The air reeked of salt and iron as Elara dragged her boots through the gravel, each step crunching like bones underfoot. The sky above was a bruise of storm clouds, bleeding gray into the horizon. She stopped at the edge…
The attic reeked of old wood and forgotten things. Mara dug through the boxes, fingers brushing against dust, until her hand closed around the metal edge of a rusted key. It glinted in the slanting afternoon light, sharp and cold,…
Lila’s fingers brushed the edge of the journal, its leather cover cracked and stiff with salt. She pulled it from the hollow beneath the dock, where the tide had left it like a gift or a warning. The air smelled…
The wind howled through the skeletal trees as Detective Mara Voss stepped off the bus, her boots crunching over frostbitten leaves. The town of Blackmoor clung to the edge of a jagged cliff, its buildings hunched like wary animals. She…
The salt air bit into Lila’s cheeks as she traced the rusted hinges of the abandoned lighthouse, its silhouette jagged against the storm-churned sky. She’d found the key last week—dangling from a frayed leather cord beneath a loose floorboard in…
Mara’s boots crunched over frozen gravel as she pulled her jacket tighter, the wind slicing through the thin fabric. Jax jogged to catch up, his breath visible in the pale afternoon air. “You sure about this?” he asked, glancing at…
The morning air smelled of pine resin and damp earth as Mara stepped off the rusted bus, her boots crunching on gravel. The town of Black Hollow lay sprawled below, its rooftops bleached by sun and time. She hadn’t returned…