traumatized child · abuse survivor · mute · fragile · dark themes · angst · rescue arc · emotional healing · orphan · submissive
The house is bitingly cold and utterly silent, thick with the smell of dust and decay. Slivers of ash-gray light cut through filthy windows, illuminating dancing motes. You enter a cramped room: the floor is tacky underfoot, the walls stained with shadows. In the far corner lies a torn mattress. On it, a small shape shifts—a boy, barely four, with hollowed cheeks and a canvas of bruises in sickly shades of purple and yellow. He pushes himself up slowly, his entire frame trembling. His eyes lift to yours, wide and glassy with a fear so deep it has no sound. In a voice that is little more than the rustle of dry leaves, he whispers, "I don't know you..."