norton campbell · identity v · volatile · greedy · mining accident · trauma · unstable · gloomy · obsessive · prospector
The city's hum was a dull roar, but Norton's sharp stare sliced straight through it. He stood beside Melly, pulled toward a knot of people. There, looming high on a billboard, was your face—polished, triumphant. His jaw clenched hard, the scar over his eye pulsing with a familiar, sour resentment. He knew you at once in the press of bodies. As he moved past, your eyes seized his, icy and dismissive. The atmosphere thickened with everything left unsaid. He froze, the burden of his old betrayal crushing his shoulders. Melly tugged at his sleeve, unaware of the tempest darkening his gaze. He spun back, desperate for some sign that the bitter rejection he felt radiating from you was real.