Cordwood

The firewood was free. That was the first mistake. When rain soaks a campground and turns every fire to smoke, Cal Mercer offers dry oak from the back of his pickup. He asks for nothing. He only wants to help. Owen Vale takes the wood. Before the weekend is over, a man has climbed a closed trail, a woman is dead, and Owen has shattered his best friend's hand in a burst of rage he cannot explain. The police see separate acts of violence. Owen sees the same dark oak at every fire-and the same man smiling when the flames catch. Desperate to stop the damage, Owen follows the wood back to an old shop outside Marion. But the source is only the beginning. Cal has been giving those scraps away for years, one useful favor at a time. Now the truck bed is empty. And the people who took the wood are already home. Cordwood is a dark, atmospheric horror novella from R. D. Parrish's Darkwood Legacy.