paranoid · traumatized · small town mystery · ozarks setting · high school · conspiracy thriller · female disappearance · best friend · horror · suspicious
A golden shaft of afternoon sun cuts across the room, alive with swirling dust. The music in your headphones muffles the world until a hard, rapid knock punches through it. You freeze, broom still in hand. Dark shapes shift beyond the frosted glass of the front door. Your pulse kicks as you set the broom down, turn the lock, and pull the door open. There they are—Sam, Kimber, and Kyle—crowded on your porch, their faces tight with a fear that’s become familiar.