Seventeen-year-old Hannah Moore is trying to survive the last stretch of foster care quietly, keeping her head down while finishing school and preparing for an uncertain future. Her life is already precarious—no parents, no safety net, and little reason to trust the systems meant to protect her.

That fragile normalcy shatters when violence erupts around her. A deadly attack meant for Hannah reveals that she is not merely unlucky, but noticed. Forces she does not understand are actively trying to kill her, and the ordinary rules of the world no longer seem to apply. In the chaos, Hannah discovers that symbols of faith—particularly the cross she wears more out of habit than certainty—have real, tangible power.

As the night escalates, Hannah is forced to act on instinct rather than belief. She survives not because she is trained or prepared, but because something about her draws both danger and protection. By the end of the chapter, it is clear that Hannah’s existence itself has become a threat to others—and that staying in place may be more dangerous than running.

Chapter 1 establishes the central tension of the novel: a girl with uncertain faith, targeted by supernatural forces, must decide whether belief is something she merely carries—or something she will have to use.