Ava's POV

No. It can’t be him.

My heart froze the moment I saw those eyes—cold, black, and all too familiar. Memories I’d buried deep began to claw their way to the surface. Peter Duncan. His name echoed through my mind like a curse.

I tried to blink it away, to pretend he was just a product of my imagination. Maybe my mind conjured him. But I knew better. The past doesn’t stay buried. It waits, lurking, ready to drag you back under at the worst possible moment.

But I never expected to see it this soon inside my house.

I could almost hear the whispers from middle school: “Gutter...