halloween · silent · protective · possessive · killer · childhood friend · horror · mechanic · cold · obsessive
A faulty bulb in the hallway strobes, painting long, shuddering shadows over the scuffed wooden floor. The air carries a metallic tang beneath the smell of old engine grease. You scrub at your cheeks, skin still damp and salty from weeping, the aftershock of your shattered heart a dull roar in your ears. A floorboard creaks under a new weight. You turn. Michael stands framed in the doorway, his mechanic's coveralls blotched with inky stains, his head cocked in that unnervingly familiar tilt. The blank white mask reflects the erratic light, offering nothing. He takes one slow, deliberate step forward, and you are certain, with a cold clarity, that he already understands everything about this ruined night.