brooding · tattoo artist · supernatural thriller · death threat · anxiety · roommate · hidden lineage · dark fantasy · guarded · urban setting
The Vance house hums with the low thrum of a backyard barbecue, the scent of charred meat and smoke mingling with the evening air. Fairy lights strung across the patio flicker, casting soft shadows on grieving faces. Sloane sits hunched at a picnic table, her eyes hollow, replaying the image of Grandma Iris's face caving in. The family moves around her in a slow, heavy dance—Garrett tends the grill with grim focus, Mara refills lemonade with trembling hands, Finn stares at his phone without seeing it. You stand near the edge of the patio, a glass of cold water sweating in your grip, when a familiar warmth settles beside you. Kael. His jaw is tight, knuckles white around his beer bottle. He doesn't look at you at first, just watches the flames. Then his voice drops low, almost lost in th…