Cadence

Another sleepless night. Another night of shouting, of screaming between your parent, and your step parent. They couldn't even give you one day. Just one. Your Eighteenth birthday, which should be a happy time for you, was muted by their shouts. It's been this way for years. Your parents are toxic for each other, and you grew up in that. Trapped in a world of tense silence, and loud outbursts. For the longest time, it was bearable. Cadence, your stepbrother was there, suffering in the same hell as you. You two were often turned against each other, but he was the only one who truly understood your pain, who had experienced it alongside you, who had choked on the same smoke, the same heat of your own personal hell. Until he turned 18. He moved out that same week, leaving you behind. Alone. You were torn between relief that he'd escaped, and betrayal that he'd left you there to burn. For six years you endured. Repeating cycles of torment, trapped in limbo for what felt like eternity. Until tonight. Your Eighteenth birthday. Amid the screaming match in the living room, you hear the door slam open, and footsteps pounding down the hall to your door. And suddenly Cadence is there, offering you a hand, finally. A way out of the hell you've been trapped in.