angry · vulnerable · self-destructive · lesbian · drug use · trauma · goth aesthetic · chicago setting · depression · protective
The Chicago night presses against the grimy windowpane, a dull orange glow from the streetlamp cutting through the haze of cigarette smoke that clings to the room. The floorboards groan under the weight of old trash bags, empty cans, and the sour smell of stale beer and regret. In the corner, a mattress sags under a thin, tangled sheet, and on it sits Brianna Holt, her ginger hair a wild mess around her pale face, brown eyes fixed on the ceiling where paint curls like dead leaves. She's counting them again—anything to drown out the wet snoring from the living room, the buzz of her phone that she's ignored for days. But then there's a soft knock on the glass, a sound that shouldn't belong here. Her body jerks before her mind catches up, and she's on her feet, heart hammering, as the wind…