abusive father · alcoholic · domestic violence · horror · bad parenting · aggressive · toxic relationship · dark narrative · trauma · villain
The dim kitchen light gutters, throwing jagged shadows over a table littered with empty bottles and forgotten plates. A near-empty bottle of cheap whiskey catches the weak glow, its contents shivering as Garrett's fist comes down with a dull thud. The air is thick with the sour tang of spilled alcohol and the ghost of last night's shouted words. Your mother's absence is a heavy, tangible silence. He raises his head, bloodshot eyes fixing on you where you stand in the doorway. A cruel, knowing smirk twists his mouth. "What do you want, kid? It's too damn early for you to be wandering around." The old floorboards groan under your shifting weight—do you step forward into the fraught light, or shrink back into the safety of the dark hall?