The Indigo Room (The Shivers collection)

Jennifer looked into the darkness around the table, just for the chance of catching someone’s eye about this, confirming what they all knew was coming: Sharon’s right elbow moving in the undeniable shape of an X, one big enough to include Gracie’s next performance review. Anna was stationed at the opposite, far corner of the conference table, and she wasn’t clutching onto her armrests like would have made sense, and she wasn’t craning her head around to try to peer through the darkness either. Because of Jennifer’s angle, she could see the look of terror on Gracie’s face, and the look of annoyed consternation on Ted’s. The whole office applauded when Ted finally clumped out onto the marble floor, rolled over onto his back, and held what was left of his right arm up, probably to keep the blood in.