Chapter 1
Clothes covered nearly every inch of the room.
They were scattered everywhere—draped over the sofa, tossed across the back of the chair, piled on the study desk, and strewn wildly across the floor. A few shirts were half-folded, but most had been carelessly thrown aside over the past few weeks, leaving the bedroom looking as though it had been hit by a quiet storm.
“AHHHH!”
Noah Vance shot upright in bed, a sharp gasp tearing from his throat.
His face was deathly pale, a thin sheen of cold sweat glistening on his forehead. His chest heaved as his heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird.
Slowly, his disoriented eyes scanned the messy bedroom. He sank back against his pillows, lowering his head into his trembling hands.
Then... the reality of his life crashed back in.
A suffocating pain tightened around his heart, making it hard to breathe. The most valuable people in his world—his parents—were gone. The silence in the house was a constant, heavy reminder that they weren’t coming back.
Noah closed his eyes, trying to force his racing pulse to calm down. But as the fading nightmare receded, another thought took its place.
The dream.
It hadn’t felt like a normal nightmare. It had felt impossibly, terrifyingly real.
There had been towering trees he couldn’t name, landscapes with colors that shouldn’t exist, and a lingering, sweet, unknown taste on the back of his tongue. And beneath it all... something else. Something vital.
No matter how hard he tried to grasp the memory, the pieces slipped through his fingers like sand.
“Why did I dream about that...?” Noah whispered to the empty room, pressing his knuckles to his temples.
Before his mind could spiral any further, his bedroom door burst open.
“Noah! What happened? Why were you screaming?”
A young man rushed into the room, his face tight with immediate concern. It was Kai—his cousin, but in every way that mattered, his brother.
Noah looked up, his tired, sorrowful eyes meeting Kai’s, but no words came out.
Kai took in the sight of Noah—the dark circles under his eyes, the messy hair, the sheer exhaustion—and soft-released a long sigh. Forcing a warm, encouraging smile onto his face, Kai stepped further into the room.
“Come on,” Kai said gently, rubbing the back of his neck. “Let’s go out today. We’re skipping college.”
“I don’t want to go anywhere,” Noah replied, his voice barely above a whisper as he pulled his knees to his chest.
Kai crossed his arms, his gentle expression turning into a mock stern look. “Not an option, buddy. Get your ass out of bed and get ready.”
Noah blinked at him in confusion. “Why?”
“Because,” Kai grinned, tossing a fresh pair of jeans at him, “we’re going on an adventure today.”
“An adventure?”
“Hmm. Now move it. Let’s go.”
Before Noah could protest or retreat back under his blankets, Kai grabbed his arm and hauled him toward the bathroom door. “Freshen up first. No excuses.”
Ten minutes later, Noah stepped back out into the hallway, dressed in a simple hoodie and jeans. Waiting for them near the front entrance was Maya, holding three travel mugs of coffee and a pair of car keys.
Noah looked between his two cousins, still feeling numb, yet undeniably pulled forward by their unwavering warmth. The three of them piled into Kai’s car, the engine humming to life as they pulled out of the driveway. As Kai drove, he glanced at Noah through the rearview mirror.
“There’s a small forest preserve right inside the city,” Kai said, breaking the silence. “The government built a camping and trail area there. That’s where we’re headed today.”
Noah kept his gaze fixed on the passing buildings outside his window. “So... this is the ‘adventure’ you were talking about?” he asked quietly, his tone flat. “I really don’t feel like going anywhere.”
His voice suddenly cracked, raw with emotion. “I just... I feel like crying.”
Maya, sitting in the passenger seat next to Kai, turned around and smiled gently at Noah. “Come on. You used to be the most energetic one out of all of us. You were always begging Uncle and Aunt to take us on outdoor trips.”
She let out a soft laugh, nostalgia in her eyes. “They could never say no to your endless nagging.”
The moment those words left her mouth, Noah’s shoulders began to tremble. A hot tear slipped down his cheek, followed by another.
Maya’s gentle smile vanished instantly. “Oh no... Noah...”
Unbuckling her seatbelt slightly, she reached into the backseat and wrapped her hand warmly over his cold fingers. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have...”
Noah lowered his head, pressing his forehead against his arm as tears spilled uncontrollably.
Kai’s knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He swallowed hard, staring straight at the road ahead, trying to keep his own emotions in check.
After a quiet moment, Maya spoke softly, her voice filled with tenderness. “If you keep blaming yourself and staying trapped in this sorrow... do you really think Uncle and Aunt would be at peace?”
Noah wiped his cheeks with the back of his sleeve. “Then why...?” he whispered, his heart aching. “Why did they have to leave me?”
Kai let out a long, heavy sigh. “You’ve asked us that question a hundred times, Noah.” He caught Noah’s tear-stained face in the mirror again. “Do you really think we have an answer?”
Noah fell silent, the words stuck in his throat.
He couldn’t press them any further. After all... his parents hadn’t just belonged to him.
When Kai and Maya lost their own parents years ago, Noah’s parents had opened their front door without a second thought. They had taken them in, raised all three of them under one roof, and loved them equally as their own children. His loss was their loss, too.
A heavy silence filled the car once again, but this time, it felt gentler.
Noah rested his temple against the cool glass of the window, watching the city skyline drift past.
“You know...” Noah said after a long pause, his voice barely audible over the hum of the tires. “Somehow... I feel like they didn’t really leave us.”
Kai and Maya both glanced toward him, listening closely.
“I feel like...” Noah continued, staring off into the horizon, “...they’re still right beside us. We just can’t see them anymore.”
Maya’s eyes softened, and a warm, comforting smile touched her lips. “I believe that, too. They’re watching over us.” She squeezed his hand again. “So all we can do is keep moving forward... stay together... and live the life they would want for us.”
Noah didn’t answer out loud.
Instead, he stared down at his trembling hands, a strange, quiet promise taking root in his mind. The dream. The unmapped forest. The feeling of being called somewhere.
“I’ll find them,” Noah whispered softly to himself.
Neither Kai nor Maya understood what he truly meant by those words. But as Kai turned the car into the entrance of the forest park, the hollow despair in Noah’s eyes had shifted into something else entirely.
For the first time since the accident... a spark of resolve had taken its place.
