Evening settled heavily across the downtown news archive afterward while rainless storm clouds drifted slowly above San Diego and dim orange streetlights bled weakly through dusty office windows surrounding the nearly abandoned building, and somewhere far below the city ancient things continued waking quietly beneath stone.
Maya Ricci had stopped noticing time hours ago.
Coffee sat cold beside her keyboard afterward while exhausted eyes scanned yellowed newspaper records spread chaotically across the archive desk now beneath flickering fluorescent lights and suffocating silence filling the office.
Three missing students.
Two ritual murders.
Strange symbols carved into flesh.
And police reports disappearing suspiciously fast afterward.
Too fast.
That alone already screamed cover-up.
Maya rubbed tired fingers roughly against her temple afterward while dark curls slipped messily across pale cheeks beneath the dim office lighting surrounding the archive room.
