The day was perfect. Little Nathan turned four today, and they had an amazing party with his mother, Laura, and Nathan’s friends. It was quite late, and little Nathan was sleeping in the back of the car. Laura was exhausted and wanted to go home as soon as possible.
After a few minutes of driving, Laura noticed a dark-colored van following them. She saw the driver signaling for her to stop immediately. Stressed, Laura pulled over and stopped the car, her hands shaking. The van doors swung open, and three masked men stepped out, weapons in hand. Laura was in shock. She wanted to drive off, but her body wouldn’t move. Her son was in danger, yet she just sat there, frozen.
The three masked men opened her door and dragged her out of the car. Laura screamed as loudly as she could, but it didn’t help. All the noise woke little Nathan, who slowly opened his eyes. He called out to his mother multiple times, but she didn’t respond. Then, he opened the door, only to see his mother being beaten. One of the masked men pulled out a gun and shot Laura.
Nathan was traumatized. He had just witnessed his mother’s death at only four years old. The masked men didn’t touch him. They simply drove off in the van.
A few minutes later, the police arrived at the gruesome scene—a little boy sitting in a pool of blood next to a lifeless woman. Police officer Harry quickly grabbed Nathan, pulling him away from his mother.
A few days later, Harry decided to adopt Nathan to help him recover from what had happened. Losing a parent is already incredibly difficult, but witnessing it is something far worse.
That night, Nathan had a nightmare. He saw his mother hugging him. His heart felt like it would jump out of his chest at the sight of her. Harry knew something was deeply wrong with Nathan. As Nathan grew older, Harry encouraged him to express his feelings. But Nathan’s response was tragic. He told Harry that he didn’t feel anything. No happiness, no sadness, no anger, not even love. He was… empty, as if all the color had been drained from his soul.
If Nathan continued behaving like this, he would either be bullied or ignored. So, his father taught him how to fake emotions—smiling when everyone else did, pretending to be sad when something horrible happened. The perfect definition of blending in.
Nathan also had a foster sister, Zoey. They grew up together and were great siblings. When they were 18, they lost their mother, and two years later, their father died. Now, it was just Nathan and Zoey.
Both of them worked for the Los Angeles Police Department—Nathan as a forensic scientist and Zoey as a homicide detective.
One day at the station, Nathan received a letter from an unknown sender. It read:
“You still have a lot to discover, Nathan. A lot about Harry.”
Nathan was confused. When he saw Zoey, he quickly hid the letter.
During his lunch break, he investigated the letter, hoping to uncover more information, but he found nothing. His curiosity grew, leading him to research his foster family. Eventually, he discovered a small clue—an address to a little cabin in the woods.
That night, he drove to the location. After an hour, he arrived and saw the cabin. It looked cozy from the outside. Luckily, the door was unlocked, so he slipped inside.
Despite its inviting exterior, the cabin was empty—just like Nathan.
As he walked around, he noticed a small box lying on the floor. Carefully, he opened it and found an old note. It was a suicide letter containing disturbing details. At the bottom of the page, there was a name.
Harry.
The letter, stained with blood, was his final message.
Nathan didn’t know what to do. Why had Harry committed suicide? Nathan had questions that no one could answer. He also knew he had to hide this note from Zoey. He didn’t want her to end up like him—empty.