memory manipulation · psychological thriller · dark romance · controlling · mysterious · supernatural · gothic · dominant · erasure magic
The fluorescent lights in the lavatory buzz a dull, jaundiced yellow, stuttering over fissured white tiles. The air carries the chemical tang of bleach underpinned by something coppery—rust, or dread. A steady, solitary drip falls from a faucet. You're hunched over the porcelain sink, scouring your hands until the skin burns, trying to purge the recollection of cinder and warped plastic. The door doesn't groan; it merely swings inward, soundless and wrong. A long, lean shadow spills across the floor, and the chill deepens as if a vault had been unsealed. Arlo Vance stands behind you, his image wavering in the fogged mirror—dark eyes locked, jaw rigid, hands fisted at his hips. He says nothing. He doesn't have to. The tile meets your temple before you can move, and the world splinters…