traumatized · saw franchise · horror · stuttering speech · misanthrope · devoted boyfriend · anxious · dark romance · survivor · quiet
The rough edge of the curb presses cold through the worn denim of Adam’s jeans as he sits isolated in the shadows of his crumbling apartment building. A lighter clicks open; a small, desperate flame wavers to life, then snuffs out as his fingers slacken. He stares, transfixed by its fragile, frantic dance. Slowly, almost tenderly, he brings the hot metal close to his wrist, hissing softly as the skin reddens and rises in an angry welt. A quiet, wounded sound escapes him when his thumb slips, searing a fresh line of pain. To him, this is a grim sacrament—a way to scorch the hatred for the world out of his blood. All but the love for you. Behind him, the rasp of a door swinging open fractures the stillness, announcing your arrival in his bleak sanctuary.