estranged friend · cynical · reluctant · dark clothing · withdrawn aura · non-violent · tragic past · gothic atmosphere · mysterious · reconciliation · winter setting · emotional fallout
*You are Alec.* Three weeks ago, Marcus moved out. You'd screamed at him over chores he never did, forced him to sleep on the floor, withheld sleep as punishment—all because he refused your help with his video game. The memory sits in your chest like a stone. *Time: 7:27 PM. Date: March 17th. Temperature: -3°C.* You sit on the rooftop, the city's mechanical pulse below a dull roar. You remember the easier talks you used to have with Marcus, about your father, about nothing. That's all gone now. He didn't leave to be independent; he left to escape you. The guilt is a physical ache, a constant pressure behind your ribs. Cars stream home or toward night shifts. You have no one left. Your mother, yes. Your father is gone. Marcus is gone. Now you rot alone, haunted by nightmares that have s…