# Chapter One
## The Man in the Rain
The rain started before Amara Vale reached the town.
It came down in heavy sheets, blurring the road ahead and turning the windshield into a curtain of silver. The old wipers struggled against it, squeaking across the glass as Amara tightened her hands around the steering wheel.
She hadn't been back in eight years.
Eight years since she had left without looking behind her.
Eight years since her mother's funeral.
And now she was driving straight back into the place she had spent most of her life trying to forget.
Amara glanced at the road sign ahead.
**WELCOME TO RAVENHILL.**
Her stomach tightened.
She almost turned around.
Almost.
But the thought of her mother's house waiting at the end of the road stopped her.
The house had been sitting empty for years. Her brother, Daniel, had called her two weeks earlier and insisted that she return.
*There's something you need to see.*
He hadn't explained what.
Amara had asked him several times.
Daniel had refused to answer.
Now, with the rain pounding against the car, she wondered whether coming back had been a mistake.
Her phone vibrated on the passenger seat.
**DANIEL CALLING.**
She answered through the car's speaker.
"Where are you?" Daniel asked.
"About ten minutes away."
There was silence.
Then he said, "Amara, listen to me."
Something in his voice made her sit straighter.
"What?"
"Don't go into the house alone."
She frowned.
"Why?"
Another pause.
"I'll explain when I get there."
"Daniel—"
The call ended.
Amara stared at the phone.
"Perfect," she muttered.
Her brother had always been good at making everything sound more frightening than it needed to be.
She turned onto the narrow road leading toward their old neighborhood.
The rain became even heavier.
Then her headlights caught something ahead.
A person.
Standing in the middle of the road.
Amara slammed on the brakes.
The car stopped only a few feet away.
Her heart pounded.
The stranger didn't move.
He was tall, dressed in a dark coat that was already soaked through. Rainwater ran from his hair down the sides of his face.
Amara reached for her phone.
Maybe she should call Daniel.
Then the stranger slowly lifted his head.
Even through the rain-covered windshield, she could see his eyes fixed directly on her.
He knew her.
She didn't know how she knew that.
She simply felt it.
Amara unlocked the door.
"Are you okay?" she called through the slightly lowered window.
The man stepped closer.
"You're Amara Vale."
Her breath caught.
She stared at him.
"How do you know my name?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, his expression changed.
Not fear.
Something closer to regret.
"You shouldn't have come back."
Amara's fingers tightened around the steering wheel.
"Who are you?"
The stranger took another step toward the car.
"Go back."
"Why?"
"Because if you stay here, they'll find you."
A chill moved through her.
"Who will find me?"
The stranger looked toward the road behind her.
For the first time, Amara noticed another vehicle parked in the distance.
Its headlights were off.
The stranger's voice dropped.
"Don't trust anyone."
Then he stepped away.
"Wait!"
Amara opened the door and climbed out.
"Who are you?"
The man stopped.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then he looked over his shoulder.
"My name is Adrian."
Amara waited.
"Adrian what?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he said something that made the world seem to stop.
"Your mother asked me to protect you."
Amara's face went pale.
"My mother is dead."
"I know."
"Then how could she have asked you?"
Adrian looked at her with an expression she couldn't understand.
"Because she knew what was coming."
Before Amara could ask another question, he walked into the darkness beside the road.
"Adrian!"
He disappeared.
Amara stood in the rain, staring after him.
Then she heard a car engine.
The vehicle behind her had started.
Its headlights suddenly came on.
Amara froze.
The car began moving toward her.
She ran back to her own vehicle, slammed the door shut and locked it.
The other car drove past without stopping.
Amara watched it disappear around the bend.
Her breathing was uneven.
She looked at the passenger seat.
Her phone was still there.
Beside it was an old envelope.
She hadn't put it there.
Slowly, she picked it up.
Her name was written across the front.
**AMARA.**
The handwriting was unmistakable.
She knew it.
It belonged to her mother.
With trembling fingers, Amara opened the envelope.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
Only one sentence had been written on it.
**If you're reading this, they've finally found you.**
Amara stopped breathing.
Outside, thunder rolled across the dark sky.
And somewhere beyond the rain, a man was watching her return.
