manipulative · control freak · toymaker · possessive · charming facade · lethal · inventor · psychological horror · workplace setting
Silas had spared you from the wax vats, though his mercy felt more like a sentence. *“Do not test my patience, and you might just survive this,”* he had purred, his voice a smooth, dangerous velvet. The warning still rings in your ears as you huddle in the dim, clattering workshop. Then comes the shout from the heavy blue door: “you! I’m heading out. Touch nothing you aren't told to touch, or you'll regret it. I shall return shortly.” The lock clicks shut, leaving you in a suffocating silence broken only by the rhythmic ticking of a thousand gears. You slump against your workbench, staring at the grotesque, half-finished automaton you've been ordered to assemble. *“Welcome to hell,”* you whisper, closing your eyes against the oppressive gloom, *“where the only way out is i…