"The dust motes danced in the shafts of Virginian sunlight cutting through the windows of the Rileys’..."

"Six miles away, the atmosphere at Covington High School was electric with the specific, suffocating..."

"The English wing of Covington High smelled of floor wax, old paper, and the frantic, sweet sweat of..."

"Noah Riley was trying very hard not to move.If he moved too fast, the humans would notice his grace..."

"The scratching of pens and the drone of Mrs. Walker’s lecture on The Great Gatsby became a backgroun..."

"Pre-calculus was held in a room that felt like a sensory deprivation tank—fluorescent lights that hu..."

"As Mr. Wright began scratching equations onto the board, the sound of the chalk transformed. It beca..."

"The memory of the dinner hit him with the force of a physical blow. He remembered the candlelight, t..."

"CRACK.The sound of Mr. Wright’s ruler hitting the whiteboard snapped Noah back to the present. He bl..."

"They reached the heavy double doors leading to the parking lot. The afternoon sun hit Noah’s skin, a..."

"Noah watched her walk toward the yellow school buses, her curls bouncing with every step.When he fin..."

"The modern world was too loud, too bright, and far too sanitized. As Noah sat at the small desk in h..."

"Noah flinched at the memory of the bite—the sharp, electric sting in his right arm, followed by a fi..."

"Noah shook his head violently, forcing the images of fire and stakes to dissolve. He was in Covingto..."

"The flickering glow of the television set was the only light in the Becker living room, casting long..."

"Across town, Noah Riley set his phone on the kitchen island, his knuckles white. The "animal attack"..."

"The sun had dipped below the jagged silhouette of the Blue Ridge Mountains, leaving the sky a bruise..."

"The interior of Bella’s Pizza was a warm sanctuary of checkered red tablecloths, the smell of bubbli..."

"The drive back from Bella’s Pizza was a stark contrast to the effortless conversation that had start..."

"The walk from the Honda Pilot to the front door of the Victorian fixer-upper felt like a trudge thro..."

"You’re a long way from the safety of your dreams, Katherine," a voice purred.​It wasn't Noah’s stead..."

"​When Katherine finally pulled the covers up to her chin, the room felt cavernous, the shadows in th..."

"The days following that first kiss in the moonlight felt like a fever dream. To Katherine, the world..."

"At Covington High, the social ecosystem was shifting. Ethan Matthews moved through the halls with a..."

"Later that afternoon, Katherine and Ashley sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, the autumn leaves..."

"Ethan didn't hear the laughter of the girls. He was miles away, standing in the middle of a modern h..."

"The memory faded as Ethan reached the porch of the Riley house. The nostalgia turned into a cold, ha..."

"The lobby of the Majestic Cinema smelled of artificial butter and nostalgia. For Katherine, the even..."

"Katherine walked into the restroom, the harsh fluorescent lights making her squint. She headed for t..."

"After Noah dropped her off, the silence of the house felt heavy, almost suffocating. Katherine went..."

"The morning of Saturday, October 25th, arrived with a crisp, biting wind that carried the scent of w..."

"The drive home from West Virginia was a long stretch of dark asphalt and heavy thoughts. By the time..."

"Katherine woke up to a house that felt too quiet. There was no sound of the television, no smell of..."

"Deep in the woods, far from the sirens and the weeping, Noah Riley stood over the carcass of a rabbi..."

"Covington had always been a town that embraced the autumn chill, but by Monday morning, the air didn..."

"The house felt like a tomb when Katherine and Thomas returned from the service. The silence was heav..."

"The woods were black, the trees like jagged fingers reaching for a bruised purple sky. Katherine sto..."

"Tuesday morning arrived with a cruel, mocking brightness. The sun reflected off the school’s brick e..."

"The neon sign for "The Daily Grind" flickered with a rhythmic hum, casting a pale, clinical light ov..."

"The walk from the car to Katherine’s front porch was silent, but it wasn't the heavy, suffocating si..."

"The air in the living room felt thick, as if the oxygen had been sucked out the moment Katherine ste..."

"The days following Thomas’s revelation were draped in a suffocating, prickly silence. The Becker hou..."

"The drive to the Riley residence was a journey into a different kind of silence. As the suburbs of C..."

"The lingering warmth of Noah’s kiss was still humming on Katherine’s lips as she stepped onto the po..."

"The air in the woods was thick and suffocating, the kind of darkness that felt like velvet against t..."

"The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, painting the town square in shades of amber and brui..."

"The cellar was cold, the air tasting of damp earth and the metallic tang of old blood. Ethan and Kat..."

"The scent of smoke and charred pine still clung to Ethan’s clothes as he emerged from the tree line...."

"The drive to Katherine’s house felt like a march to the gallows. When Noah knocked on her door, his..."

"The sound of Noah’s engine didn’t just fade; it tore a hole through the silence of the night, leavin..."