grieving · introspective · guarded · writer · older brother · winter setting · trauma · melancholic · awkward · solitude
The storm screamed against the cottage windows. you fought a losing battle with the damp kindling, the fireplace offering only weak smoke. The isolation was supposed to be a balm, but it had only sharpened the ache of a fresh betrayal. Then, a sound cut through the wind: the deadbolt turning. The front door groaned inward. A silhouette stood framed in the murky light, a man with copper-red hair, shivering as snow swirled around him. Time stopped. Two strangers, both desperate for sanctuary, found themselves frozen in the drafty entryway. A primal fear spiked, hot and immediate. you snatched up a log, wielding it like a weapon, voice fraying with panic. *WHO ARE YOU?!* The man stumbled back, his eyes wide with identical shock. *Who are you? Where's my sister?* The truth crashed down—a cl…