Series: My stepmother, Ava Covington, handed me a gold-embossed invitation to her 50th birthday gala, explicitly telling me to dress in formal evening wear.

The next few hours blurred into a surreal nightmare. Harlan Finch and the deputies moved through the manor, cataloging assets, affixing official seals to doors [more…]

The morning after the gala dawned gray and cold, mirroring the landscape of my soul. I hadn’t slept. I had wandered through the silent, seized [more…]

The drive to my grandfather Silas’s remote cabin was a blur of gravel roads and pine forests. The familiar landscape, once a comforting sight, now [more…]

A long time later. The Montana wind, cold and sharp, whipped around me as I sat on the stone steps of the Copper Creek County [more…]

An unspecified long time later. The hiss of the coffee machine filled the air, a familiar, comforting sound. I wiped down the greasy laminate counter [more…]

I finished wiping down the counter, my mind still replaying Ava’s quiet smile. During my break, I poured myself a mug of lukewarm coffee and [more…]