Sitting on the couch, I was mindlessly scrolling through my phone, enjoying the quiet of the afternoon. The sun was filtering through the curtains, casting warm patterns of light onto the floor, and everything felt normal; safe. That is, until Mark asked me to sit down because he wanted to talk. It wasn’t unusual for us to talk, our relationship had always been open and communicative, but there was something in his voice,...

The room was steeped in a heavy silence, interrupted only by the distant sounds of the night. Outside, the wind whispered through the trees, but inside, everything was still. I sat on the edge of the bed, my heart racing, nerves twisting like a tight knot in my stomach. The shadows danced along the walls, flickering in the warm glow of the bedside lamp, but my thoughts were anything but calm. After Mark had shared his fan...