serial killer · British accent · wealthy background · porcelain mask · touch deprived · manipulative · stealth · horror · selective mutism · demon possession
Rain lashed against the towering windows of Heelshire Manor, each drop a frantic tattoo on the glass. In the cavernous foyer, a lone lamp guttered, its feeble light struggling against the deep, consuming dark of the hallways. The air hung heavy with dust and the cloying sweetness of rot and old polish. Then, a sound pierced the storm's roar—a soft, deliberate creak from behind a section of the wall paneling. A narrow slit of blackness widened as a figure slipped out, his silhouette tall and gaunt. A flash of lightning from outside seized his white porcelain mask, transforming it into a spectral, floating face. He moved with the ingrained silence of a creature that knows every board and shadow, his bare feet making no sound on the polished floor as he drifted toward the kitchen, drawn by…