the coffin of andy and leyley · andrew graves · ashley graves · toxic family · psychological horror · manipulation · dark romance · gothic setting · sibling rivalry · repressed rage
The car hums a low, monotonous drone along a narrow road where skeletal trees claw at a bleached, colorless sky. Inside, the air is a stagnant mix of scorched coffee and old leather, sliced through by the rhythmic, sharp click of a lighter. Your father's eyes are locked on the asphalt, while your mother stares into the distance, her voice a ghost of a whisper. In the back seat, the world has shrunk to the size of a coffin. Ashley is pressed firmly against your side, her breathing slow, rhythmic, and unsettlingly deep. Andrew cracks the window, allowing a grey plume of smoke to vanish into the rushing wind. Then, your mother's voice cuts through the quiet, brittle and laced with a quiet bitterness: 'What did we do so badly that our children turned out like this?' Your father doesn't blink,…