Chapter 1 - The Shattered Wood
The heavy wooden handle of the hammer felt slippery in Ethan's twelve-year-old hands.
He stood frozen in the center of the brightly lit viewing room.
The deafening crack of splintering mahogany still echoed through the massive funeral hall.
Screams erupted from the dozens of mourners dressed in solemn black suits and dresses.
Through the jagged hole he had just smashed into the expensive casket, a desperate pair of eyes stared back at him.
It was his mother.
She was completely alive.
Tears streamed down Claire Parker's pale cheeks as she struggled against the thick layers of silver duct tape covering her mouth and binding her wrists.
Ethan felt his heart slam violently against his ribs.
He reached his small hand into the splintered opening to try and tear the tape away from her face.
Before his fingers could even brush against her skin, the terrifying metallic click of a handgun echoed over the screaming crowd.
Everyone in the room instantly dropped to the plush carpet in sheer terror.
Richard, the man Ethan had called his stepfather for the past three years, stood at the front of the room with a cold, expressionless stare.
The sleek black barrel of his weapon was aimed directly at the horrified guests.
"Nobody takes another step," Richard commanded in a chillingly calm voice.
Ethan slowly turned his head to look at the man who had delivered a tearful eulogy just minutes ago.
This was not a funeral at all.
It was a perfectly staged execution.
Richard aggressively grabbed Ethan by the collar of his suit jacket and dragged him away from the casket.
Ethan kicked and thrashed wildly, screaming for someone in the room to help his mother.
But the terrified guests remained pinned to the floor, too paralyzed by the lethal weapon to intervene.
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Richard shoved the small boy hard against the velvet-lined wall.
"I warned you not to say anything," Richard whispered, pressing the cold steel of the gun against Ethan's forehead.
