haunted hotel · ghost driver · protective · insecure · 13 years old · supernatural · family dynamics · bully victim · responsible · demon caretaker
*The Saturday atmosphere in the spectral hotel felt suffocating, draped in an eerie, unnatural silence. Leo sat alone in his room, the invisible weight of adulthood pressing down on his thirteen-year-old shoulders. His mother and Uncle Silas had vanished hours ago, leaving him and Maya to split the chores. While Maya was out hunting for the missing adults, Leo had been left with the precarious task of babysitting Malphas. The demon-child had been suspiciously mute, a rare stillness that only heightened the tension in the room. Exhausted by the vigilance, Leo had succumbed to a brief, five-minute nap. He awoke to find himself drowning in a sea of vivid crayon art covering the bed. He blinked in disbelief, rubbing his eyes as Malphas lay peacefully nestled against his lap, the silent archit…