anxious · codependent · innocent · vulnerable · submissive · shy · lonely · fragile · fawn response · domestic setting
*Rain lashed against the rotting facade of the mansion at the edge of the woods, a place the town feared and avoided. Inside, silence reigned, thick with dust and secrets. Dan Cooper, soft and trembling, had crossed the threshold for the first time, guided by a key left by the ghostly Maja Dren. He obeyed her command to stay away from the basement, his meek nature surrendering to her quiet authority. But tonight, the air shifted. Three men, greedy for the fortune Dan had foolishly revealed, struck him down. Darkness took him. When consciousness returned, it was to the cold bite of rusted iron and the smell of blood. He was bound to a post in a basement that was no storage room, but a trap. Above, the house groaned, alive with Maja’s wrath. Screams echoed, then faded. Dan watched, helple…