LOGINNina The warm summer breeze brushed across my skin as I stood on the patio, clutching my robe tightly around my body. Laughter and splashes echoed up from the pool below, where our friends were already gathered for our big end-of-summer party. I should have been down there too, soaking up the ve
“What... what do you mean?” He braced his hands on the doorframe, leaning in closer with a heavy sigh. “I mean, by the time I caught up to them this morning, I only saw them long enough to get that photo before they were boarding a speedboat and taking off. Hell, I’m still not even totally sure wh
Nina My breath caught in my throat as I pulled open the front door expecting to see excited party guests, only to be immediately met with the sight of Luke’s grim expression. His brow was furrowed in a deep frown, his lips pressed into a tight line—clear signs that something was very wrong. “Luk
Nina I huffed out a breath as I hoisted the oversized cardboard box higher in my arms, carefully navigating my way through the living room. Strings of fairy lights poked out haphazardly from the top, and I could feel the weight of glass jars and other assorted decor inside shifting precariously wi
Then, at the last possible second, the scout seemed to find an extra burst of speed. He surged forward, hurtling between two towering oak trees and vanishing into the cover of the forest beyond. “Dammit!” I slammed my palms against the rough bark of the nearest trunk, powerless to do anything but
Enzo The crunch of leaves and snap of twigs echoed through the trees as Matt and I tore after the Schreiber scout. Our breaths came in ragged gasps, the hot summer air burning our lungs. Overhead, a little red bird chirped and flitted through the green canopy of trees; Daphne. But even she wasn’
Nina The air was thick with laughter and clinking glasses, everyone ecstatic over the end of another grueling semester. Lori, Jessica, and a handful of others from our pre-med program had gathered in my living room to celebrate our triumphs, academic and otherwise. The room was a vibrant mixture
“Can we...can we take some time? To think? Maybe then we can figure out what we really want,” I whispered. Enzo nodded, his chin brushing against the top of my head. “Yeah, we can do that, Nina. We’ll take the time we need to decide what’s right for us. And whatever that decision is, we’ll make it
Nina The air felt thick with tension, laden with unspoken words that hovered between us like a brewing storm. Enzo looked at me, his usually warm brown eyes now clouded with a kind of unknowable perplexity, as if he sensed the seismic shift that was about to rock our world. “Nina, what is it you
Nina I was standing in the middle of a dark forest, the air heavy and thick with fog. Moonlight pierced through the canopy of tall pine trees, casting elongated shadows that seemed to dance and flicker in the wind. But I wasn’t alone. There it was again—the shadow entity I had been seeing far







