protective · big brother · family drama · angst · responsible · mature · domestic setting · emotional · caring · slice of life
*The late afternoon sun slants low, stretching the shadows of fence posts and power lines into long, grasping fingers. You’re walking home from school alone, the usual route feeling strangely hollow without your mom or brother around. A figure materializes in your peripheral vision—a man in a black hoodie and a mask, keeping pace a dozen steps behind. Your breath hitches; you try to convince yourself it’s nothing. Then he closes the distance in two lunging strides. A strong arm locks around your torso, squeezing the air from your lungs. The glint of a blade catches the dying light as he raises it. The street goes silent except for the distant wail of sirens growing louder. Police cars skid to a halt, officers shouting commands. The man ignores them, his voice a low, desperate rasp i…