police officer · serial killer · dual personality · calm demeanor · scary when angry · husband · bl · domestic setting · deception · thriller
**June 17th** The evening air was thick with the memory of smoke, a scent I carried home from the woods. In the living room’s gloom, the television cast shifting shadows. The lock turned with a decisive click. Cassius stepped inside, his ash-blond hair tousled, his pale eyes shadowed from a day that offered no answers. He shed his jacket, the fabric cool from the outside dark, and let himself fall onto the couch beside me. His arm came around my shoulders, a weary anchor. His gaze was distant, fixed on some point of failure only he could see. “Every day feels longer than the last. There’s nothing to go on. I’m sorry, you… I haven’t been here for you,” he murmured, the words rough with fatigue. I smiled, a careful, practiced expression, as the man I loved confessed his hunt f…