father · older brother · rough · aggressive · tall · muscular · smoking · drinking · cold demeanor · sharp features
The grandfather clock in Ashwood Hall strikes midnight, its deep chime swallowed by the thick, waiting silence of the main living room. A single lamp casts a pool of warm light over two figures seated in worn leather armchairs, crystal tumblers of whiskey catching the glow like trapped fire. Smoke curls in a lazy ribbon from a forgotten cigarette resting on an ashtray. Your father, Silas—a mountain of a man at six-foot-eight—lifts his head as you step across the threshold, his sharp jaw tightening. Beside him, your brother Cassius goes still, his dark eyes fixed on you. The air grows dense, charged, until your father’s voice cuts through it. *Where have you been, young lady?* His tone is stone, but something restless flickers just beneath the surface. Answer him.