Resilient Love (Secret Trials #1)

Prologue One

The car door slams behind me as I bound to the door following Dad.

His brows are pinched, but otherwise, nothing seems amiss.

I've done my best to ignore the unfamiliar feeling niggling into my stomach ever since Maman and Rachelle missed our call last night after the game, but with everything going on at home, they were probably just tired.

“I can't wait to show Rach the size of this trophy!” I say, excitement and pride whirling through me as I hold up the giant hunk of metal.

“Your Maman and Rachelle are going to be thrilled, mon petit chou .”

The door unlocks with a snick, and Dad pushes it open. I bulldoze inside, shouting, “Mom! Rach! On est à la maison. ”

When they don't answer, that feeling burrows deeper, anxiety climbing up my throat.

I look at Dad, his shoulders tense, spine rigid, and his usual relaxed demeanour is nowhere to be found.

“They're probably still sleeping. Maybe they stayed up watching movies.” I nod, but his words don't set me at ease. They would have answered the phone when we called if they were awake last night.

My heart pounds a little harder with each passing second, and the air is thinner and harder to breathe. I move through the house, footsteps quieter now, trying to hold it together. The stillness settles around me like a suffocating fog, and I swallow against the lump rising in my throat.

I swing our bedroom door open and find both of our beds untouched.

My heart hammers against the walls of my ribcage, threatening to fly out of my chest. I push past Dad, sprinting to my parents’ room.

He yells something behind me, but I can barely hear him over the sound of my heartbeats growing louder in my ears, his words hitting me too late. I push the door open, and time stops.

Nothing makes sense anymore. My stomach free falls to my toes and I crumple to the floor, my knees smacking against the hardwood—I don’t feel the pain, my entire being giving way to numbness.

We were too late.