Author: JKMATHEW

Black coffee sloshed over Alex’s hand as he navigated the throng. Funerals always drew a crowd in Ravenwood City, even for someone as…unremarkable as Mr. Abernathy. A woman’s gasp cut through the somber murmur. Emma. Her face, usually bright, was stark white, eyes wide and fixed on a small, leather-bound journal clutched in her hand.… Read more

“Evelyn Harper hadn’t expected the chill. Not just from the late autumn air clinging to Briarwood’s cobblestone streets, but the iciness that settled in her chest watching the casket lowered. Aunt Maeve, a woman more shadow than substance in Evelyn’s memory, was finally gone. As the first clods of earth thudded onto the polished wood,… Read more

Alex Harper pushed through the clinging fog, the chill seeping into her despite the autumn coat. Crows scattered from the gnarled oak guarding the Fogwood cemetery entrance, their calls echoing her unease. The funeral. A disruption, unwelcome and laced with a subtle wrongness she couldn’t yet name. Her boots crunched on the gravel path. Marcus… Read more

Emma Thompson, black coffee already bitter on her tongue, meticulously cataloged the chipped teacups at the antique stall. Each fragile curve, each faded floral pattern, a silent story. A gruff cough cut through the market’s murmur. Lucas Reed, his usually jovial face etched with panic, shoved a crumpled note into her hand. “They took it,… Read more

Amelia Harper, black coffee steaming in her hand, meticulously charted the crumbling architecture of the cliffside manor in her worn leather notebook. The salt-laced wind whipped strands of her dark hair across her pale face, a familiar discomfort. A frantic pounding shattered the rhythmic scratching of her pen. Daniel Brooks, breathless and wide-eyed, stood silhouetted… Read more