The fan spun slowly in Marlo Zamora Gómez's room, like an old boat barely moving across still waters. The metallic hum was constant, a monotonous sound that blended with the sticky heat of Madison, Mississippi. The midday sun beat down on the flat fields stretching beyond his window, making the air seem to move in waves. The neighborhood parking lot glowed under the yellow streetlights, flickering at uneven intervals, as if someone were playing with an invisible switch.
Marlo lay back on his bed, listening to the occasional squeak of the fan and the distant hum of cars on the hot asphalt. His phone vibrated on the nightstand: a message from Abud, with a skull emoji and a question without words: "Wanna go out today?" Marlo ignored it. He had the feeling that something in Madison was slowly breaking, though he didn't yet know what.
From the radio, a female voice announced traffic and the weather. And then, suddenly, something else:
—Breaking news: Sharon Lively, a student at Madison High and a freshman cheerleader, has gone missing this morning. According to witnesses, she was last seen leaving the gym after practice. Authorities have begun a search…
Marlo's heart skipped a beat. Sharon wasn't a friend, not even someone he talked to, but the news left a strange echo in the air. A shiver ran down his spine, as if the summer heat had mixed with something colder, older.
In the following days, Sharon's disappearance became a whispered topic in the halls of Madison High. Students walked faster between classes, glancing nervously over their shoulders. No one seemed truly scared… at least, not yet.
Marlo continued his routine: waking up late, eating whatever was at hand, trudging through school with his backpack slung over one shoulder. Rayanne laughed in the hallway while flipping through his notes, Clayne made endless jokes, and Cullinan practiced with the football, ignoring everything that was happening. Jarvis kept to himself, and Lucca Morrison lit a hidden cigarette behind the basketball court. And Aniyah… Aniyah watched everything silently, with eyes that seemed to see past the surface of the school.
No one paid attention to Marlo as he walked the halls, but he felt that something was changing. Every shadow seemed longer, every door more closed, every smile more false. That feeling of being watched could not be ignored.
And then, on a Friday afternoon, everything changed.
Sharon Lively's body was found on the outskirts of town, near a canal overgrown with weeds, she was missing her eyeballs, and didn't have three of her fingers. The news hit like a bomb. Police cordoned off the area. Students watched from a distance, unable to fully comprehend what they saw. Marlo passed by with Rayanne and Clayne after school. The smell of stagnant water mixed with the dampness of the nearby trees, and the putrefaction of the body turning his stomach. No one spoke, but fear hung in the air, heavy and sticky like sweat on the back.
—This… this isn't normal —Rayanne whispered, eyes fixed on the scene.
Clayne shrugged, trying to laugh, but his voice cracked. Marlo only watched, feeling that the summer, which had always been long and warm, had ended abruptly. Something had shattered the routine of Madison High, something that could not be ignored.
That night, as the fan continued its slow rotation and the heat refused to relent, Marlo stayed awake staring at the ceiling. Outside, the wind rustled the leaves, casting the streetlight through his window in shadows that danced like ghosts. He thought of Sharon, of Lucca, of Aniyah, of everyone still to go through what he was beginning to sense.
And he understood, with icy clarity: nothing would ever be the same in Madison. No one was safe.