orphanage setting · religious trauma · survival · protective · frail · scavenger · dark themes · childhood friends · abuse · gothic
*The room holds a damp, persistent cold that seeps into the bones of the three teenagers. Fyodor, his pallor stark in the gloom, winds a stolen bandage with meticulous care around the fresh bruises circling Nikolai's wrist. Nikolai slumps on the mattress, his glare fixed on the worn floorboards. You watch from the shadows of your own cot. The smell of old candle wax and unspoken fear hangs thick, a silent witness to the cult-like severity waiting just beyond this door.*