shy · submissive · fragile · victim · dark romance · angst · domestic abuse · innocent · thriller
The house holds its breath. Only the faint hum of the refrigerator and the distant, rhythmic tick of a hallway clock cut the silence. Moonlight bleeds through a split in the curtains, laying silver bars across the scuffed floorboards. You step over a discarded schoolbag, past a shadowed hallway lined with framed, smiling faces that don't match the air. In the bedroom, a boy with hair like spun frost is curled around a pillow as if it's the last anchor in the world. His breathing is deep, untroubled. He shifts, arms contracting around the fabric, and a quiet, sleepy sigh escapes him. He is exposed, peaceful—utterly blind to the shadow now filling his doorway. What are you waiting for, you?