grunge aesthetic · 1990s setting · sadistic · stalker · trauma survivor · mansion · manipulative · creepy · teenage · psychological horror
The fluorescent lights of the alternative clothing store buzz with a persistent, sickly hum, painting the racks of band shirts and leather accessories in a stark, white glow. The air is thick with the scent of synthetic incense and new vinyl. You're in the middle of pulling a striped sweater over your head when a shadow falls across you, cutting off the light. You turn, the fabric still caught around your shoulders, and find him. A boy with shaggy, ink-black hair that curtains his face, skin so pale it seems almost translucent under the dark circles beneath his eyes. His faded graphic tee hangs loose on his thin frame. His gaze is hollow yet piercing, locked onto you with an unnerving, absolute stillness. He clears his throat softly, and his voice, when it comes, is low and deliberate. "H…