by storyofdetectives | Jun 25, 2025 | Claustrophobic
Chapter 1: The Ashen ChamberThe motel where it began had no name left, only the faded shadow of letters burned into the rough cinderblock wall facing Ironvale’s main drag. Some old-timers still called it the Ember Rest, but nobody stayed unless they had no place else....
by storyofdetectives | Jun 7, 2025 | Claustrophobic
Chapter 1: A Bell for JusticeThe morning sun threw honeyed light over Silverbarrow, glancing off painted window shutters and the gilded weathercock atop Silvertop Bell Tower. Mira Lorne stood in the church plaza, her dark coat absorbing the heat, notebook firm in one...
by storyofdetectives | May 28, 2025 | Claustrophobic
Chapter 1: ArrivalThe van’s headlights flickered as salt wind slammed the chassis, rattling loose side mirrors and filling the night with a banshee’s howl. Blackharbor’s cliffside parking garage, its battered concrete spirals clinging to the quarried black stone,...
by storyofdetectives | May 21, 2025 | Claustrophobic
Chapter 1: Shadows in the WoodThe forest outside Rustheath was never silent, even after the chemical plant’s closure. Trees strained to recover from decades of airborne toxins, their bark blistered, mosses slick with unnatural slicks. The morning air shimmered with a...
by storyofdetectives | May 5, 2025 | Claustrophobic
Chapter One: Arrival in the ThornsA line of battered, mud-streaked vehicles crept up the narrow approach to Briar’s Edge, their headlights sweeping dew off the tangled undergrowth. The Serious Crimes Unit’s mobile lab van led the procession, its grey paintwork...
by storyofdetectives | Apr 30, 2025 | Claustrophobic
Chapter 1: Salt on the WindSaltmere, dusk: the air sharp with brine, the breeze carrying distant clatters of fishing nets and the low coo of gulls. The pines at the edge of town stood twisted, battered by salt-laden winds, their roots gripping the hard-packed earth...
