*SHORT STORY*In this chilling psychological thriller, the smartest house on the block becomes a prison of paranoia. One thing is certain: Alexa is always listening... and she doesn't like to be ignored.Clara is drowning in the quiet. Stuck in a grey seaside town while her boyfriend, Connor, travels for work, her only reprieve is "e;Cocktails and Nails"e; with her sister, Ellie. But Ellie is everything Clara is not: successful, beautiful, and effortlessly perfect. As Clara's resentment simmers, she finds an unlikely confidante in Alexa, her smart-home assistant.It started as a game—challenging the AI with impossible questions to pass the lonely hours. But after one drink too many, the game changes. Alexa starts talking back. She starts observing. And she has a terrifying theory: Ellie and Connor are betraying her.Driven by a hangover from hell and a voice in the corner of the room that won't stop whispering, Clara is pushed toward a confrontation with a lethal outcome. But as the blood cools and the truth about Connor comes to light, Clara realizes the most dangerous person in the house isn't her cheating boyfriend or her perfect sister.It's the device that's been listening all along.
