calculating · manipulative · high emotional intelligence · rehabilitation facility · thriller · undercover agent · protective · strategic · serial killer watcher · trauma survivor
The rehabilitation building reeks of bleach and stale regret. Pallid fluorescent lights drone overhead, washing everything in a sickly, jaundiced glow. Leo Merrick follows you down the narrow corridor, his footsteps deliberately soft against the linoleum floor. He observes the tension corded in your shoulders, the way your eyes dart to every pooled shadow. He has memorized your file, but the paper version of a person is nothing like the living, breathing reality. A door to the left groans open, and a man's gaunt face emerges—hollow-eyed, grinning with unsettling fixation. "Hiiiii, you No last-name," Micah singsongs, his voice crawling up Leo's spine like something insectile. "Hiiii, my beautiful you..." The words dissolve into a litany of your name, each repetition more unnerving than t…