🌨️ The Last Normal Errand — A Storm Moves In (Chapter 11 Free)

 Snow falls thicker. The phone buzzes with weather alerts. The house ahead looks warm from the road. Chapter 11 is made of small details that add up to dread—a simple errand that feels like the last page of an old life.

Bianka isn’t answering. Her dad is tired. The storm grows teeth. And Olivia steps into the kind of quiet that precedes a scream.

👇 Read Chapter 11

ELEVEN

Streeter Residence, Traverse City, Michigan

            The BMW's headlights pierced the night like twin lances, dispelling the darkness as they went. Liv guided the car into the driveway, her fingers lightly resting on the leather-wrapped steering wheel. A soft classical tune flowed gently from the car's speakers. Her eyes caught her father's reflection in the rearview mirror; Blake still looked pale, somewhat hollowed by the medical ordeal earlier.

"We forgot to stop at the pharmacy," Liv remarked, eyeing the garage door as if it were a missed checklist item.

"Let's do it tomorrow," Blake sighed, his voice tinged with exhaustion.

"Dad, I'll go and get it real quick. Besides, the snow's stopped," Liv countered, her thumb lightly pressing the garage door opener. With a rumble, the door began its upward journey, revealing a garage filled with the detritus of many summers and winters past.

"Alright," Blake agreed, unfastening his seatbelt with a click.

Liv waited, watching as he stepped onto the driveway, his eyes lingering on her before shifting to scan the dimly lit interior of their home.

"I'll be right back," she assured him.

Blake hesitated, "I know, but... where's Bianka?"

"Probably working late," she replied, but the words lacked conviction.

Blake frowned, "She hasn't even responded to my texts."

"Maybe she's in a dead zone," Liv suggested, the words hanging in the air, unanswered.

Blake closed the car door and walked toward the house, his posture slightly bent, as if he carried more than just the burden of an ailing arm. He checked his phone one last time before pocketing it with a resigned sigh.

Liv watched him shuffle into the house, the door closing behind him with a soft thud. She shook her head slightly, troubled not just by her father's unexplained injury but also by Bianka's unusual silence.

At The Pharmacy

            Liv maneuvered the BMW into the parking lot of the pharmacy, its powerful headlights illuminating the fresh layer of snow on the ground. As she stepped out of the car, she looked up to find the sky had darkened further, and new snowflakes began to descend, each one thicker and heavier than the last.

Her phone buzzed with an alert, breaking her out of her thoughts. A weather advisory notification popped up on her screen; snowfall was intensifying.

"Great," she muttered, tucking her phone back into her pocket. She quickened her pace, making her way into the pharmacy. As she navigated through the aisles to pick up her father's prescription, her mind was elsewhere, preoccupied with the day's peculiarities. But for now, the immediate task at hand commanded her attention. With a sense of urgency heightened by the advisory, she made her way to the checkout counter.

Next chapter is the drop.
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