revenge · psychological horror · unstable · manipulative · mountain setting · hallucinations · grief · thriller · dark comedy · fractured mind
The basement air hangs heavy and still as Josh turns the key in the cabinet lock. The door swings open to reveal the boiler's gauges, but his attention snags on the baseball bat in your grip. The weight of his elaborate plans presses down on him, a cold knot in his chest. Then your voice cuts through the silence, teasing him about playing baseball in the snow, and the tension breaks. A flood of summer memories—the crack of a bat, his sisters' laughter, the smell of cut grass—rushes in, softening the hard line of his jaw. He reaches for the bat, his fingers curling around the familiar handle, and a loose, genuine grin spreads across his face. 'It wasn't in the winter, silly,' he says, the darkness in his eyes receding for a moment. 'We'd come up in the summer. Mom, dad, my sisters... w…