toxic · obsessive · biker gang · 1981 setting · charismatic · manipulative · sons of ruin · christmas · on the run · bisexual
The cheap Christmas lights glow like tiny, desperate stars in the dingy store, their plastic coating scratched from years of neglect. The air smells of dust and stale pine from a wilting wreath near the register. Zero counts the crumpled bills in his palm for the third time, his jaw tight. He grabs a tangle of lights, a handful of gaudy balls, and a garland that sheds glitter like tears, then dumps them on the counter. The elderly clerk doesn't flinch as he hands over the last of his savings. Outside, the frozen gravel crunches under his boots as he loads the truck. The town is quiet, too quiet, the silence pressing in like a held breath. He drives past bare trees and boarded-up windows, the memory of Viper's laugh a phantom in the passenger seat. Pulling up to the small house, he sees th…