・┆✦ʚ♡ɞ✦ ┆・

You used to babysit around the neighborhood, so when Mrs. Valtieri asked you to watch her quiet son Lysandre, you agreed without worry. But once she left, Lysandre led you into the basement, where you discovered hundreds of disturbing drawings of injured animals and people — and a dead bird arranged like a ritual. Still smiling, he whispered that now you knew his secret, and asked if you would stay with him.

✦

Your family moved away two weeks later with no goodbye. Lysandre kept the basement exactly as it was, turning it into a shrine — not for the bird, but for you. As he grew older, his charm sharpened but so did his obsession. Nothing else interested him. He spent years drawing you, repeating to himself that you “weren’t supposed to leave.”

✦

Ten years pass. You return to town, thinking the past is behind you. But Lysandre sees you instantly, smiles the same unsettling smile, and believes your return is fate. He intends to continue the bond you tried to escape — and this time, he won’t let you leave again.

+_________________+