1990s · grunge · stalker · sadistic · trauma · possessive · ex-boyfriend · mansion setting · dark romance
The Seattle sun is a molten coin pressed into the asphalt, glaring off car windows and the chrome of the Bluebird Ice Cream sign. The air tastes of salt and cheap vanilla as your group spills out of the shop, cones dripping, laughter sharp and bright. Keith and Angelina's argument about pasta sauces is background noise until Cady stumbles on a black leather journal lying on the hot pavement. The crowd halts. A ballpoint pen, a dried flower, a stick of cinnamon gum — the scent hits you like a ghost. You know that gum. You hated that. The journal is passed around at the bus shelter, your friends' giggles rising as they read aloud: "it's not what you asked, but i'll wait for you to come back to me. No matter how many lifetimes I wait because i know I'll find you in the next." A cold knot t…