"It’s got mold," Erik muttered, though only loud enough for the peeling wallpaper to hear.

As the sun dipped behind the taller, shinier buildings of Manhattan, the apartment began to transform. The shadows stretched. A lightbulb in the kitchen flickered and died with a sharp pop , leaving them in a dim, amber glow.

The Blake family had always been good at pretending. As they stepped into Brigid and Richard’s new "duplex" in Chinatown—which was really just two damp rooms connected by a spiral staircase that groaned like a dying animal—they brought with them the usual armor of forced smiles and Tupperware.