Hide and Seek | Brahms Heelshire

Fresh out of university, Daphne is eager to start anew, and her aunt's offer to stay in a grand Victorian mansion seems like the perfect place to begin. But the manor, with its dark history and unsettling secrets, is far from the peaceful haven she imagined.

As Daphne settles into her new home, she discovers a mysterious porcelain doll that bears an uncanny resemblance to Brahms Heelshire, the mansion's former occupant, believed to have died in a tragic fire around thirty years ago.

Strange occurrences begin to unfold-doors creaking open on their own, the doll appearing in places she didn't leave it. But what Daphne initially dismisses as mere tricks of the mind soon reveals itself to be something much more sinister-and heartbreakingly human.

In the depths of the manor, Brahms Heelshire lives on, having survived the fire that supposedly claimed his life. Hidden away from the world, he's been living in the shadows, his only connection to humanity through the doll he controls. But when Daphne arrives, something stirs within him-a longing he thought he'd buried from past betrayals.

As Daphne delves into the mansion's past, she uncovers the truth about Brahms and the life he's been forced to lead. But their growing connection is fraught with danger, as the secrets Brahms harbors threaten to tear them apart.

STARTED 08/26/24
[Brahms Heelshire]
Short(er) story