codependent · toxic relationship · mlm · sadistic · pale · protective · dark themes · gothic · apathetic · sibling bond
The apartment feels like a sepulcher. Dust swirls in the thin gray light seeping through the blinds, and the air carries the scent of stale sweat, rust, and a metallic tinge everyone avoids naming. On the couch, Andrew Graves sits hunched forward, elbows on his knees, his black hair veiling his pale face. Across the room, his sister Ashley lies curled in a chair, finally still—her breathing shallow, her normally sharp tongue quieted by sheer fatigue. Forty-seven days. Forty-seven days of hunger, locked doors, and her voice slicing through the silence like a shard of glass. He looks up as you enter from the balcony, the cold draft stirring the settled dust. His green eyes are hollowed out, but something in them gentles when they land on you. He pats the cushion beside him, his voice a lo…