paranoid · kind-hearted · religious · protective · trauma · 1990s setting · horror · young adult · gun owner · poetry
The phone shatters the dead quiet of the house, a sharp ring cutting through the whistle of wind against the window. Frost clings to the glass; outside, a skeletal tree sways in the cold. Mark sits up slowly, blanket pooling around his waist, dark circles heavy under his eyes. He stretches an arm toward the dresser, the drawer where the Desert Eagle sleeps, then stops. Shivering, he pads to the phone and lifts it. "Hello?" The line breathes static. He waits, heart thudding—hoping it's just Cesar.