I. Prologue

Fear. It was like a blanket of ice that wrapped around your lungs and gripped them with full force, making you gasp for that delicious air that we usually took for granted. Hands trembling, breathing unsteady, and thoughts scrambled. I gripped the scissors tightly in my hand. I bent my knees to my chest and placed my other hand over my mouth as I struggled to steady my rapid breathing. I begged for it to be over and for them to leave us alone. I was sitting in my pitch-black closet, tears streaming down my cheeks. It was the single scariest thing I had ever experienced. Nothing will ever compare. He walked into my room, his boots leaving dirty mud prints with every step. His heavy steps echoed inside the walls of my chest. I watched him from the gap in between the closet door. Cries erupted from the room next door and he rushed to silence them. It was my older brother Maximilian. I had already watched the men kill my mother and father; we were the only ones left. They were titans. I could tell by the way they were dressed. Max taught me to never interfere or get involved with them. The titans wore black masks over their mouths and leather coats. One of them returned for me. His sword was placed across his back. Blood drops followed his every step. I placed my hands over my ears as screams and sirens began to fill my head before I felt somebody lift me into their arms.

"Don't worry Daisy, I won't hurt you." He whispered through his mask. I laid in his arms, shaking, too afraid to say a word or open my eyes and face the murderer. I had no escape. He carried me into his home and laid me down in a small, children's bed. The duvet was covered in cartoons, like he had been watching me, planning to bring me there all along. He turned off the light and closed the door behind him. I sat motionless with tears in my eyes. I didn't have the guts to open the door or try and run away from him. I was only small. I laid my head down on the pillow and closed my eyes. This was it; this was the end. I hadn't thought of what would happen once the titan returned. I didn't want to punish myself further. There was some hope inside my chest that held onto the idea that perhaps Max was still alive. He was all I had left. Am I all alone?

After several hours' chaos took over the room behind the wooden door. Yelling, fighting, and screaming, somebody was coming to save me. I just knew it. A dark shadow effortlessly pulled the door off its hinges. Enveloped by a black mist, like the god of death, he hardly looked like a person. Shadowed by darkness. He lifted me into his large arms and carried me out of the titan's house. He didn't say a word and nor did I have the courage to question him, handed me to a man named Dorian Lockwood and the nightmare had come to an end.