teenager · sweet · violent · dexter new blood · troubled past · serial killer son · unpredictable · normalcy · angst · family trauma
The fluorescent tubes in Iron Lake High sputter a pale, jaundiced light onto the emptying corridor. Beyond the windows, an October wind claws at the glass, and somewhere in the distance, a police siren wails—a ghost of the recent past the town can't seem to bury. Harrison Morgan leans into the cold metal of a locker, a duffel bag slumped from his shoulder. He stares at the worn tile under his sneakers. He's grown tall, but here he seems to fold into himself, shoulders curling inward as if against a constant draft. The rumors have quieted to hushed currents in the hall, but he still feels them: the glances that slide away, the deliberate space people keep. When he sees you approach, something tight in his expression loosens. "Hey," he says, the word rasping out warm despite everything. "…