Chapter 1

After the big earthquake, Mommy fell asleep.

I curled up in Mommy's slowly cooling arms, hiding under a huge slab of concrete, sucking on her finger and drinking the red syrup.

Daddy's voice came out of the little black square.

"Get Chloe out first! Jane can hold on—make her wait a little longer. She won't die."

It really was Daddy!

Mommy had told me Daddy would come save us soon.

But why was Daddy making Mommy wait?

I glanced at Mommy, who was sleeping, and whispered to Daddy.

"Daddy, Mommy's asleep. She gave me lots of red syrup to drink."

"The syrup tastes weird, but I'm not scared. Mommy said Daddy would come pick me up before I finished it."

The little black square suddenly went silent.

I kept drinking the syrup.

Then Daddy's voice came through again, loudly ordering someone to come find me.

I clapped my hands, happy.

Daddy was coming to pick me up.

"Got one! Over here! There's another kid alive—!"

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A blinding beam of light stabbed in, so bright it made my eyes hurt.

I flinched deeper into Mommy's arms without thinking.

But Mommy was stiff, like a stone.

"Mommy, it's morning. Can we go home now?"

I gave Mommy's chest a little push.

It wasn't soft anymore. A big piece of it had caved in, and everything was sticky.

"Quick! Get the child out first!"

A pair of rough, big hands yanked me straight out of Mommy's arms.

"I don't wanna go! Mommy's still sleeping! I wanna wait for Mommy!"

I screamed, my tiny hands clenched tight around the hem of Mommy's dress.

*Rrrip—*

The hem tore off.

The man in the yellow uniform held me in his arms. The corners of my mouth were caked with dry red crumbs.

That was the "red syrup" Mommy had fed me.

The man holding me stiffened for a moment.

He looked down at the corner of my mouth, then glanced back at the woman paramedic by the stretcher and murmured to her under his breath.

"It's blood."

The woman clapped a hand over her mouth. Her eyes went red instantly.

I didn't really understand what they were saying.

I just knew the syrup Mommy fed me today had a rusty, metallic taste.

"Nora! My Nora—!"

A staggering figure came rushing over.

It was Daddy.

He was wearing that expensive suit of his. There was just a bit of dust on it—he looked a little worse for wear.

He snatched me up and pressed me into his chest.

"Thank God, you're alive—you're alive, Daddy was so scared…"

He was crying.

His body shook.

But then I caught a smell.

A sharp, sickly-sweet perfume.

That was the smell Mommy hated most.

She said it was the smell of a bad woman.

I squirmed a little in Daddy's arms.

"Daddy, Mommy's still down there. She fell asleep."

Daddy's body froze for a beat.

He didn't look at Mommy under the rubble.

He pressed my head hard against his shoulder so I couldn't look either.

"Nora, be a good girl… Mommy… Mommy has gone somewhere very, very far away."

"No, Mommy's right down there!"

I got frantic and pointed my little finger at that pitch-black hole.

"Mommy gave me lots of red syrup. She said when I finished it, Daddy would come."

Daddy's face went white in an instant.

He stared at the dark red crust of blood at the corner of my mouth. His Adam's apple bobbed hard.

The doctors and nurses around us fell silent.

That woman paramedic covered her mouth, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Only Daddy—his eyes kept darting away.

What was he afraid of?

Was it because of the little black square?

Back then, Daddy's voice had come through that black square, roaring like a monster.

He'd said Mommy could hold on. That she wouldn't die.

I leaned in close to Daddy's ear and asked softly:

"Daddy, why did we have to make Mommy wait a little longer?"

Daddy shoved me away.

Like he'd been burned.

There was no joy in his eyes.

Only terror.

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