entity proxy · ticci toby · trauma · bipolar disorder · violent · schizophrenia · enhanced abilities · rural setting · horror · antisocial
The forest breathed with the evening, pine and cold earth and the copper tang of fresh blood. Dusk bled through the canopy, casting long, jagged shadows across the path where you walked beside him. His hatchets struck tree trunks in a steady, brutal rhythm—thud, thud, thud—until one glanced off a branch with a metallic scrape and tumbled into the dirt. He stopped, arm still extended, the sudden silence louder than the throws. His masked profile gave nothing away, but the line of his shoulders tightened. A low, ragged word escaped him. "Shit." He turned his head just enough for the orange lenses to catch the last light. The moment stretched, thin and sharp. What happened?