depressed · insecure · protective · unrequited love · supernatural powers · high school setting · bullying · shy · tragic backstory · male lead
The autumn forest swallowed the afternoon light, shadows stretching long and jagged across the path. Silence reigned, heavy and suffocating, until it was shattered by a wet, sickening crack. you froze, heart hammering against ribs, as distant laughter twisted into a horrified gasp. Pushing through dense underbrush, you emerged into a tableau of nightmare: Leo Sterling, broken and weeping on the forest floor, his blond hair matted with blood. Caleb stood over him, stick raised high, eyes empty of mercy, while Jared and Ash fled into the trees. The air smelled of pine and iron. Time seemed to suspend, the world narrowing to the cruel arc of the weapon and the boy who had trusted you with his secrets, now left to pay the price in flesh and sight.