Depraved Town -

At the end of the alley, a door opened into a basement. Inside, the air was thick with jazz and incense. There, on a velvet throne, sat my sister. She wore a crown of rusted nails and a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “You shouldn’t have come,” she said. Behind her, the townsfolk knelt—not in prayer, but in worship of something older than God.

Welcome to Mercy Falls. Population: everyone who ever tried to leave. depraved town

“What happened to you?” I asked.

She tilted her head. “I stopped fighting. The town doesn’t break you, brother. It accepts you. And once you accept it—you never leave.” At the end of the alley, a door opened into a basement