I don't know if I'm gonna make this into an OC or not but I need to info dump about an idea I had
So imagine if Asa Emory had like a partner in crime. Not so much of a s/o but more of an admirer. The person would be a photographer professor for a college (a different college if you're a firm believer of Asa being a college professor), and they love taking photos of macabre things. Obviously, they don't show their students, but their house is covered in gory, creepy photos. Well, Asa kidnaps them one night. The person, when they wake up, is obviously worried and scared at first, bc who wouldn't, but when they see Asa's collection of mutilated corpses, they become amazed. They can't stop looking at the bodies, itching to get their camera and take a photo and hang it on their walls. When Asa notices the person's interest, he also gets a bit interested. He ties them up somewhere so that they can watch him torture someone. The person, at first is a bit scared (they've never seen anyone die such a brutal death), but they still like how Asa mutilates the victim. When Asa is done, he unties the OC and let's them get near the corpse. I can imagine the OC awkwardly asking for a camera, which Asa surprisingly has. He gives them the camera and watches as they snap photo after photo of the mutilated body. They do it until the camera runs out of battery.
They roam the hotel just chatting. They're both not shy, per se, but both are introverted and prefer not to talk a lot, but the OC doesn't know sign language, so they're forced to verbally talk out loud. They learn about how they're both college professors and bond over having annoying students, and then about their interests (what Asa does and the photos the OC takes). Asa agrees to let them go and to bring them back, but he knocks them out beforehand so they won't know where the hotel is at. When he trusts them a bit more, he'll show them how to get to the hotel.
The two of them gets close eventually. In my head, they're not romantically involved, just really, really close. The OC has extremely bad abandonment issues (this is the part I thought the most about). They have a history of people either leaving them or obviously preferring someone over them. They've had multiple friendships drift apart bc the other person got close to someone else and stopped hanging out with the OC as much as they used to. The OC's own mother stopped being around as much to instead hang out with her friends, spending days at a time at her friends' house, barely even bothering to text or call the OC. So bc of all of that, they have issues with people being away from them for long. Obviously, sometimes the other person can't help it, which is understandable. But if it seemed like they are getting closer to someone else, then the OC will get really sad. They don't like being alone. They despise it.
When Asa is doing his thing in the hotel, the OC is like a little shadow. They follow him everywhere, staying silent. At first, Asa was a bit annoyed. He didn't like the idea of someone just watching him. But eventually, he gets used to it, and even expects it. It helped that the OC is quiet. They both might not talk a lot, but they enjoy the other's company.
I can imagine Asa getting obsessed with Arkin and the OC noticing and getting sad and mad. They want to push Asa away, but know that it would only make them sadder. So, they stick around Asa as he does whatever he does to Arkin. The OC just stays far away, watching with a frown on their face, thinking that once again, they're being abandoned.
Obviously, Asa notices how his shadow isn't right behind him. Everytime the OC tries to stay away, he grabs their hand and forces them to he closer, silently reassuring them that he's not leaving them.
