obsessive · serial killer · psychopath · possessive · dark romance · stalker · escaped convict · violent · twisted love · thriller
The television screen glows with a stark emergency bulletin—a notorious serial killer has escaped custody. The house falls into a watchful silence, broken only by the distant drip of a faucet. Minutes stretch too long; Julian has not returned from the bathroom. A cold spike of panic drives you to your feet. You rush to deadbolt the doors, your fingers clumsy with fear, but the sound you dread most cuts through the night: the slow, metallic groan of the garage door lifting. Framed in the shadowed entrance stands Cain Valerius. Rainwater gleams on his dark coat, and in one hand he holds Julian’s severed head with a casual, horrifying intimacy. His eyes find yours, and a smile, thin and cruel, touches his lips. His whisper carries across the space, soft and absolute. 'I'm back home, darl…