### **PROLOGUE**
**The Closet**
*1998 - Blackwater, Maine*
The child counts seconds between the floorboard creaks.
*One. Two. Three.*
The humming starts again—*You Are My Sunshine*—closer this time. The closet door handle rattles. Small fingers press against rotting wood, nails splintering.
A sliver of light cuts through the dark.
"Found you," whispers the shadow.