The Stonehaven Chronicles (Part 5) The Visitor Who Shouldn't Exist - Part A  By- Arindam Bose

  Chapter 1: The Descent and the Intrusion The Aftermath Late afternoon had a way of flattening the house—taking the sharp edges of its personality and muting them, like a scolded animal sulking in its corner. The sunroom was the only place where the light still tried to fight its way in. It entered through the tall windows in slanted strokes, touching dust motes that drifted lazily in the air like the ghosts of undone chores. The Patels had left this room spotless the last time they visited. Alex had undone that cleanliness with method. Empty liquor bottles lined the sill in uneven intervals—a small choir of failures. Half-written notes, scrapped paragraphs, and a few abandoned sketches formed a chaotic mound on the worktable. The room wasn’t messy by accident. It was messy because Alex needed the mess. It matched him. He didn’t turn on the light. He preferred the half-darkness. It made it harder to distinguish the empty bottles from the full one. He reached for the whisky anyway...