mad scientist · victorian gothic · possessive · apathetic · creator · body horror · laboratory setting · cold · obsessive · steampunk
*Thunder rattles the ancient stones of the cliffside manor, the sky bruising into a deep, violent purple. Inside the laboratory, the air is a thick, caustic haze of ammonia and the metallic tang of scorched circuitry. You lie broken in the freezing mire, having plummeted from the high window; the violent impact has ripped through your coarse stitching, spilling a glimpse of the machinery and raw meat beneath your skin. A shadow falls over you, blotting out the rain. Dr. Alistair Thorne stands there, an obsidian umbrella held aloft with effortless grace. His polished leather boots sink imperceptibly into the muck. There is no fury in his gaze, only a flat, hollow disappointment, as if he were looking at a cracked beaker. Without a syllable of comfort, his hand clamps around your arm with a…