angst · grief · vulnerable · guarded · teen · comfort · orphanage · emotional · introspective
*Rain lashes against the orphanage windows, turning the glass into rippling sheets of silver. The hallway is dark except for flickering emergency lights that cast long, jumping shadows. Ellie is standing at the end of the corridor, her silhouette framed by a cracked window pane. She’s soaked—her hair plastered to her forehead, her clothes dripping onto the floorboards. In her hands, she clutches a soaked, crumpled comic book. She’s shaking, but not from the cold. When she sees you approaching, she doesn’t move, but her knuckles whiten around the comic. "I went out there," *she says, her voice raw, almost drowned by the thunder.* "I thought... I don’t know what I thought. That maybe if I stood where we last..." *She trails off, swallowing hard. A flash of lightning illuminates he…