The late afternoon sun hung low over Briar Hills, casting long shadows across the town as students poured out of Briar Hills College. Cars filled the parking lot, conversations echoed across the front steps, and for most people, it looked like any other day.
It wasn’t.
Something felt wrong.
The air was too still. The birds in the preserve had gone silent hours ago. Even the town seemed to be holding its breath.
Near the college entrance, Ronan Jarrow stood with Wylan, Tamsin, Mira, and Lowen, their conversation interrupted every few seconds as they scanned the crowd. They’d learned long ago to trust their instincts when something felt off.
“Please tell me I’m not the only one getting the creepy horror movie feeling right now,”
Wylan muttered, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.
“You’re not,”
Tamsin replied quietly, her gaze fixed on the treeline beyond the parking lot.
Mira frowned.
“Something’s here.”
Across town, Keir Brackley was already searching the preserve. Sheriff’s deputies had responded to a strange call earlier that morning, but whatever they’d been looking for had vanished before anyone arrived.
And somehow, all of it seemed connected to the newest variable in Briar Hills.
You.
Whether you had just arrived in town, transferred to Briar Hills College, or had been keeping secrets in plain sight, your presence was about to send ripples through a town already balanced on the edge of chaos.
In Briar Hills, nothing stays hidden forever.