate of our giant house so I can go to the treehouse. The only way to get there is through the broken fence board I found in our backyard. Maybe Alec will be there. If not, I'll just wait for him.

I pass by the house, sneaking in the shadows, so my aunt and uncle that we live with don't catch me. It's their house. They have money. We just live with them because we have nowhere else to go. My aunt and uncle are nice. They're really smart. They're the ones who train me on all the cool stuff.

I'm just passing the window to the big room I'm not allowed to go in that's next to Aunty Char's office when I hear it. A bang. It's loud. I run to the window, pressing my face to the glass so I can watch.

There's yelling. A bunch of grownups are around a table, screaming and shouting at each other. A large man jumps up, throwing something across the room. He's angry. He reaches for something, and then—he's holding a gun. I scream when I see it's pointed at Uncle Miles. I can't hear what they're saying through the glass, but then, the man fires his weapon, and Aunty Char jumps in the way, pushing Miles, so he doesn't get hit. Char falls to the ground, and I scream again.

Tears cover my freckled cheeks as I watch everyone jump up and start to fight. Miles is yelling, trying to get to Char. The mean man is shooting everyone. The small woman next to him is so scared. She's crying, and it looks like she's trying to make him stop. He lifts the gun and presses it to her head. He says something, then shoots her. More guns come out, and so many people fall.

Miles runs for a door in the back, throwing it open and running inside. The angry man chases him, and then…a boom. It's loud. The room where Miles went is on fire. The other man yells and runs. Everyone runs. They leave the people who fell. They leave Char and Miles. The fire gets bigger.

The ground shakes. The window explodes, and I'm thrown back. I hit the ground. My skin burns and aches. My head is dizzy. I scream and scream, and then…

Everything goes black.