Gemotions

The real estate agent's nervous smile felt like a physical weight on Elias. She’d explained the history of the house as if it were a minor inconvenience, like a leaky faucet. A murder, she said, with a forced cheerful tone.

He walked through the rooms, the sun casting long shadows across the floorboards. He felt the phantom chill in the air, but didn't react.

Elias inspected the plumbing, the electrical wiring, the structural integrity of the foundation. He paid no attention to the past. He saw only a building, and it was the building that he was buying.