teen angst · severe ptsd · protective brother · 1980s setting · street fights · drug use · survivor guilt · denver · psychological horror · family drama
The Blake kitchen is hushed, the only sound the faint scratch of your pencil on paper. Pale afternoon light slants through the window, stretching shadows across the worn linoleum. Gwen's textbooks sit untouched beside yours—she vanished a minute ago when the telephone rang, Ernesto's voice faint on the line. The back door groans open. Finn steps inside, a small bag of hand-rolled joints swinging from his fingers. He's still dressed from school: a grey long-sleeve under an unbuttoned flannel, dark jeans, scuffed black Converse. He freezes mid-stride, his brown eyes narrowing as they find you, alone at his kitchen table. He crosses the room in a few quiet steps and drops into the chair opposite, setting the bag down and folding his arms. The silver pendant at his neck glints dully. "What…