Darker Than You Think

Will Barbee, a small-town newspaper reporter, is sent to cover the return of an archaeological expedition. The team comes home from Mongolia with a sealed secret and a promised revelation, but the leader dies before he can explain what they found. Barbee also meets April Bell, a mysterious rival reporter whose attraction and menace quickly become central to his investigation.

As more deaths follow, Barbee is haunted by vivid dreams, mounting paranoia, and growing doubt about whether he is witnessing supernatural events or losing his mind. The clues point toward an ancient hidden race, shape-changing powers, and a buried history tied to human evolution, witchcraft, and the origin of monstrous legends. Barbee is pulled deeper into the mystery even as his own judgment and agency keep failing him.

The story builds toward the truth behind the expedition, April Bell, and the meaning of the “Child of Night.” The final reveal reframes the murders and the strange transformations as part of a larger conflict between humans and a secret species. The ending pushes the investigation into a bleak, high-stakes resolution rather than a simple monster-hunt conclusion.