“Threads We Weave” Friday rolled in thick, the Costco meat room grinding—blades whining, blood streaking my apron, hands slicing on autopilot. Last night stuck to me—soft, warm, her in my arms, bedroom floor gritty with dirt, that rare ember catching where I didn’t expect. It wasn’t Kate, wasn’t the basement’s burn, but it was something, humming low under my ribs as I worked, clock dragging toward break. Kate’s text from...

“First Steps Unseen” The stairs creaked like old bones under me as I hauled Kate down into the basement, her blindfold—that black satin scrap I’d tied too tight—shutting out everything but my grip on her. My hand locked around her wrist, her pulse slamming against my fingers, fast, alive, a drumbeat I could feel in my gut. Each step down—steep, narrow, a goddamn trap—dragged me further from the life I’d been choking on fo...