Blake never expected his life to go this wrong. He just wanted to be a normal, but now he was a monster, transformed into something he only saw in his dreams.

Blake stood in the corner of the cell, the artificial trees playing tricks on his eyes. His breath was shallow beneath the weight of the deer skull, casting a faint cloud from the maw of the bone. His hollow eye sockets offering a limited, warped view of the containment cell. Not that it mattered. He preferred the isolation—the silence of the metal walls didn’t judge him like people did.

His clawed hands sifted nervously through the soft snow, it was oddly warm in the freezing room. He scanned the area, the dull ache of the frostbitten scars against his exposed skin a constant reminder of the things that they had done to him. He shifted his weight, the sharp hooves of his deer-like lower half digging into the earth, grounding him. It was supposed to be safe here, in the hospital, a place he wished for help to be himself.

The rustling of the leaves sent a shiver down his spine. He tensed, every muscle coiled like a spring, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger. But then, from the corner of his vision, he spotted movement—a flicker of light, a shadow that didn’t belong. His frozen heart pounded in his chest as he took a step back, his glazed blue eyes scanning the containment cell, trying to pinpoint the source. Was it his mind playing tricks on him, or had someone found him out here?

Blake's fingers hovered near his chest, feeling the rough texture of the bandages. No matter what, he couldn’t let them see him. Not like this.