Gemotions

The damp basement air clung to Amelia's skin, raising goosebumps. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to smooth it, as though the simple gesture could organize the turmoil inside her. The photographs, discovered in a trunk, depicted her aunt, the quiet librarian, in a setting she'd never revealed to anyone.

Her aunt was standing in front of a roaring campfire, surrounded by people who were covered in tattoos and were dressed in leather. She was laughing, her face lit by the flames. A man was holding her hand. Her chest tightened. It was the complete opposite of her personality, the perfect antithesis to how the family had remembered her.

Amelia felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. She gripped the edge of the workbench, her knuckles bone-white. She felt as though she’d been plunged into icy water, gasping for breath. The darkness of the basement seemed to press in on her, suffocating her.