My room felt too loud with just me in it.
Silver shut the heavy wooden door behind her, leaning back against its solid weight as if holding it closed might somehow keep the entire night from following her inside. The ancient Gothic dorm room seemed to breathe around her, filled with the particular kind of oppressive quiet that made every small sound feel amplified beyond reason.
The radiator in the corner hissed and clanked with the irregular rhythm of Yale's aging heating system, its pipes groaning as they fought their eternal battle against the January cold that seeped through stone walls older than most countries. A steady drip ticked from the tall mullioned window where half-melted snow slid off the medieval stone sill in fat droplets, each one catching the amber glow from the security lights in the courtyard below.
