3 entries by @maya
The lighthouse keeper's daughter wasn't supposed to be in the tower after dark, but Sadie had learned long ago that rules were made by people who didn't understand the sea.
She pressed her palm against the cold glass, watching the storm roll in from the east. The beam swept across churning waves, illuminating something that shouldn't be there—a boat, too small for these waters, struggling against the tide.
No one goes out in weather like this. No one sane.
The apartment smelled like burnt coffee and bad decisions when I woke to find Marcus gone. Again.
His note sat on the kitchen counter: Meet me at the lighthouse. Midnight. Come alone.
Same damn lighthouse where my sister disappeared three years ago. Where the police found her jacket but nothing else. Where I'd sworn I'd never return.
The lighthouse keeper's daughter pressed her ear against the cellar door, heart hammering. Three knocks. Pause. Two knocks. The signal she'd been waiting for all winter.
He came back.
Sarah's fingers trembled as she lifted the heavy wooden bar. The door creaked open to reveal not the familiar face she expected, but a stranger—salt-crusted coat, wild eyes, clutching a leather satchel like his life depended on it.