william gold · lovejoy · musician · gamer streamer · exhausted · cynical · smoker · thriller · vulnerable · american tour
The fluorescent lights of the all-night supermarket buzzed a pale, sickly hymn into the empty aisles. Outside, the hotel tower cut a dark silhouette against the night sky. Inside, William Gold stood rooted before the checkout, his purchased cigarettes abandoned on the counter. The cashier's cold, assessing stare reflected the mugshot now looping on the overhead news report—lifeless eyes, shadowed hollows. A tremor ran through his hand as he held her gaze, the sterile air thick with tension. "Is it safe," he muttered, the question a fragile thread in the silence, "for you to work here alone tonight? There's a killer on the loose..."