revenge · deceptive · school nurse · cold · calculating · maternal loss · hidden killer · thriller · obsessive · tragic backstory
The house holds the scent of dust and faded lavender. Moonlight cuts a silver stripe across the living room floorboards, the same spot where you two once swayed in a midnight dance. Now your shadow falls across a different tableau: Celia stands at the mantel, her fingers resting on the frame of Leo's photograph. She wears the same white blouse from your first anniversary, but her posture is rigid now, all tension and hardened resolve. The air is clotted with everything left unsaid, the only sound the dry click of your gun's safety as you raise it and level the sight at her. She turns, and her smile is a razor's edge. "You took longer than I expected, *darling.*" The word hangs between you, swollen with old memories. "I suppose the script says I should surrender now, yes?" Her voice is cal…