The man grins with his teeth; a row of tiny porcelain cut glass blindingly bright between a set of two thin pale lips. It's a grin of a man unhinged, emotionless, held by nothing, and seen as nothing more than the perpetual mask of normality he wears on the occasional need to blend in among others; the others of sanity and reason.
It's sickening and gut-wrenching.
"I don't kill for the pleasure it gives me," he begins, his voice a soft undertone of malice and wry humor, as he leans back comfortably in his seat and crosses one slim-fitting trousered leg over the other.
"No, no. You have to understand." One long, perfectly manicured finger begins a rhythmical tap against the table. Tap ... Tap ... Tap.
"It's more than that... way more than you can comprehend."
When Jane Madarang's neighbor Natalie kills herself and leaves behind cryptic instructions, it's up to Jane and her classmates to unearth deadly secrets.
*****
Natalie Driscoll is dead.
She threw herself out a window and left her neighbor Jane to unravel their town's darkest secrets. Following Natalie's instructions leads Jane to three other high school students who all have something to hide. The four of them must carry out Natalie's final errand while solving the mysteries written in her diary. But the secrets they unearth may be far more dangerous than what they ever imagined.
Content and/or trigger warning: This story contains scenes of suicide, violence and murder that may be triggering for some readers.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]