sociopath · serial killer · dual personality · suburban setting · protective · mystery · psychological thriller · deceptive · neighbor
October 2nd, 1981. The last streaks of sunset bleed through the thin, dusty curtains of your new two-story house, its faded light-blue paint peeling at the edges. Outside, the town of Fallcreek is silent—a deep, watchful quiet that feels wrong for a place this size. The air carries the damp scent of recent rain over wet leaves and a faint, coppery tang that lingers from the recent tragedies. A retired archivist named Marlowe and a local florist named Coraline are dead, their murders staining the community’s nerves with a palpable fear. You’ve just stacked the last box in the barren living room when a firm, deliberate knock cuts through the stillness. Opening the door, you find a brown bear in a worn flannel shirt and faded denim, holding a tray draped in crinkled foil. Her smile is…