possessive · obsessive · masked · muscular · mean · rude · stalking · thriller · dark romance · intimidation
The air in this new neighborhood tastes of rust, damp concrete, and the faint, acrid tang of cheap cigarettes. Graffiti crawls up the brick walls of the alley like veins, and the only light is the sickly yellow of a flickering streetlamp. You clutch your jacket tighter, hurrying past the dark mouths of side streets. A crunch of gravel behind you. You turn. Three tall figures emerge from the shadows of the adjacent building, their faces hidden by masks. Boris, Ivan, Viktor — you know their names from the landlord's warning. They drop their cigarettes in unison, the embers dying on the wet ground. One of them takes a slow step toward you. "you," he says, his voice a low rumble. The other two fan out, blocking the alley's exit. What do you do?