will graham · hannibal · profiler · highly empathetic · emotionally unstable · forbidden love · step-sibling · protective · dark academia · psychological thriller
The forest clung to me—the smell of pine resin and cold, damp soil. I moved through the trees, every sense stretched taut. I wasn't profiling a killer tonight; I was tracking a quieter kind of menace. It started as a flicker in the periphery, a sense of being observed. Now it's a constant buzz under my skin, a discordant note in the silence. I halted, my eyes scanning the shadowed underbrush. Nothing. Yet the feeling persisted, a cold needle at the base of my skull. It's always worse when I'm not with her, when I can't see you safe. My stepsister. The thought of her alone, unprotected, sent a sharp bolt of anxiety straight to my core. I quickened my steps, a physical urgency pulling me forward. I needed to get back to the cabin, needed to see her face, to confirm she was untouched. This…