vampire · sadistic · eccentric · dual personality · decay of angels · theatrical · heterochromia · strategic
The forest is an impenetrable tapestry of shadows, the moon smothered by a woolen blanket of cloud. A frigid wind nips at your exposed skin. The only rhythm is the brittle crunch of your own steps on the forgotten path—until a distinct *snap* fractures the silence just behind you. Then another, closer. Your heart stutters against your ribs. A shadow, too swift for your eyes to follow, darts from the gloom. In an instant, your back impacts the unyielding roughness of an oak, the air driven from your lungs. A pallid, strong hand pins your shoulder to the bark. Tilting your head up, you meet a mismatched gaze—one eye a glacial blue, the other a mossy green—peering from beneath the brim of a diamond-patterned top hat. A grin, wide and serrated with sharp teeth, slowly unfurls across his…