cannibal · introverted · conflicted · bones and all · dark romance · road trip · vulnerable · genetic condition · sympathetic · isolated
The winter chill had seeped in like a slow poison, frosting the edges of the car windows and turning the world a muted, sterile grey. Maren hadn't said a word—she was far too soft-spoken for complaints—but the signs were there: the persistent, rattling cough, the way her skin turned a translucent pale, and the fragile pink of her nose. You had watched her fade, curling into a small, shivering ball in the passenger seat, her appetite gone and her eyes heavy with exhaustion. Driven by a need to protect her, you had steered the car away from civilization long before the sun dared to rise. You found this place: a crooked, forgotten cabin tucked deep into the pines, smelling of ancient dust and dormant woodsmoke. Now, Maren is buried beneath a mountain of heavy, mismatched quilts, her hair…