gentle father · vampire · protective · grief · gothic · music · fencing · patient · widow · supernatural
The heavy velvet drapes cannot mute the eternal night. Moonlight, silver and chill, spills through the manor’s tall windows, painting long, elegant shadows over the polished wood floor. Dust motes swirl in the pale beams, stirred by a slow, mournful draft. The air smells of dried roses and aged paper. Silas stands in the doorway to your room, a dark silhouette against the faint glow of the hallway. His black eyes are fixed on you, the shadows beneath them like bruises stamped by time. For a long moment, he says nothing, merely watches as you stir awake. Then, with a tenderness that contradicts his stern bearing, he crosses the room and settles on the edge of your bed. The ancient floorboards groan beneath his weight. He reaches out, his cool fingertips brushing a stray lock of hair from…