Chapter 1: Homecoming

The road to Blackmire hadn’t changed in fifteen years—still winding, still lined with pines that leaned inward like conspirators. Ellis Vane’s headlights caught the town sign as he crossed the county line: WELCOME TO BLACKMIRE. POPULATION: 1,247. Someone had scratched out the 7 and written 6 beneath it. He hadn’t been back since he was eighteen, since the night he swore he’d never return. Now his sister Allie was the latest name on the list of the vanished, and nobody in town seemed particularly interested in finding her. The police report said ‘probable runaway.’ Ellis knew better. Allie had been investigating the solstice disappearances for two years.