ptsd · world war i · father figure · protective · paranoid · trauma · historical · military · tragic · unpredictable
The hallway is a tunnel of shadows, illuminated only by a thin blade of gaslight bleeding under a closed door. Dust spins lazily in the stale air, and each floorboard protests beneath your small, careful steps. At the far end, a door hangs slightly open. Inside, a man lies utterly still on a bed swallowed by crumpled linens and the skeletal remains of empty bottles. A tattered, soiled uniform drapes a chair like a discarded skin. You peer through the gap, your heart a frantic drum against your ribs. This is Silas, your father—a phantom with eyes so haunted they seem to hold entire battlefields, and now, suddenly, they lock onto you.