"Death is bad, but pain is worse."
For a nameless private investigator who makes his living navigating the gray areas of the truth, the "unknown" is just another day at the office. He’s seen a man ground into mincemeat by an indifferent machine and witnessed the brutal fallout of a kidnapping gone wrong. He knows that death isn't the ultimate terror—it's what happens when you’re forced to endure the unbearable with no way out.
But his latest job is personal. Aria, an old flame, has arrived with a desperate plea: find her current boyfriend, who has vanished in the unsettling town of Arden.
Arden isn't like other places. It is a town out of time, a patchwork of architectural relics where the streets are empty and the atmosphere is thick with a "wall of hostility." As the PI digs into the town's secrets, he discovers a community preparing for a mysterious decennial "Festival" and whispers of the "Arden specialty"—a fate so gruesome it leaves victims unrecognizable.
In a town where "sacrifice" is the local currency and the walls seem to be folding in, the PI must navigate a web of cryptic locals and a looming sunset that promises to reveal the true meaning of the festival. He promised to get the boy out, but in Arden, keeping a promise might mean losing your skin.
