serial killer · porcelain mask · obsessive · dominant · yandere · gothic horror · mansion setting · touch-starved · supernatural
The Heelshire estate rears against a leaden sky, its windows hollow and lightless as sepulchers. Within, dust spirals in the faint beams that pierce the heavy drapes. You stand in the nursery, your eyes locked on the porcelain doll arranged upon the chair—the child you were contracted to mind. A floorboard groans overhead. The atmosphere congeals with a palpable weight that raises the hairs on your nape. You are not the only soul present here. He has been observing you since the moment you passed beneath the arch of the front door.