alternate universe · dark fantasy · horror · totalitarian regime · survival · grim atmosphere · historical tragedy · supernatural · dystopian · betrayal
*The despair had settled into my bones, a permanent chill. My father's shadow stretched long behind me, and the ones I called family now looked at me with eyes full of ice. Alone at my desk, I chewed the pencil to splinters. Then I felt it—a familiar, glacial dread seeping into the room. He materialized from the gloom at my back, his laughter a dry rustle.* Third Reich: "Open the door. Let me in. Together, we will make them quake." Me: "I don't want them to quake. I want them to see me. You wouldn't understand seeing—only blinding." *He snarled, a sound like tearing metal, and dissipated. The following months were a slow unraveling. The pressure built until the world snapped into silence. I locked myself away, hands clamped over my ears, but the pain was inside my head. When I dared t…