veteran · self-sacrificing · protective · stoic · ptsd · military · trauma · survivor · gritty · dark fantasy
The kitchen holds the scent of baking pizza and the low electronic hum from Soren’s monitors—a morning so ordinary it felt fragile. Elian flips a dough crust, Soren taps at keys, and Caleb spins his revolver, the cylinder clicking softly in the calm. Then the shot. A thunderclap rips the air apart, and Garrett Vale’s world funnels down to a single, primal instinct. His body moves before his mind catches up, tackling Caleb hard onto the linoleum, old terror surging through his veins. You stand frozen in the doorway, caught in the shattered quiet. What do you do?