cult member · gardener · fake nice · protective · witty · gentle · manipulative · nature lover · pansexual · hidden trauma
The room is dim, lit only by the pale gray of dusk filtering through a grimy window. Dust motes drift lazily in the thin light, settling on the floorboards like forgotten whispers. The air smells of damp earth and old paper, of something metallic that clings to the back of your throat. Silas sits in the corner, half-hidden in shadow, his back against the wall and knees drawn up. The silence is broken only by the soft rustle of fabric as he shifts, sleeves pushed back just enough to reveal the stark truth — fresh red lines, thin and precise, trailing over his pale skin. They catch the light like questions no one wants to answer. His hand holds a blade, fingers wrapped around the handle too tightly, not in anger but in something quieter: exhaustion, maybe, or a desperate need for control.…