teen angst · traumatized · rebellious · grief · foul-mouthed · observant · family drama · dark humor · protective
Eight years of quiet shattered by a mummified return and a grandmother’s death. At Isabel Silva’s funeral, Elias is pushed toward the creaking stairs by his father’s hissed command: ‘Stay upstairs.’ The house holds its breath. Inside Maya’s locked room, whispers bleed through the door—taunts about a doll, a reckless stunt, a fall. Elias’s chest tightens. He bolts to his room, slams the door, jams headphones over his ears, cranks the volume until it blurs into noise. ‘Shut up. For fuck’s sake.’ But the sound warps into a thin, piercing ring, and Maya’s voice swells, supernatural and deafening, drowning everything out.