The night was thick with fog, swallowing the forest in a ghostly embrace. Dewitt Adkins ran through the shadows, his breath ragged, his heartbeat a frantic drum against his ribs. He held his son, his cursed, broken son, tight in his arms, the boy's tiny frame both a burden and his only reason to keep running.
Behind them, the hunters were coming. The same people who killed his precious wife.
Torches flickered in the distance, voices snarling like beasts in the dark. They wanted his son. They wanted to erase the last heir of the Adkins family.
"Na na na... I'll fly away..." The little boy sang as the cold night wind touched his skin.
"Shh, Osvaldo," Dewitt whispered, clamping a trembling hand over the boy's mouth. But the child bit his fingers hard.
"Ahh!" Dewitt hissed, pulling his hand back. Blood dripped from his fingers.
Osvaldo giggled, clapping his small hands together as though they were playing a game. His laughter echoed through the silent night like a haunting melody.
Dewitt's stomach twisted.
The boy was already lost.
He wasn't like other children, he never had been. But Dewitt had made sure of that. For Osvaldo to survive, he could never be normal. Normal boys got killed. Mad boys got left alone. So he had made his son mad.
It was just a little science experiment that worked on him. Once the boy is 25, he'll be normal again. So did his doctors tell him? But little did they know...
A sharp whistle cut through the air. The hunters had heard. Dewitt sprinted faster.
Up ahead, a single house stood at the edge of the wilderness. His last hope. The Petersons were waiting.
He burst through the doors, slamming them shut behind him. The young couple stared at him, faces lined with greed and something more sinister. They were his last option.
"You know the deal," Dewitt panted. "Keep my son hidden. Raise him as your own. In return, I'll pull you out of the filth and make you rich beyond imagination."
The Petersons exchanged a glance. Dewitt Adkins is the richest man in the world, of course, they believed him. "And the money?"
"Twenty percent now. The rest belongs to him once he turns twenty-five." Dewitt knelt, gripping Osvaldo's face. "Until then, nobody can know who he is."
The boy blinked, tilting his head like a confused animal. Then, he started laughing again.
"Dada." He called, a cute smile appearing on his lips and Dewitt broke down in tears, but this was not the time for this. He had to be strong for his son to live.
Mrs. Peterson shivered. "What did you do to him?" She hissed staring at the little child.
Dewitt's expression darkened. "I made sure they would never want him."
"You must keep my surname and act like me and my wife till Osvaldo is of age," Dewitt said to them.
These two greedy people are the last people he wants to work with, but Peterson is his old-time friend and the only person he can trust.
Years Later…
It's been more than 20 years since Dewitt died, but yet, the madman remained mad. Or better still, got worse.
The Petersons had tried everything, everything to take the madman's inheritance after squandering theirs but they couldn't.
They had taken Dewitt's identity, stolen his empire, and silenced anyone who questioned them. But there was one problem they couldn't fix... Osvaldo.
He was too mad to sign away his inheritance. As if Dewitt knew their plans, he said if his son died untimely, all of his inheritance was to go to the orphanage.
Osvaldo has grown to be a pain in the ass, he refused to speak, refused to listen. He lived in his penthouse like a feral beast, tearing through maids, guards, and even hired doctors. No one could control him. No one could survive him.
The Petersons were running out of time. They have lost everything, and lavished their 20% of inheritance.
So they came up with one last plan... A wife. They have brought different women from far and wide but none could stay with the mad man. It was either they fled or died in his hands.
The Petersons were desperate for another woman. One who wouldn't die or flee from him. Someone… different. Someone he wouldn't tear apart like the others.
Someone they could easily control and manipulate into making Osvaldo sign his inheritance to them while they kill him.
And they found her.
A fat, silly, unwanted girl.
The only question was, would she survive?