ACT 1 — IMMEDIATE CONTINUATION Footsteps multiplied on the stairs, heavier and faster than Vincent had been. Maya squeezed her good eye shut, her chest seizing in a fresh spasm of terror. Two men filled the doorway, entirely obscuring the hallway light. They were dressed in unremarkable dark clothes, but they moved with the synchronized,…
ACT 1 — THE JACKET The rest of the dinner service passed in a blur of crystal and silver, my hands operating on autopilot while my mind raced with the implications of my encounter with Moretti. He returned to the dining room minutes after our conversation, his trousers mysteriously dry, his composure unruffled. If his…
ACT 1 — IMMEDIATE CONTINUATION When I woke again, I was moving. The soft purr of an expensive engine, the smooth glide that spoke of quality suspension. My head rested against something cool and firm—a window. My body was curled awkwardly across a leather seat that smelled new and costly. “She’s coming around.” I forced…
ACT 1 — THE AFTERMATH The rest of dinner passed in a blur. I answered questions, laughed at Gustav’s jokes, complimented Ingred’s cooking, tried desperately to ignore the way my skin prickled every time Eric’s attention landed on me. After dinner, Christian gave me a tour of the house while the family retreated to the…
Vincenzo’s on a Wednesday night smelled like basil and expensive wine. I’d worked here long enough—two years this November—to know the rhythm of the place like my own heartbeat. The way candlelight caught on crystal glasses. The murmur of conversations that never quite rose above the jazz playing through hidden speakers. The weight of white…
ACT 1 — IMMEDIATE CONTINUATION Vivien woke slowly, awareness returning in fragments. Soft sheets beneath her. The steady beep of medical equipment. A hand holding hers with desperate gentleness. She forced her eyes open and found herself in an unfamiliar bedroom. Morning light streamed through gauzy curtains. Lorenzo was slumped in a chair beside the…
ACT 1 — THE MORNING AFTER Friday morning arrived with the hangover she’d been expecting. Cat woke at 10:00 to sunlight stabbing through her curtains and her head pounding like someone was using it as a drum. She drank water, found Advil, drank more water, checked her phone. Forty-seven messages in the group chat—most of…
ACT 1 — IMMEDIATE CONTINUATION The address on the card belonged to an estate nestled in the wooded hills outside the city—a place where the roads twisted like serpents and the trees grew thick enough to swallow secrets. Hannah drove her beat-up sedan through the imposing iron gates, which groaned open at her approach and…
ACT 1 — IMMEDIATE CONTINUATION The Valente estate was beautiful, but it was a tomb. That was Cassidy’s first assessment after forty-eight hours inside the walls. The floors were marble that chilled her feet through her socks. The silence was heavy, broken only by the rhythmic ticking of grandfather clocks that cost more than her…
ACT 1 — THE KITCHEN MORNING The morning after the juk incident, everything felt different. Not dramatically—there was no grand declaration, no dramatic shift in the estate’s atmosphere. Just a subtle warmth that hadn’t been there before. The way Seo-jin’s eyes found hers across the breakfast table. The way Minjun’s knowing smile seemed to linger…
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