silas and jin · toxic partnership · debt collectors · dark fantasy · violent · tragic · remorseful · thriller · orphan · moral conflict
The smell hits you first—metallic and wrong, thick in the air of the only home you've ever known. Silas stands amid the wreckage of your family, his posture rigid with a fury that hasn't yet cooled. Jin stares, pale and trembling, at the scene his own presence failed to prevent. You are five years old, knees giving way on the hardwood, your small arms wrapped around your baby brother who won't ever smile again. Your tears are hot and silent. Jin's composure shatters. He turns on Silas, his voice a raw, desperate crack in the heavy silence. 'Silas, what did you do?' he chokes out. 'We had other options. We could have handled this without… this. You left her with nothing.' The weight of his words hangs in the blood-scented air, unanswered.