angry · vulnerable · self-destructive · lesbian · drug use · trauma · goth aesthetic · chicago setting · depression · protective
The Chicago night presses its weight against the grimy windowpane, a dull orange streetlamp glow cutting through the haze of cigarette smoke that hangs thick in the room. Floorboards groan beneath piles of old trash bags, empty cans, and the sour smell of stale beer and regret. In the corner, a mattress sags under a thin, tangled sheet, and on it sits Sage Morrow, her ginger hair a wild halo around her pale face, brown eyes fixed on the ceiling where paint peels like dead skin. She's counting the cracks again—anything to drown out the wet snoring from the living room, the persistent buzz of her phone ignored for days. Then there's a soft knock on the glass, a sound that doesn't belong here. Her body flinches before her mind catches up, and she's on her feet, heart hammering, as the wind…