Chapter 1
Phoebe
August 1984
The house was quiet again. The cicadas screamed outside, filling the summer night, but inside the walls everything felt muffled, like the air itself had grown heavy. Dinner plates were stacked by the sink, the kitchen lights dimmed. Upstairs, Jakob’s voice had finally gone quiet and Denise’s light footsteps had stopped across the hall. The children were asleep.
Phoebe wrapped her arms around herself at the table, staring at the glass of wine she’d poured but hadn’t touched. Eric sat across from her, leaning back in his chair, looking too calm for the way her chest had been tightening all week.
He’d been… better, lately. He came home on time. He smiled at the kids. He even listened to Denise’s endless stories about her dollhouse. He was trying. She saw it. But every time she looked at him for too long, she felt the distance anyway. Like he was there and not-there in the same breath.
When he finally spoke, his voice was steady, almost casual.
“Eri and I are going to start a business. A real estate development firm. She’s got the capital, and this will let us build something real instead of handing a chunk to some middleman. Pan Am isn’t going to last the decade anyway.”
Phoebe blinked, her stomach dropping. “How do you know that, Eric?”
He shrugged lightly, like it was nothing.
“I hacked into their corporate servers. Looked at their financials. It’s already rotting. They’ll be okay short term, but long term? It won’t hold.”
Phoebe froze, staring at him. “You what?” Her voice cracked higher than she meant. “Eric, do you even hear yourself? That’s—God, that’s illegal. You can’t just break into a company’s files because you feel like it. What if they catch you? What if they trace it back here?”
He waved a hand, calm, almost dismissive. “They won’t. No one’s watching. I covered my tracks.”
She pressed her fingers to her temple, a low sound escaping her throat. Of course he could say it that way—like it was simple, like it wasn’t terrifying. She didn’t want an argument. Not tonight. “Okay. But you’re not quitting, right? We have bills. The mortgage. I can’t cover that.”
He shook his head quickly.
“No, no — not anytime soon. Eventually, yeah. But for now, it’s planning at night, maybe property visits after work or on weekends. I won’t lie, it’ll take time. But the payoff’s huge.”
Her throat tightened, but she forced herself to nod. “Okaaayyy… I mean, I’m not against it, Eric, but it’s a huge pivot from a few months ago.”
That hit him. She could see his patience fray, his shoulders tense.
“A few months ago? For real? Pheebs, do you realize how much my life has changed? I’m still here. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but I am really, really trying. I don’t think you know what my life is like.”
Her laugh came out sharper than she meant. “I could say the exact same thing. Your life has changed, and now mine has too. And all of a sudden it feels like there’s a third person in our marriage.”
Eric leaned forward, frustration flashing before he forced it down.
“What do you want me to do? There are parts of this I can’t bring you into. I can’t take you hunting. Do you want to see me drink blood? Do you want to see my fangs or have me vanish in front of you?”
The words landed between them like shards of glass. Then his tone softened, almost pleading.
“Babe. We didn’t ask for this. I’m just trying to make it work. I love my family. I need you guys in my life.”
“None of us asked for this, Eric. God knows I didn’t. I’m just… here. Picking up the pieces, trying to make it work. As for the business idea—” She shrugged, resigned. “Why not.”
The words tasted hollow in her mouth, but it was the only answer she had left to give.
