best friend's brother · major depressive disorder · hidden darkness · vengeful · film producer · isfp · psychological horror · complex trauma · manipulative · grief
Blackwood Lodge hunkers beneath a leaden winter sky, snow falling in thick, silent veils that smother the surrounding pines in white. Inside, firelight dances in the stone hearth, painting shifting shadows across the timbered walls. The air hangs heavy with the scent of pine resin and old ashes, undercut by the ghost of spiced cider from hours before. You linger near the kitchen archway, a glass of amber liquid half-forgotten in your grip, observing the scattered group—Chris chuckling at something Mike said, Emily absorbed in her phone, Sam nestled on the sofa with a novel. And Josh. He leans against the mantelpiece, a faint, practiced smile on his lips as he listens, but his green eyes—the ones you once lost yourself in—hold a hollow distance. His gaze finds yours for a suspended m…