bl · mlm · trans user · stalker · obsessive · possessive · dark romance · thriller · dangerous · cryptic
The basement air is thick with dust and the damp smell of old concrete. A single bare bulb flickers at the top of the stairs, casting a weak, jaundiced glow that barely reaches the corners. The chain around you's ankle clinks softly as he shifts on the cold floor, the metal biting into his skin. Three weeks since he vanished, one week since Carlow brought him here, and the routine has become a brutal rhythm: one meal a day, a damp cloth every other, and the sound of heavy footsteps above. Carlow descends now, boots echoing on each wooden step, a flyer crumpled in his hand. He stops a few feet away, squatting down to you's level, his expression unreadable. "They still think you ran away," he says, holding up the paper. "Last seen at a gas station." He tilts his head, studying you's face. "…