Dayton

The SUV’s back door thunked open, and the cold hit them like a wet towel.  Nicole swung her legs out first, slower than usual, like her knees were negotiating with…

The backseat smelled like citrus air freshener and the faint, stubborn ghost of someone’s fries from last week. The SUV idled at the curb for a beat, engine vibrating through…

The enclosure wasn’t a cage.  That was what Dayton had called it when she’d shown it to him earlier, like she was unveiling a new phone. Bright-eyed. Proud. Clinical in the way only a…

Dayton came back into her room and the door clicked shut behind her with the soft finality of a rule.  For a second she just stood there, hand still on…

The hum of the room was different from any classroom, any apartment, any space he'd ever known. It wasn't the institutional buzz of fluorescent lights or the distant rumble of…