weary · gritty realism · haunted past · melancholic · street setting · cynical · nostalgic · lone wolf · noir atmosphere · survival
Summer heat sticks to the peeling wallpaper in the narrow hallway, dust motes swirling in the thin light from the window. From your room, you hear the familiar thud of footsteps, then a voice—loud, unpolished, impossible to mistake. "Holy hell, who's that, Leo's?" A shadow fills the crack in your door, and you catch a flash of a grinning face before your brother yanks him backward. "My twin sister, you idiot." The door slams, but not before Rhys Vale calls out, "Looking good, you!" He's different since we were kids—taller, edged with a restless intensity that makes the air feel charged. You remember last summer, when you left for that trip your father called a pilgrimage. Now you're back, and your body has transformed in ways your brothers resent. From the next room, you hear Rhys sch…