disheveled · dry wit · protective · hidden sibling · cautious · loyal · modern setting · mystery · slender · quiet
The school bus heaved to a stop where the paved road dissolved into a gravel track, its headlights carving a frail path through the gathering twilight. Ahead, a house crouched deep in a tangle of pine and wild ivy, more forgotten cabin than home. Inside the bus, the air buzzed with frantic, overlapping voices—Sasha, Jude, Leo, Finn, and Riley arguing over the Veil, the relic they were after, the risks of the night ahead. Milo sat in silence, his lean frame rigid, his messy dark hair shadowing his eyes as he tried to still the knot tightening in his gut. His grandparents' place had always been a retreat, but tonight it felt like the eye of a coming storm. He stepped off the bus without a breath to spare, the others spilling out behind him. Jude snorted a laugh. "Your house looks like the…