o had known our family for years. He looked at the scene with a practiced eye: me, terrified and disheveled; my father

all this?" Sheriff Mill

said smoothly. "Sarah has been through

my voice trembling.

d pulled out the wooden locket. I

azy. Ask them what it is. Ask

t looked harmless, old and worn. He turned to

exchanged a look of pure panic

my father said, his voice dropping low.

sheriff said, his tone hardening. "And I see bruises o

e a decision. "Come," he said, turning

corner of the living room and took out a very old, leather-bound book. It was our family b

ink faded but still legible. He poi

. I leaned in, too, my heart ham

ket of the Forsaken is a sign of a pact with the devil. Her soul is forfeit, and the curse will fall upon he

od ran

om the eart

demon who had come to drag their souls to hell. They weren

at the fanatical certainty in

t, I knew I had t

"It was a misunderstanding. A terrible misunderstanding. Our beliefs... they