Zeke, a reporter with schizo-affective paranoia, gets caught up in a vamp-motivated murder.
Zeke's best work is drafted during "medicinal vacations," where he uses his condition to aid his writing process, short term memory be damned. However, the l...
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~10 years earlier~
The morning after the chat with August, Zeke woke feeling drained. He hadn't slept well. He had worried about August, and he had worried about Silas getting home.
He slipped a t-shirt over his head and went to August's room. The door stood open, bed made just the way August always did. Either he had gotten up extremely early, which was possible, or he wasn't in the cabin.
Zeke checked the kitchen and bathroom, but couldn't find his friend.
He lightly wrapped his knuckles on Morrison's door. No answer.
Did I sleep in, or is everyone doing workshop exercises?
A second later, Morrison opened his door.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "What is it, man? You were knockin' like the house is on fire."
"Have you seen August?"
"Uh, no. I just woke up." He squinted, confusion contorting his features.
How Morrison had made it into the workshop, Zeke had no idea. He didn't seem gifted in the slightest.
"Okay, thanks. Go back to bed."
Morrison was already crawling back under the covers.
In the kitchen, Zeke took out his cell phone. He hit August's number. The line rang, and rang, and rang. He hung up and pressed re-dial. Ring. Ring. He tried calling one more time and let it go to voicemail.
"Where are you?" he asked after the beep.
August was gone, which didn't mean anything. He could have gone for a walk. He could be at the front office, taking care of their reservations. He could have gone to the corner store to pick up some breakfast items. Any of those options were in the ballpark of normal compared to
[DEAD]
the theory of crazy Silas on the loose. August had angered the kid, though. Beneath that creepy smile, Zeke had sensed a seething resentment. Not just for August, but for everything. Could Silas really be so covetous as to murder Trey, and then be so vindictive as to do something to August?
"No, no, no." Repeating the word aloud didn't erase Zeke's negative thoughts.
Then he heard giggling from the other cabin.
Of course.
August must have gone to check on the girls. In his stupidity, Zeke had neglected to include that possibility. Footsteps sounded on the wooden porch outside. He couldn't wait until he told August what he'd been thinking. They would both have a good laugh.
Two smiling women walked through the front door. Lotus shushed Corrine, who was elbowing her in the side. Corrine whispered something in Lotus's ear, and she bloomed bright red. She tucked her hair behind her ear when she noticed Zeke grinning at her. His grin disappeared when they closed the door behind them, sans August.
