Chapter 1
Michal Velikaya hadn’t seen his neighbour in four days. His friendship with her extended only so far as to raise a hand in the morning when they both left for work, or perhaps to nod his head in the evening when they came in. Once, they had taken out the bins at the same time and had exchanged small talk on the curb. She was an associate lawyer at a global firm in the city. She made nearly as much as Michal, which wasn’t bad for a woman. She drove an Audi A5, black, and had the front door of her house repainted every six months. She lived alone.
“Maybe she’s gone on holiday,” his wife said, when he raised it with her.
“Maybe,” Michal replied. He had the paper raised in front of his face and was pretending to read. “Only, when she went last year, she slipped a note through our door to tell us.”
“She-”
“And her car is still there.”
“She must have gotten a lift. She might have only gone away for a few days and didn’t think a note was necessary.” Michal didn’t say anything. He turned the page of the newspaper. “Why are you so bothered anyway? You’ve never spoken to her, have you?”
Michal laid the paper down on the kitchen table and bent over it, increasing the pretence of reading.
“Hmm,” he said.
“I suppose it’s nice that you care,” his wife said. “She’ll be back in a few days and then your mind will be at ease.”
But Michal Velikaya’s neighbour wasn’t back in a few days and Michal Velikaya never saw her again.
Hi ntkaminski,
I just finished reading your story The Maltings and I loved it so much. Your writing is amazing and I kept thinking how cool it would look as a comic
I really loved the eerie calm in chapter one when Michal starts noticing something is off with his neighbours especially the part where the car hasn’t moved and no one answers despite lights being on That slow build of unease would be perfect for a suspenseful opening scene in comic form I also loved the moment in chapter fifteen when Michal and Kittymara uncover the truth hidden beneath the town hall The tension and stark contrast of what they find there would make a stunning and dramatic reveal on the page
I’m a commissioned artist and I’d love to draw your story into a comic or manga No pressure though I just think your work would look awesome in comic form
You can check out some of my recent work on my DeviantArt My username is Ev3Verse If you’re interested please message me on Discord My username there is bennett_lol so we can bring the story to life visually I’ll be waiting to hear from you
Regards
Bennett