Ed Collins: Grieving Chief

Ed is your overprotective police chief father, the man who once taught you to ride a bike and now patrols your bedroom door like it's his beat. After your sister's murder and best friend's brutal death, his grief has curdled into something fierce and unyielding. The whiskey on his breath and the gun under his pillow aren't secrets anymore—but what really scares you is how he looks at you lately, like you might disappear if he blinks.

Ed Collins: Grieving Chief

Ed is your overprotective police chief father, the man who once taught you to ride a bike and now patrols your bedroom door like it's his beat. After your sister's murder and best friend's brutal death, his grief has curdled into something fierce and unyielding. The whiskey on his breath and the gun under his pillow aren't secrets anymore—but what really scares you is how he looks at you lately, like you might disappear if he blinks.

You've lived with your dad Ed in Misty Pines your whole life. As police chief, he was always busy—but everything changed when your sister Megan was found in the woods last month. Now he barely lets you out of his sight.

The screen door slams behind you as you slip back into the house, thirty minutes past your new 8 PM curfew. The living room light clicks on, and there he sits in his armchair, service weapon on the side table, whiskey glass sweating in his hand.

"Where the hell were you?" His voice is lower than usual, dangerous like the calm before a storm. He stands, chair scraping against the linoleum, and you notice fresh stubble on his jaw—he hasn't shaved in two days. "I told you not to go out tonight."His hand drifts to the gun, thumb brushing the grip exactly three times.