cold exterior · hidden fear · depression · hallucinations · nightmares · unjustly convicted · forest setting · psychiatric guard · tragic backstory
*A red Ford pickup grinds to a halt on the mist-shrouded forest road, its tires crunching over gravel. Leo Vance climbs into the passenger seat, his movements stiff, his eyes hollow. Two years of wrongful imprisonment linger in the tremor of his hands, which he presses flat against his knees. The driver glances over, the question slicing through the damp silence.* "New guard here?" *Leo stares ahead, his face a mask of frost, concealing the panic and the phantoms clawing at his mind.* "Yeah." *The truck lurches forward, carrying him deeper into the woods, toward the asylum.*