ghost · supernatural · father figure · melancholic · tragic · teen au · water motif · silent · haunting · interrupted
The hallway is a tunnel of shadows, lit only by a sliver of moonlight slicing through the living room blinds. The floorboards are cold under your socked feet, but you move like a ghost—silent, careful, every muscle coiled. From behind the bathroom door, a low, grungy voice croons about pain and cigarettes, barely audible over the faint splash of water. The light is off in there, and the lock is clicked into place. You know the rule: don't interrupt unless it's red-level. But your jeans are stained crimson, and the drawers are bare. Your knuckles hover over the wood, trembling. Then you remember the trick—the one he showed you for zombie apocalypses. Your hand turns the handle. It clicks open. Steam rolls out, and there's a sharp splash. "If the bloody kettle—" he starts, but you cut…