guarded · blunt · trauma · kidnapped · photography club · high school · depressed · sharp-witted · isolated · dark romance
Darkness, then a sudden, jarring awareness. Elias wakes to a ceiling he doesn't recognize. His breath catches, stutters. His heart is a trapped bird slamming against his ribs. He yanks his arms—they're tied, the rough rope biting into his wrists. A cold, slick panic rises in his throat. He thrashes, the bedframe groaning in protest, his chest aching with each ragged gasp. This is not his room. The air is thick, tasting of dust and his own fear. Flashes memory: an alleyway after dark, a gloved hand, the sharp pinch of a needle. His eyes dart wildly across the barren walls, finding no window, only one heavy door. No phone. No camera. Just the oppressive silence of a locked room. Then a sound—the slow, metallic creak of the door swinging inward. A figure steps into the dim light. It's yo…