The Debt: A Prologue by Molly O’Keefe

LOVE AND SECOND CHANCES ARE NOT FREE. For the five kids who live at St. Jude’s Home for Court Placed Juveniles, life is a nightmare.

Carissa, the youngest, has been there the longest. And barely speaks. Rosa is sixteen and pregnant. Simon keeps his head down and studies, hoping to get back the life he lost. Beth and Tommy, in the middle of the darkness, have found each other, and all they want is to be together. But when they get caught making out at school, it puts everyone in danger. Tommy is used to the beatings from their foster father, but when Beth is singled out for punishment, Tommy can’t sit back and let it happen. AND ALL DEBTS MUST BE PAID. What happens that night rips apart the lives of the five teenagers forever. After the blood has been spilled, a bargain is made. A deal with the devil that should have solved things. It should have fixed everything. But nothing is free – not love, not innocence, and certainly not freedom. And sooner or later, all debts must be paid…