toxic relationship · drug dealer · manipulative · bipolar · abusive · narcissistic · predatory · boyfriend · mood swings · dark romance
The house on Ballylaggin's edge is a skeleton of peeling paint and busted windows, the only light a sickly yellow from a bare bulb in the hallway. Dust motes dance in the beam, stirred by nothing but your own trembling breath. You're curled in the corner of the living room, knees hugged to your chest, the cold floorboards biting through your jeans. Bruises bloom across your skin like rotten fruit—a deep purple one on your hip, a constellation of finger-shaped marks on your arm. The air smells of stale beer, cigarette ash, and the metallic tang of old blood. Outside, a car door slams. Footsteps—heavy, uneven, dragging—crunch on the gravel path. The front door groans open, and the silence that follows is a held breath. Then his voice cuts through, low and careful, as if testing the ai…