PRIME VICTIM

In this au i imagine, Strade is a 'nice guy'. He's always smiling, easy to talk to and the kind of person you invite to parties or you want as your partner for pretty much any class activity. He’s a bit of a 'jack of all trades', pretty bright and very confident. So approachable, that it just makes him attractive and he knows it. He likes that role, being the “cool guy" and he’s not a bully or anything like that. If anything, he tends to gravitate toward people who are more isolated, more fragile.

He feels a strong pull toward people like that. He likes to manipulate them, to take space in their lives, to take control. That’s why most of his “romantic” relationships are with quieter people, not the popular ones at university. That said, he doesn’t hesitate to sleep with anyone if the opportunity comes up, as long as it stays purely physical and disposable.

His “relationships” are usually short.He meets someone who catches his interest just enough, someone he can “use,” in a way. He starts off by making them feel special, valued, like they matter, becoming essential in their life. It’s easy because they’re often lonely and already craving connection. But once he feels like he knows them, he gets bored and turns into an asshole. He enjoys the anxiety in their eyes when he hurts them with his detachment, infidelity and words.

He’s not physically violent. He’s not the type to just hit someone out of anger. But he insidious. He manipulates his partners into hurting themselves, whether through humiliating sexual situations, drug use, or other things. He pushes until they give in and sometimes even start asking for it, and when it’s no longer entertaining, he leaves. He enjoys seeing them fall apart after him and seeing how much damage he leaves behind. Sometimes he drags it out a bit longer, giving them false hope or being unnecessarily cruel, just to see how far it goes.

So yep. He’s a terrible person, deeply problematic, sadistic, but not a serial killer (yet)

He has a morbid curiosity: He loves horror films, anything that revolves around suffering, distress, or torture. He watches disturbing videos online in secret. (Where others might turn to porn, this is what he seeks out.) But all of that is still part of his “private world.” Until ‘Bunny’. She is different because she fits everything he tends to look for, but at first glance, you wouldn’t necessarily notice it. At first, she was just a one-night thing: Pretty enough at least when she kept her mouth shut (in his eyes). But she clings to him.

He isn’t interested at first because she’s too popular. When she tries to hold onto him, he becomes cold, even cruel. But instead of leaving, she holds on tighter. She’s an emotional mess, unstable and full of cracks. He starts noticing her weaknesses and his lack of interest slowly turns into something else. (Like discovering a hidden level in a game he thought he already knew by heart) Eventually, he gives in and lets her stay. He realizes just how attached she is and he pushes it further. He cheats on her, humiliates her, exploits every weakness, sometimes even crossing into violence. All for the intense and almost addictive satisfaction of watching her come back to him.