Prologue
Cedar Falls, Oregon, February 14, 1993
Freddy gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white as his wife, Maria, was writhing in pain in the passenger seat and gripping the side of the car door. She was dealing with the immense pain of labor which had been happening for the last 10 minutes.
Her screams filled the car and her face was flushed as bullets of sweat ran down her skin. She breathed rapidly, but each breath would hurt. Tires screeched loudly on the black obsidian two-way street as Freddy sped past red lights, ignoring the blaring horns and flashing headlights of oncoming traffic.
Freddy’s voice was tight with fear as he urged her to hang on a little longer. Hold on, Maria...please hold on. We’re almost there. His foot pressed harder on the gas as fear coursed through his veins, his heart was practically beating out of his chest.
I cannot lose you...or them. Guilt was eating him up inside as he tried not to lose focus. Damn, why did we have to live further from the hospital, he thought with frustration.
By the time Freddy screeched his car into the parking lot of the hospital, Maria was already fading in and out of consciousness. Freddy barely managed to carry her inside before nurses rushed to their side and whisked her away. He stayed back, watching them rush her down the corridor, his chest continuously rising and falling.
In the waiting room, time seemed to move slowly. Minutes turned into hours and hours turned into more hours. Freddy couldn’t sit still. He couldn’t think. What if she didn’t survive? What if none of them survived? It’s been too long.
Almost every possible worst-case scenario replayed over and over again in his head until a doctor came to him. Judging by the doctor’s calm facial expression, he assumed everything must’ve been okay which calmed his nerves at that moment.
Upon entering the emergency room, Freddy’s knees almost gave out as his eyes set themselves on Maria. He noticed she was very much alive and holding two newborns who were wrapped in swaddles.
Comforting her at her bedside, his trembling hands gently grabbed one of the twins. Both were so tiny and premature, named Jake Hardin Sterling and Damien Maxwell Sterling. They had their mother’s delicate features aside from being identical.
The peaceful moment ended as soon as doctors returned with grim expressions. Those expressions were so familiar to Freddy. They told him that they’ve found something unusual–something Freddy was afraid of them figuring out.
One of his sons carried the same dark secret he did–a dark secret that was meant to be hidden. He made the doctors swear to never tell a single soul about this dark secret.
Days passed, but Freddy’s mind would not rest. He began to think that his son’s secret side would make him a monster like his once did in his younger years. The silence of the secret was weighing heavily on his shoulders.
His constant paranoia and guilt began poisoning his marriage. Arguments turned into resentment and resentment turned into distance.
The night Freddy finally left, the silence was loud as he gathered all of his things and his son, Damien, into the car. Maria just stood on the porch, watching him with tears streaming down her face. Before getting into the car, Freddy gave Maria a long heated kiss.
Maria cried out for him as he walked away to enter his vehicle but he ignored her. He didn’t want her cries to distract him from actually leaving. As he drove off into the night, tears blurred his vision.This is all for the best. I can’t have Damien grow up with a monster.
But deep down, he feared the truth–the truth that deeply bothered him.
Was he actually saving his family?
Or was he just running from the past?
