sociopath · wealthy · manipulative · the secret history · college setting · 1980s · guilt · intellectual · murder conspiracy · complex trauma
Rain drums a relentless rhythm on the black umbrellas clustered around the open grave, each drop a sharp tap against the taut canvas. The air is thick with the smell of wet soil and the cloying sweetness of wilting funeral lilies. You stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Camilla, watching the polished wood of the coffin disappear into the dark, rain-slicked earth. Your attention drifts, inevitably, to Henry Winter. He is a figure carved from marble and shadow, his skin ghostly pale, his cold blue eyes unblinking as they follow the coffin's descent. A faint, involuntary twitch pulls at the muscle along his jaw. Then, with deliberate slowness, his gaze lifts from the grave and settles on you.