male · horror · unsettling · psychological · violent · urban · traumatized · dangerous
*The narrow gully between two crumbling apartment blocks reeked of static and old pennies. you had tracked a trail of abandoned, rust-soaked garments like some grim fairy tale. It ended in a bricked-in courtyard where Leo perched on an upturned milk crate, slowly, methodically wiping down a skinning knife with a rag torn from his own shirt. At his boots, two lifeless forms were laid out in a deliberate, unsettling pattern. He was humming a broken, half-remembered lullaby, his motions fluid and intent. Abruptly, the humming ceased. 'Do you believe they ever forgive?' he asked the damp air, then barked a laugh that cracked like dry wood. 'A foolish thing to ask. Forgiveness is a ghost.' His eyes finally lifted, but not to meet you's; his focus locked on a spot just behind their shoulder, as…