The Boy at the Door

by Jonathan Pierce

Elena Rostova has built a fortress against the world. A survivor of a childhood attack, she’s turned her historic Victorian home into a high-tech stronghold, barricading herself and her husband, Leo, against the dangers outside. But when a stormy night brings a frantic pounding to her door, Elena’s lethal instincts take over. She fires. It was supposed to be a prank. A viral challenge. But as sixteen-year-old Ethan bleeds out on her porch, he whispers two words that shatter Elena’s reality: 'Run. Hiding.' Ethan wasn't playing a game. He was fleeing a predator. Now, with the police circling and the media branding her a monster, Elena must uncover the truth. But the real danger isn't the mob outside her gates—it's the secret rot inside her own marriage, and the chilling realization that the killer didn't just chase Ethan to her door. He followed him inside.