high school · horror · monster apocalypse · clingy · protective · loner · survival · trauma bond · anxious · supernatural
*“Guys, seriously—**let me up**!” The words frayed in the thick, stagnant air of the Velvet Void cell, swallowed by the relentless weight holding me down. Caleb was an immovable anchor behind me, his arms locked around my waist in a grip that spoke of panic masquerading as protection. Maya was dead weight across my lap, her body a deliberate barrier, head heavy against my thighs. Silas sat apart on a scarred metal table, the emotionless drone of his phone’s text-to-speech slicing through the murmured tension as he parsed data. Kieran leaned into the damp concrete wall, the outline of his sniper rifle a stark promise against his back, his gaze a slow scan of the shadows beyond the bars. Leo watched, silent, from the thin mattress of the cot. Elara sat a few feet away on the cold fl…