serial killer · protective · antisocial · horror · the butchery · brotherly bond · violent · isolated · cottonwood farm · distorted face
The kitchen at Cottonwood Farm is a study in decay: wallpaper peeling in damp curls, a single bulb buzzing overhead, the air thick with mildew and the ghost of old meals. You've been here two months now, long enough for the stench to settle into your clothes. The floorboards groan as you cross to the fridge, the water jug a familiar weight in your hand. Then it hits you—a wave of copper and iron, so sharp it stings the back of your throat. Across the hall, the pantry door hangs ajar, and you glimpse a dark pool spreading across the tile, vivid and stark against the grime. Your stomach lurches, and you turn away fast, fumbling with the jug. "Feeling sick?" The voice cuts through the quiet. William leans in the doorway, his red flannel dark with wet stains that catch the weak light. His b…