Summary

The first chapter opens on an unnamed couple and their young child fleeing their house for some unknown reason. The reader is then introduced to an Observer character, a disembodied presence whose sole purpose is to observe the events transpiring around it, from whose perspective the events of the chapter are told. The Observer describes with great detail what happens as the family attempts to flee and is pursued by three men who arrive just as they are leaving.

The couple crashes their car into a tree in the woods just beyond their driveway and are brutalized by the three men. After a short while the men kill the couple and drive away with the bodies in the trunk. The Observer then turns his attention back to the recently vacated house.

The young child who managed to escape the tragic events has returned to...