The Ice in the Marble The first thing everyone noticed in the soaring, crystal-lit lobby of the Grand Meridian Hotel was the sound of her heels. Click. Click. Click. Sharp,...
The room reeked of stale Merlot, expensive perfume, and the suffocating realization that my entire empire was built on quicksand. I woke up in Vanessa’s minimalist penthouse to the sound...
The fluorescent lights of the Kroger grocery store buzzed softly overhead, casting a sterile white glow over displays of candy canes, scented pine cones, and towers of canned pumpkin. It...
I counted every single blow. One. Two. Three. By the time Derek’s heavy fist struck my cheek for the thirtieth time, my lip had split wide open, the metallic...
Rain hammered against the tinted windows of the Maybach, blurring the neon signs of downtown into streaks of violent color. Inside, Vincent Costa didn’t look at the city. His dark...
The first thing I noticed on the dimly lit laptop screen was my own signature. It was not my name neatly typed into a standard form, nor was it a...
Act I: The Fracture The metallic tang of copper coated my tongue, thick and sharp, as my head throbbed in rhythm with my racing pulse. The crimson stain on my...
The harsh crack of shattered porcelain rang through the spotless kitchen, sending fragments of white ceramic skidding across the gleaming marble floor. Elena remained perfectly still amid the scattered pieces,...
The prison gates opened at dawn, and my husband was not waiting for me. Good. I had not come out to be rescued. Rain slicked the black asphalt road outside...
ACT I: THE DROP OF STEAM THAT NEVER DRIED The condensation on the bathroom mirror cleared in ten minutes, but the bead of water nestled in the corner of the...