"Amid the echoes of control and curiosity, Alan learns that observation cuts both ways."
The Ringbahn hummed through its circuit, wheels clicking against tracks in a hypnotic, hollow rhythm.I'd been riding for hours. Looping the city and letting the network carry me through districts that blurred past the windows like scenes from a movie...
"Far from Seattle’s noise, the lake watches her back."
It's the week before Christmas, and the campus empties like a held breath finally released. Dorms go dark, fraternity houses lock their doors, and the usual buzz of twenty thousand students fades to nothing. I wake to a stillness that...
"A rooftop, a city of memories, and the quiet reckoning that comes with seeing what’s been lost."
A week had passed since discovering the phone. Seven days of checking locks, testing windows, and counting every shadow that didn't belong.I'd approached Wolf carefully. Told him about feeling watched, about strange coincidences. Nothing specific enough to sound paranoid, but...
"A pulse, a rhythm, and a secret that hums beneath the surface."
The April evening painted Prenzlauer Berg in shades of amber and rose.I stood outside Martin's building, watching the light catch on old facades and turn weathered brick into something almost beautiful. Six months since I'd left this neighborhood. Six months...
"The blur between control and surrender"
I pushed myself upright; the robe shifting against skin that still registered every texture with uncomfortable clarity."How long have I been here?" My voice came out rough, dry."Three days," Seline replied, uncrossing her legs with practised precision. "Give or take....
"He see's you when you're sleeping..."
Our house creaked around me like an old ship, settling into the desert cold.Christmas Eve in Scottsdale, population: me.Mom had pitched the Florida thing with all the enthusiasm of a travel brochure: white sand beaches, family bonding, Grandma's famous rum...
"Beneath the city, Alan learns that becoming Lana was only the beginning..."
The black Mercedes moved through empty streets with the quiet hum of expensive engineering, its tinted windows reflecting neon signs and streetlights that painted brief, colorful streaks across the glass. I pressed my back against the leather seat, trying to...
"Some cravings can't be ignored..."
The gym is quiet. Late enough that most people have gone, early enough that the cleaners haven’t started their rounds. I like it this way: space to move without bumping elbows, space to breathe without someone watching.Outside, the last stretch...
"What began as an escape turned into something raw and unforgettable beneath the Caribbean sun."
There was too much drama back home. In the Pacific Northwest, everything felt heavy, gray skies, gray moods, decisions I wasn’t ready to make. The cold slid under my coat and into my bones. Rain pressed at the windows like...