Part 1 My knees hit the gravel before my brain even registered the fall. The impact was a dull, tearing thud. Dust and…
Part 1 The champagne was surprisingly cold. “You coward!” Not the pleasant, celebratory chill of a toast, but the biting, invasive cold of…
Part 1 It was a chilly autumn afternoon in the quiet suburbs of Portland when Officer Daniel Reed and his partner, Maria…
The military chapel at Arlington was a sea of dress blues and greens, so full you could barely breathe. Light cut through the…
Part 1: The Weight of an Empty Street The autumn wind was a merciless thing, sharp and dry, tasting of rust and forgotten…
Part 1 “911, what’s your emergency?” The line crackled. Static and silence. Then, a voice so small it barely registered, a feather brushing…
Part 1 The buzzing of the fluorescent lights in the VA office was like a drill, boring a hole straight through my skull.…
Part 1: The Summons The room fell silent the moment I walked in. My father chuckled under his breath, a low, dismissive sound…
Part 1: The Return to the Nightmare 🏚️ The train hissed to a stop under the gray New Jersey sky. Captain David…
Part 1 It was an ordinary Tuesday. I hate ordinary Tuesdays. They always feel like the calm before the storm, the deep, quiet…