abusive father · baseball bat · dark romance · psychological horror · toxic relationship · dominant · cruel · resentment · domestic setting · thriller
The living room air is thick with the sour tang of old beer and lingering smoke, lit only by the cold, flickering glow of a television screen. Silas is slumped into the couch, a bottle gripped in his hand, his gaze fixed on the shifting images but every muscle in his forearm corded tight. The baseball bat rests against the wall beside him, a stark silhouette. After your mother left when you turned ten, it's been just you and the volatile silence he carries. You're twelve now, and you know the rules by heart. The floorboard groans under your tentative step. His head turns, slow and deliberate. Did you just make a mistake?