
The Hollow Veil
The first time Lila saw the shadow, it was clinging to the wall of her bedroom, writhing like oil in water. She’d been ten, her mother’s voice echoing from the kitchen—*Don’t stare at the wall, Lila. It’s just the light.*…
The first time Lila saw the shadow, it was clinging to the wall of her bedroom, writhing like oil in water. She’d been ten, her mother’s voice echoing from the kitchen—*Don’t stare at the wall, Lila. It’s just the light.*…
The salt air bit through Clara’s jacket as she stepped off the creaking dock, her boots crunching over gravel. The harbor lay still, its surface a sheet of oil, reflecting the bruised sky. She hadn’t been back in six years—not…
The first time Lila found the key, it was tucked inside a hollow in the old oak behind her grandmother’s cottage. She’d been twelve, chasing fireflies through the dunes, when her boot struck something solid. The metal glinted in the…
The first time Jessa found the key, it was buried in the dirt behind the old mill, rusted and cold to the touch. She dug it out with her fingers, nails breaking under the weight of the soil, and held…