Chapter 5
- Xander Jade
- 1 day ago
- 16 min read
The morning after, his body still acclimating to the shock of unfamiliar bedsheets, Patrick returned to his own subterranean quarters. The basement had not changed in his absence; the light leaking through the grille was no more generous, the manuscript towers no less precarious, the air no less flavored with ancient carpet and the suggestion of last week’s onion. He shed his jacket and hung it on the lone hook by the door, where it sagged like a suit of armor that had barely survived its first campaign.
