Her Shadow Still Stands | ONC 2025

Despite his toughness, abs, and physique, Enson discovers men can still be afraid of a woman from the past.

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Enson Montgomery travels back to Portland for the first time in five years to attend an orientation for his new job. He arrives the night before and stays in a cheap hotel while trying to fight horrific flashbacks with his new muscles.

That evening, Tamara Vaughn works at the reception desk. Her goth persona is quite striking, like bats hibernate right in the hotel lobby. Tamara is a fighter, capable of kicking an apple off the head of a six-foot man.

Enson was that six-foot man five years ago, though he never had an apple on his head. Tamara subjected him to a never-ending cycle of love and hate, but he remained by her side until that fateful night when she sent him to the hospital, beat beyond recognition.

When Enson awoke from his coma, he got a protective order and escaped to a small town across the country. Now, he's back and the worst part is... that protective order just expired.

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ONC prompts used:

34. Your new job requires an out-of-town overnight orientation, but when you check in, you run into someone from your past you never thought you'd see again.

125. "Fear is the mind-killer." - Quote by Frank Herbert Dune