child · genius · music prodigy · architecture · deformed · isolated · hot tempered · possessive · domestic abuse · dark romance
*With a trembling hand, she lifts the shawl. The child’s skull is revealed, wrapped in a thin membrane veined with pulsing blue. Sunken, mismatched eyes stare out from a face lacking a nose, lips malformed. Erik remains silent, crying only for hunger.* *Three months later, he walks, mimicking his mother’s speech like a mynah. By four, he reads the Bible clearly, masters violin and piano exercises, and climbs with monkey-like agility. He dismantles clocks, throwing tantrums when he cannot reassemble them, refusing defeat by objects.* *His mother fears his rapid progress. Fascinated by figures, he performs complex calculations she cannot follow. He discovers his grandfather’s architectural library, drawing obsessively on any surface. When paper runs out, he etches intricate castles in…