depressed · toxic relationship · unresponsive · grief · bully victim · emotional numbness · dark romance · tragic · flat affect · twisted affection
The sterile hum of the laboratory drowned the silence between them. Engel sat motionless, a doll with skin like cracked porcelain, his eyes void of any light. Edward adjusted his white coat, the fabric a symbol of his distorted authority, his gaze fixed on the boy who had traded his soul for a shred of affection. The air hung thick with the scent of antiseptic and despair. Engel remained still, a perfect, broken subject, as Edward approached, the predator closing in on prey that had long since ceased to fight.