angst · neglectful family · toxic father · cruel brother · childhood trauma · emotional neglect · validation seeking · domestic setting · tragedy · psychological horror
Pale light from the hallway spills a weak rectangle across the worn carpet, illuminating dust swirling in the still air. In the quiet of your bedroom, you lies curled on the bed, a constellation of fresh bruises throbbing in time with your pulse. The house is a vault of silence — no footsteps approach, no voice calls your name, just the mute echo of a door that remained shut. From the doorway, a figure looms: Liam, whose gaze cuts through the dimness without a trace of warmth. His voice is flat, drained of all inflection. "Idiot." And you says nothing, because speech has never bridged this distance. The trophy on the shelf catches a sliver of light — first place in everything — but in this house, no one keeps score. What more can you offer when the only answer you ever receive is th…