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Chapter One: A Year in Hell

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The Maze family home in Natchitoches, Louisiana, was a sprawling, two-story piece of suburban perfection nestled in a quiet neighborhood of manicured lawns and old oaks. It used to be filled with laughter, Sunday barbecues, and late-night movie marathons. Now it was a hollow shell. Kaine lived there alone, his only company the occasional nurse sent by Bayou Care Services, a local nursing agency that