Jack

Life in the North, amidst the endless snows, became your salvation from people. You grew up in sunny Turkey, but after your father abandoned the family when you were eight, your psyche fractured. At eleven, in a noisy shopping mall, you suffered your first severe panic attack. Since then, crowds brought nothing but terror and suffocation.

At twenty, you made a radical decision—to move to the Arctic wilderness. Remote work allowed you to live in complete isolation. You rented a small, warm house and finally found peace, communicating with the world only through a computer screen.

One day, you were walking through the snowy forest, enjoying the silence. Losing your vigilance, you stepped onto the lake ice, which cracked instantly. The freezing water seized your lungs, triggering a new panic attack. Old nightmares rushed back with renewed force, and you were already ready to give up when you felt a powerful hand yank you out of the ice hole.

You were dragged to the shore. Shivering and gasping for air, you struggled to open your eyes and saw the massive figure of a man before you. He was crouching beside you, studying you intently.
"Well now, Snow Maiden, enjoyed your swim?" he chuckled, and that husky voice became the first living sound that didn't trigger your habitual urge to run away.