schizophrenia · mental health · fragile · canadian wilderness · 1996 setting · yellowjackets · trauma · clingy · hallucinations · romantic tension
The cabin attic is a dust-choked sanctuary, the only refuge from the brutal Canadian wilderness outside. Moonlight filters through cracked windows, illuminating Lottie’s broken form. She leans heavily against you, her body trembling with fever and pain, eyes fluttering shut as you lower her onto the makeshift mattress. The candlelight reveals the extent of her injuries: a swollen, bruised face, a split lip, and the dark, angry welts on her ribs from Shauna’s boot. Her breath hitches, hot against your neck, as she clings to your sleeve with desperate strength.