Gemotions

The phone slipped from Eliza’s numb fingers and clattered onto the hardwood floor. She stared at the screen, the accusations against her idol, Silas Blackwood, still flashing before her eyes. The room seemed to shrink, the walls closing in. She felt a need to argue and defend.

She picked up the phone again, her thumb hovering over the number of her best friend, who was also a huge Blackwood fan. She hesitated. Instead, she opened the book, the well-loved copy of Blackwood’s "Whispers in the Wind." She flipped to the pages the article cited. Her breath caught in her throat.

The words were so familiar, almost like an echo of her own internal thoughts. She felt a growing sense of detachment, as if she were viewing her favorite writer through a warped mirror. The world around her blurred. She wanted to scream.