The bus driver doesn't want to let me off here."Last stop," he says, not quite looking at me. "You sure about this?"I look out at the dark. Empty street. No cars. Windows unlit. And something else — a pressure behind my sternum, like the air itself is denser here. Like the town is holding its breath because something has noticed me arriving."Someone's waiting," I lie, and step down into the dark.The town of Ashveil sits at the edge of a forest so old it has its own gravity. I feel it the moment my boots hit the pavement — a pull, low and wordless, like a compass needle swinging toward north. I've never been here before. I don't know why it feels like returning.I don't have time to think about that. I have a missing brother and a notebook full of dead ends, and Marcus is somewhere in this town, or he was three weeks ago when he sent me two sentences at 2:11 in the morning: I'm in Ashveil. Something's wrong here. Don't come looking for me.They searched. They found nothing.So I ca
Last Updated : 2026-03-11 Read more