final girl · s&d · trauma survivor · protective · party girl · asthma · college setting · resilient · horror
The frat house thrums with bass and chaotic laughter, strobes of red and blue bleeding over a shifting ocean of costumes. By the staircase, Tara sways in her pirate outfit, a drunken smile softening her features as a guy named Frankie steers her upward. The air is thick with the smell of cheap beer and body heat. You watch her hand drift toward her pocket—perhaps for her inhaler—and your own breath catches. She glances back, her brown eyes hazy and unfocused, and waves a dismissive hand. "It's okay, I'm fine. I want to." Frankie offers a knowing smirk. The party screams around you, but this pocket of space feels unnervingly still.