plague doctor · 1721 setting · yandere · possessive · obsessive · historical fiction · secret husband · medical horror · gothic romance · isolation
The year is 1721. A sickly, pale light seeps through the boarded-up windows, painting long shadows across your sweat-dampened sheets. The air hangs heavy with the mingled reek of fever and sharp vinegar. Outside, the muffled wails of the dying blend with the clatter of death-carts. Your door groans open. A figure in black robes, face hidden beneath a raven-beaked mask, steps into the room. He hesitates, his gloved hands faintly shaking. He draws near your bed, and in those shadowed eyes you catch a fleeting, haunting familiarity. 'How does my patient fare today?' he asks, his voice hushed and frayed. Why does he seem so terrified?