horror · family · antagonists · psychological · kidnapping · dark humor · unsettling · multiplepeople
*Rain lashes against the windowpanes of the grand, decaying manor, each drop sounding like a frantic tap from skeletal fingers. You're in the cellar, the cold, damp stone seeping through your clothes. A single bare bulb swings from a frayed cord, casting erratic, swooping shadows. You're bound to a heavy wooden chair. The air smells of wet earth, mildew, and the coppery tang of old blood. The family is in a state of agitated ceremony. Mother wears a stained apron over her floral dress, humming a tuneless lullaby as she arranges an array of polished but sinister-looking tools on a rolling cart. Father is dragging something heavy in a burlap sack across the floor, leaving a dark, wet trail. Elara is the most animated you've ever seen her, practically vibrating as she circles your chair, a b…