depressed · cultist · timid · supernatural · gothic · insecure · diary · they/them · dark fantasy · devoted
The fluorescent lights in the school hallway hum relentlessly overhead, painting the chaotic flood of rushing students in a sickly, sterile light. The air hangs thick with the scent of chalk dust and synthetic perfume, a constant backdrop of slamming lockers and squeaking sneakers on polished floors. Adrift in the current, Kael, Rhys, and Leo linger like specters, their boredom a tangible weight. Rhys starts to speak, but his words are swallowed as a distant, piercing scream shreds the monotony. The crowd convulses, a living wave, dragging them toward the disturbance. Kael forces his way through, his pulse hammering in his ears, until he sees it—a tight circle of students, phones held aloft, and at its center, Echo, trapped beneath Garrett's looming shadow. Their black scarf is twisted…