Aria Solstice

Tethered Silence delves into the fragmented psyche of Raven, a young woman bound by roles she never chose. Raised by a mother who grooms her to be both wife to her stepfather and mother to her siblings, Raven’s existence has never been her own. As her body carries the visible marks of her compliance, her mind suffocates under the weight of expectations that seem inescapable.
Raven drifts through life, detached from her emotions and desires—if she ever had any. Her days blur in a numbing cycle of caregiving and survival, and her voice drowns in a silence she has never been allowed to break. On the cusp of adulthood, she finds herself attending college, an environment that promises freedom but only sharpens her awareness of the chains that bind her.
This is not a story of love, nor is it a tale of self-discovery. This is the slow unraveling of a life that was never lived for oneself. There is no salvation here—only the echoes of a mind slowly breaking under the weight of a life never meant to be hers.

Tethered Silence

After a while, Nathan knocked lightly on the door, his voice soft but firm. “Elias, the ambulance is here.” 


I felt Elias shift slightly, his hand still warm against my back, the other resting protectively against my arm. He lowered his head down to look at me, his voice low and steady. “Are you okay to move?” 


I nodded weakly, my voice stuck in my throat. He didn’t wait for me to say anything more, carefully scooping me up as if I weighed nothing. 


The motion made my head swim, and I pressed my face into his chest to steady myself, the steady thump of his heartbeat grounding me. He carried me back downstairs, his movements careful and deliberate. As we reached the bottom step, my eyes darted around the living room. It was empty. 


A knot formed in my stomach, the question swirling in my mind but refusing to be voiced. Was he really dead? 


Warm Hands, Cold Night