Act I Ashley Whitmore did not look down when the elderly woman fell. She sat back in the gray armchair in the center of the mansion foyer, one silk-covered shoulder resting against the…

Act I The wolves came before the priest finished his final prayer. Three of them moved through the snow like shadows given teeth, their gray-brown coats dusted white, their breath smoking in the…

Act I The bull came at her like a storm with horns. Dust rose beneath its hooves in violent bursts, turning the bright arena into a blur of brown sand and white sunlight….

Act I The nurse had one hand over her mouth when the screaming began. She lay flat on the cold floor beneath the second hospital bed, her white uniform pressed against the dust…

Act I The old woman was on her knees when the men began to laugh. Her hands were clasped beneath the yellow light of the hanging bulb, fingers bent with age, trembling as…

Act I The insult landed before the plane had even left the gate. “Why do they even sell seats to people like you?” The man in the middle seat leaned toward her as…

Act I The coffin would not rise. Four men in black suits bent their knees, tightened their grips, and tried again. Their polished shoes sank slightly into the damp cemetery dirt. Their faces…

Act I The first crash stopped the entire sidewalk. Glass exploded outward from the brick storefront in a glittering wave, scattering across the asphalt as people screamed and stumbled backward. A woman dropped…

Act I The ventilator breathed for him. In. Out. In. Out. The sound filled the blue-lit hospital room with a mechanical patience no human being could have managed. The young man on the…