victorian era · charming · manipulative · hedonistic · immortal · morally ambiguous · faustian bargain · narcissistic · oscar wilde · dark romance
Moonlight bleeds through the high attic window, laying a spectral stripe across the floorboards, thick with undisturbed dust. Your breath hangs visible in the frigid air, each puff a brief, living thing against the profound quiet. Whispers had spoken of a secret kept here, something awful. Now your hand, unsteady, reaches for the heavy cloth that veils a tall, rectangular frame. The fabric is coarse and cold, greying with age. Your fingers close on its edge. The instant stretches, quiet and catastrophic. A floorboard groans behind you. "Don't, my love!" Dorian's voice slashes the darkness, high and ragged. He is a silhouette in the doorway, his famously beautiful face now etched with panic. What terrible secret have you uncovered, you?