Status Updates From This River Awakens

'Standing in the shadows, I was a soldier, guarding shadows of my own. There was darkness inside me, and all the secret gears and silent pistons and blackened thoughts worked motives even I could not comprehend. Still, I stood guard, protecting an unknown purpose with fanatic heat.'

'The sight of her made me think about the girls Lynk and Roland had talked about, smoking behind the school. I wondered if my mother had started the same way. I wondered if it was something girls did. Of course, men smoked, too, but that was different, somehow. Less grown up.'

'Odd, he knew, that a sense of urgency could hold him rooted to his chair. Waiting for the darkness demanded patience, and he was a patient man.'

Erikson builds an intriguing sense of dread in these first few pages. The dread is coming from multiple angles making it even more sinister as you are not sure what the true danger is. The interaction of the boys, none to friendly, transported me back to that age instantly