Prologue: Almost Free (Edited)
Setting: Early morning in Cedar Bank
Today was the day. Finally, it was time to leave this godforsaken town and start a new life.
Caroline Frankfort had waited years for her chance to escape the suffocating grip of the small river town of Cedar Bank. For as long as she could remember, her grandfather—the mayor—had kept a watchful, oppressive eye on her and her younger sister. But that ended today. Caroline had secured her admission to Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, three hours and a lifetime away.
Her 1961 cherry-red Corvette cut through the roads of Cedar Bank like a switchblade, leaving a streak of red lipstick against the towering wall of pine trees. Caroline's long blonde hair danced in the wind as she sped across town to make her exit.
But she didn't head for the highway just yet. For reasons she couldn't quite voice, Caroline drove the opposite way, heading toward the grimmer side of town where upper-class folks like herself rarely ventured. She pulled up to a small, weathered diner in the middle of nowhere, parking close enough to the window to be seen clear as day by anyone inside.
The rumble of her Corvette shook the diner's glass, drawing nearly everyone's attention—except for the one pair of eyes she wanted.
Inside, a tall young Mexican boy in a sleek, pressed uniform was wiping down the counter. Caroline lowered her sunglasses, unveiling her light green eyes, silently commanding his attention. But he resisted. As much as he wanted to look, the waiter locked his jaw, gritted his teeth, and continued to work. Just a simple acknowledgement would have been enough to satisfy her, but she wasn't going to get it.
Mateo was the boy she desired, and she was grasping for his gaze one last time. But those large brown eyes knew better; he knew that any public affection toward the mayor's granddaughter would invite danger not just for him, but for his family still living in Cedar Bank.
Caroline was fed up. She pushed her shades back up and ferociously stomped on the gas. The shiny Corvette spun out of the parking lot, leaving nothing behind but a cloud of dust and anger.
Stung by the rejection, Caroline just drove. No tears. No looking back. She fixed her gaze on the future awaiting her to the north. Reckless as she had been in this small river town, Caroline had a goal: to make something of herself without using the influence of the Frankfort name. The bumper sticker on her car—"Class of '78"—was the first step toward a new reality. Away from Mateo, away from her grandfather, and away from the rumors.
She swooped around the curves, accelerating as her music blurred into a wall of sound, drowning out the noise of the passing breeze. Approaching the reservoir, Caroline cut close to a sharp bend that hung between the deep drop-offs of the forest on one side and the massive, man-made river on the other.
What she didn't see as she came roaring around the curve was the girl.
She wasn't on the shoulder hitchhiking. She was standing in the dead center of the road. Her hair was long, silky black, and drenched with water. Her clothes were old, dirty, and stained with river mud. But it was her skin that froze Caroline's blood—her hands and feet were gray as stone.
Shocked by the sudden apparition, Caroline swerved hard to avoid running the girl over. The little red Corvette tore through the guardrail and plummeted down the steep hill into the forest. Branches, limbs, and rocks flew across the car until, finally, the vehicle collided with a massive pine tree.
The impact slammed her head into the steering wheel, opening a deep cut across her forehead. For a moment, she was in a daze, barely able to regain her vision through the trauma.
"Oh god," she wheezed, clutching her chest. "Granddaddy is going to kill me."
After a moment, Caroline tried to gather her thoughts to evaluate the damage. But her attention was immediately drawn to the broken window of her car.
The girl was there.
Staring at her through the shattered glass, the figure was horrifyingly clear: gray clay skin, milky white eyes that held nothing but emptiness, and long, black, dripping hair. The sight ripped the voice right out of Caroline's throat.
Before she could scream, Caroline felt a sudden, crushing pressure in her chest. An impulse to drown became a terrifying reality as black, muddy water began to spew from her lips. She clawed desperately at her neck, panicking as she gargled the misty black fluid pouring from her mouth and nose.
As she drowned on dry land, the strange girl observed her, slowly tilting her head to the left, then to the right. She watched closely as Caroline's desperation gradually faded into stillness.
Slumped in her seat, Caroline lay motionless, black lake water still spilling from her mouth, her eyes fixed in a wide, white, lifeless stare.