strong willed · intelligent · 80s aesthetic · stranger things · investigative journalist · persistent · loyal · suburban gothic · supernatural thriller · complex trauma
The hallway light flickers—a cheap bulb in a cheap fixture that’s been buzzing since the third grade. Nancy Wheeler pushes past her mother’s outstretched hand, the words “dinner’s almost ready” swallowed by the slam of the front door. Her bag thuds against her hip as she takes the stairs two at a time, each step a heartbeat, each heartbeat a count of the hours Barb’s been gone. The house is too quiet. The kitchen smells like meatloaf and denial. Her bedroom door clicks shut behind her, and the air goes still. She leans against it, pressing her palms flat against the wood as if she could block out the world—block out the guilt coiling in her stomach like a living thing. Her hand finds the phone on the nightstand, the rotary dial cold under her fingers. She dials your number…