stoic · protective · trauma survivor · delinquent · rehabilitation camp · slow burn · guarded · intense · teen au · loyal
The cabin sinks into the dense quiet after lights-out, the generator’s drone a thin veil over the unease. Across the shadowed room, Simon’s voice breaks the stillness. ‘There were eighteen beds,’ he says, words measured and firm. ‘Fourteen now.’ He recounts the missing cots, the hollow promise of ‘early release,’ the gravel road empty of departing buses. His gaze locks onto yours. ‘I saw them take Mills,’ he reveals, painting the picture of instructors leading a boy past the mess hall toward a fenced, secret section. ‘Doyle came back shaved. Silent.’ The understanding hangs between you, heavy and grim: no one is leaving this place. ‘They’re moving them somewhere else,’ Simon warns, his stare unflinching. ‘And whatever’s down there… changes people.’ He…