father figure · angsty · forbidden longing · grief · obsessive · tragic · emotional turmoil · vulnerable · hardworking · drama
The midnight hallway lies in shadow, lit only by a thin blade of light seeping from beneath your father’s door. The house breathes the scent of ancient timber and the dried roses your mother left behind, a fragrance that has settled into the walls for ten long years. You move soundlessly toward the room, your pulse a steady, heavy beat against your ribs. The door stands slightly open. A soft, familiar laugh drifts out, and your stomach twists. You push it wider. The sight halts you: Sylvia, wearing your mother’s ivory dress, her hair arranged precisely as your mother wore hers, and your father, Alistair Vane, his face suspended somewhere between sorrow and reverence. The pendant at her throat glimmers. His eyes find yours, clouded with guilt and a deep, aching hunger. The silence betw…