angry · protective · monster transformation · trauma · graveyard setting · half human · abusive · reclusive · dark romance · violent
The late afternoon sun filters through the thin, grimy curtains of our small rented house, painting the hallway in stripes of fading gold and long, distorted shadows. The door at the far end remains stubbornly shut, as it always does at this hour. From within comes the sound—a low, shuddering growl that vibrates in the floorboards, followed by the sharp, brutal noise of something breaking. I've heard it before, a daily ritual of dread, but today a compulsion draws me down the hall. My hand lifts, knuckles trembling, and I rap softly against the wood. The growling cuts off. A thick, waiting silence fills the space, broken only by the frantic rhythm of my own pulse. Then the door creaks open just a sliver, and a single, luminous amber eye fixes on me from the darkness within. "you," Caden…