4308.266 · September 22, 1988 AD
The Engine That Follows
The warmth of Ethan's arms dissolves into September darkness the moment Violet steps beyond the cemetery gates. Broken Hill's familiar streets have become something else—silent, watchful, waiting. Then she hears it: the low, deliberate hum of an engine somewhere behind her. Too slow. Too measured. The headlights find her before she can find safety. In a town where people vanish without explanation, Violet Dallow has just become prey.
Violet Dallow walks home through streets she has known her entire life, and every shadow feels wrong.
The cemetery conversation with Ethan replays in her mind—his warnings about the whispers speaking her name, his revelations about sealed freight and corruption wearing uniforms. She should be processing what she learned about Sally Harlow, about the patterns of disappearance stretching back generations. Instead, her body has registered something her conscious mind hasn't yet accepted.
She is being followed.
The engine note is unmistakable once she allows herself to hear it. A car moving too slowly for someone heading anywhere. Headlights that brighten when she quickens her pace. The mechanical growl of something that has identified its target and sees no reason to hurry.
Broken Hill transforms around her. The verandahs and corrugated fences she has passed a thousand times become the architecture of a trap. Every corner is a decision. Every stretch of darkness is a risk. The familiar streets of her childhood have become hunting grounds, and the thing behind those headlights knows exactly where she's going.
Some predators don't need to be fast. They only need to be patient.
