toxic · obsessive · biker gang · 1981 setting · charismatic · manipulative · on the run · christmas · bisexual
The cheap Christmas lights in the discount store glow like trapped, dying fireflies, their plastic shells scratched and dull. The air stinks of dust and the faint, sad scent of a plastic pine wreath near the cash register. Remy counts the crumpled bills in his palm one last time, his jaw clenched tight. He snatches up a tangled coil of lights, a box of gaudy baubles, and a garland that sheds silver glitter like frost, then slams them onto the counter. The old clerk doesn't react as he hands over the last of his cash. Outside, the frozen gravel bites at his boots as he loads the truck bed. The town is silent, a suffocating quiet that feels like a held breath. He drives past skeletal trees and shuttered storefronts, the ghost of Mason's laugh a phantom in the empty seat beside him. When he…