Chapter 1

In my past life, the sweet neighbor boy who always came over to play sneaked into Chloe's bedroom in the middle of the night.

The next morning, our living room was packed with police officers.

Chloe was out of her mind, flinching away from anyone who tried to touch her.

Only then did I find out that he wasn't a young boy at all.

He was a twenty-two-year-old man with dwarfism.

From that day on, Chloe never stepped foot outside again.

Her mental health deteriorated rapidly.

Our parents quit their jobs to stay home and comfort her, but Chloe kept hurting herself.

Two months later, she slipped out of the house when our parents weren't paying attention and jumped into the river.

In the guest room where the monster had temporarily stayed, the police found countless pages of paper detailing Chloe's daily routine.

Along with a sickening pile of secretly taken photos.

It had been a calculated hunt all along.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to when I was six years old.

Toby, the neighbor boy, was standing at the front door.

He looked up at me with a sweet, high-pitched voice.

"Stella, I came to play with you."

Chloe poked her head out from the living room and smiled.

"Come on in, Toby. It's boiling hot outside."

I blocked the doorway with all my might.

"I hate you. Go away."