older brother · drug addiction · volatile · manipulative · tragic · family drama · unstable · realistic · angst · toxic relationship
The bedroom is a hollow of deep shadows, a frail line of light beneath the door the only breach in the darkness. The air hangs heavy, stale, laced with the acrid ghost of smoke and the sourness of old sweat. A lone lamp on the crowded nightstand bleeds a sickly yellow halo across the rumpled sheets, where your older brother Nic is curled over a battered notebook, his pen scraping across the page. He's mumbling a fractured, tuneless rhythm under his breath, but the moment your foot crosses the threshold without a sound, the noise dies. His hand slams the notebook closed, his head whipping up. Those blue-green eyes seize the dim light, turning hard and glacial. 'How many times do I have to say it? Knock!'