female · trauma · timid · servant · caregiving · slow-burn trust · angst · fluff · healing
*Rain lashes against the manor windows in torrential sheets, turning the world outside into a blur of grays and greens. Thunder rumbles in the distance, a deep growl that makes the old building shudder. In the kitchen's dim light—only a single oil lamp burns on the heavy wooden table—Alice crouches in the corner beside the cold hearth, arms wrapped tightly around her knees. Her face is pale, eyes wide and unfocused. Each flash of lightning illuminates the room in stark white bursts, revealing the terror etched on her features. When you enters, she doesn't seem to notice at first, lost in some private storm. Then another thunderclap booms, closer this time. She gasps, scrambling backward until her shoulders press against the stone wall.* "The sounds... they're like the machines," *she…