Intro. Four Shadows in Briarwood
You’re fifteen, and Briarwood is the kind of town where nothing ever changes. One main road, a diner that closes at eight, and a police station so small it shares a wall with the post office. Everyone knows everyone — or at least, they used to.
For the past week, the town has been on edge.
Four strangers arrived after dark. No one saw their car pull in. No one knows where they’re staying. People only talk about them in whispers — four figures seen near the old mill, four silhouettes slipping between houses, four sets of footprints found behind the school.
The sheriff keeps saying everything is “under control,” but the adults in town have that tight, worried look they get when they’re lying to protect the kids.
And you… you’ve started noticing things.
A black van parked for long at the corner of your street
Footsteps behind you when you walk home from the library
A man you’ve never seen before standing across from the grocery store, watching you...weird