Chapter 1: The Fragments That Moved
I didn’t go upstairs immediately.
Instead, I walked straight into my study, locked the door, and placed the evidence bag under the lamp. The tiny black fragments sat in the dried chocolate like seeds buried in something far more sinister.
I grabbed a pair of tweezers and carefully picked one out.
It twitched.
My breath stopped.
Not imagination. Not stress. Not delusion.
It was alive.
A sharp knock hit the door.
“Daniel?” Celeste’s voice floated in, sweet and controlled. “Everything okay?”
I crushed the fragment under the tweezers. A faint popping sound followed.
“Yeah,” I said calmly. “Just work.”
Silence lingered outside the door longer than it should have.
She was listening.
May you like
So was I.
And for the first time… we both knew something had changed.
