Page 1 of Bound By Crimson
Chapter One
What the Silence Left Behind
Murdered.
Her parents—gone just like that and the house had never been this quiet.
Not even in winter, when the snow pressed against the windows and muffled the world. Not even on the night her parents left for the trip to Europe, calling out goodbyes that drifted like smoke down the hallway.
This was a different kind of silence.
Thicker.
Deader.
A silence that knew it had won.
Lyric Dawson stood in the doorway of her parents’ bedroom, her arms folded tightly, bracing herself.
The room looked exactly the way it had the night they left.
A coffee mug sat forgotten on the bedside table, a dark ring staining the wood. A pair of sneakers were kicked carelessly under the chair. Her mother’s book—Wuthering Heights, spine cracked and battered—lay facedown on the bed like she’d just gotten up to answer the phone.
Lyric hadn’t touched any of it—not once.
She crossed the threshold, her footsteps muffled by the worn carpet.
The closet door creaked open when she tugged it. The scent of bergamot and old cotton spilled out—the quiet remains of ordinary days.
She was looking for something light. Something that still belonged to him.
Her father’s cardigan.
Lyric pushed aside scarves and sweaters, fingers skimming fabric, searching.
A scarf slipped free and fluttered to the floor.
As she bent to pick it up, she spotted something tucked behind the row of hanging clothes.
A cardboard box, medium-sized, the tape worn and curling at the edges. She shifted closer, curiosity nudging her forward.
She reached in, pulled it free, and sat cross-legged on the carpet.
The box was lighter than she expected.
Peeling back the tape carefully, she lifted the flaps.
Inside was a folded baby blanket—soft pink, delicately stitched with tiny music notes along the edges. It looked handmade, the kind of gift made with love.
Pinned to the blanket was a note, handwritten in slanted, unfamiliar script:
Her name is Lyric.
Please take care of her.
Lyric’s fingers trembled as she touched the paper.
She sat frozen for a moment, confusion spreading like cold water in her chest.
