Chapter 1 ARRIVAL IN RED HOLLOW

Kiara's POV

I didn't expect Red Hollow to feel like the edge of the world.

The sky was a heavy gray sheet, thick and cold, when the bus rolled into town. Not a snowflake fell-just silence, waiting. I hugged my backpack tighter, my knuckles turning white as I stepped into the icy air.

The driver gave me a nod.

"Welcome to Red Hollow," he said. Polite, but there was something unspoken in his tone, a warning I couldn't place.

The main street stretched before me-narrow, quiet, almost forgotten. Brick buildings leaned together like they were sharing secrets. Most of the windows were dark. A diner glowed faintly in the distance, yellow light spilling across the frost-covered street. A creaking wooden sign read: Welcome to Red Hollow.

It wasn't a place people visited. It was a place people... stayed, or got stuck.

I pulled my coat tighter and started walking. My aunt was supposed to pick me up, but I didn't expect her to be on time. She loved me-but love here was measured in half-effort and apologies that never quite reached their destination.

That didn't matter. I'd survived worse. I could survive this.

The air smelled of pine and something else-something wild. The trees surrounding the town rose like sentinels, black against the gray sky. Their branches twisted together, hiding the stars.

Red Hollow. Even the name felt like a story written in shadows.

As I walked, a strange awareness prickled along my spine. I wasn't alone. I glanced back, but the street remained empty. Only the wind whispered through the bare trees.

I tried to ignore it. I wasn't here for trouble. I just wanted to disappear.

A soft rustle in the tree line froze me in place.

I slowed.

Listened.

Nothing.

Just the wind.

By the time I reached the diner, my fingers were numb. I pushed the door open and was immediately hit by warmth. The air smelled of coffee, baked bread, and something sweet I couldn't place.

Two people sat at the counter: an older man in a thick coat, and a girl my age with her hair in a messy bun. Neither looked up. Maybe that was a Red Hollow thing.

A waitress with soft gray hair approached me.

"Cold out there, isn't it?"

"Freezing," I said.

"Sit wherever you like, sweetheart." She handed me a menu. "Hot chocolate's on the house. You look like you need it."

I offered a small smile and slid into the booth by the window, the one with the best view of the woods. The mist clung to the trees, curling like fingers in the dark.

The waitress returned with steaming chocolate. Sweet warmth spread through my hands.

"You new in town?" she asked softly.

I nodded. "Just arrived."

"Quiet town," she said, wiping her hands on her apron. "But it has good people. Mostly."

Mostly. My chest tightened. Secrets always felt closer in towns like this.

I sipped slowly, letting the warmth settle.

That's when the door opened.

A gust of cold air swept inside, and a boy stepped into the diner.

He didn't belong here. Not in this quiet town. Tall, dark-haired, broad-shouldered, eyes the color of storm clouds. Every movement is measured, careful.

Then his gaze found me.

My chest clenched.

Recognition? Impossible. We'd never met. But his eyes-stormy, intense, unyielding-locked on mine as if he'd been searching for me all his life.

I looked away first. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of noticing.

But I could feel him, even when I forced myself to ignore him. Every glance, every subtle movement, pulled at something inside me I wasn't ready to face.

The waitress approached him. "Evening, Rylan."

Rylan. The name lingered in my mind like smoke curling through a room.

I told myself it was just a boy. A stranger. Nothing more.

Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw it-his eyes flickered bright amber, like fire glowing in the dark.

I blinked. It had to be a trick.

But when I looked again, the color was gone.

And then I heard it: a low, guttural growl, barely audible, coming from the woods outside. Not from him. Not from anything I could see.

My stomach twisted.

Something in Red Hollow was watching me.

And the boy at the counter wasn't just a stranger.

He was the reason.

My life had just shifted.

Something had found me.

And it wasn't going to let me go.