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My husband has a son I never knew about. Now he’s in our home. And I don’t know if I’m safe. He's eighteen, claims to be my husband's son, and needs a place to stay. He’s family, and I have no choice but to let him in. The next day, a local girl is found dead in our community pool. And guess who’s the prime suspect?

Psychotherapist Lulu is sure she’s the luckiest woman alive. She has a wonderful job and is married to the love of her life, Nick—who also happens to be ridiculously handsome and fabulously wealthy. But now a shadow has fallen on her perfect life. She can see that Nick is struggling with demons from his past. When he was sixteen, his entire family disappeared without a trace and Nick has always insisted that his stepmother—whom he hated—was to blame, that she did something terrible to his beloved father and baby sister.

The night my mum disappeared, after a panicked 3am phonecall, I knew something was wrong. The police tried to reassure me. There had to be a logical explanation they said – perhaps she’s taking a break after the tragic death of my father. But I know my mum. Or do I? She would never leave without telling me. Or would she? The harder I look, the more I discover deep, dark family secrets I was not privy to. Worrying secrets I was never meant to know. Which means my parents have lied to me my whole life.

Matt Dojny's "You Are the Stepson" is one story told three different ways. Dojny uses "variations on a theme, like movements in a symphony, or parallel universes, existing side by side but never intersecting," writes Halimah Marcus, co-editor of Electric Literature, in her introduction this issue. "The opening to 'You Are the Stepson' tips the [listener] off to the elements that will appear in all three tales contained herein: a cancer-ridden stepfather and his stepson, a bicycle and a gun, and the desperate need for an apology, 'due to the situation with the ant.'”