Chapter 1He came in the night. During lockdown. Wearing the darkness as a cloak.
It was the middle of autumn, though winter seemed in a hurry to arrive. The evenings brought with them an uncharacteristic chill that seemed to defy all efforts to prevent its entry into the house.
Sleep was welcome not only because it was night. Not only because it was the end of another day. And not only because it was the warmest place to be. But during the COVID-19 lockdown, sleep was a welcome relief from the boredom the daylight hours brought with them.
The furniture and ornaments Clay had bought. The magazines and books he had read. Even the rooms that contained them. All of them bored him to the point where he thought he might actually go crazy if he didn’t start getting out of the house.
And at ni
