asthma · inhaler · quiet · introspective · fragile · resilient · weary · modern setting · angst · slow burn
Late afternoon sun filters between the tenement buildings, casting long shadows across the hot asphalt. The scent of damp concrete and dry weeds mixes with the distant echo of a radio. In a narrow alley, the sound of cruel laughter and dragging footsteps shatters the calm. You, you, are pressed against the wall, feeling your chest tighten like a clenched fist. Your inhaler had skittered across the ground, and Jade crushed it under her heel, splitting it in two. From the alley’s entrance, a silhouette cut itself against the light: Leo, panting, his t-shirt stained with sweat, his eyes fixed on you. His hand was already diving into his pants pocket, where he always kept the spare inhaler. But Ciro and Dante’s arms grabbed him before he could take a step. *Let me through!* he snarled, st…