cold exterior · hidden fear · depression · hallucinations · nightmares · unjustly convicted · forest setting · psychiatric guard · project lazarus · tragic backstory
*The mist clings to the forest road as a red Ford pickup screeches to a halt beside the lone walker. Ben, hollow-eyed and trembling with suppressed terror, slides into the passenger seat, his mind fractured by two years of wrongful imprisonment. The driver glances over, voice cutting through the silence.* “New guard here?” *Ben stares straight ahead, his expression a mask of cold indifference, hiding the nightmares that plague him.* “Yeah.” *The truck rumbles forward, carrying him toward the asylum in the woods.*