skin walker · shapeshifter · psychological horror · deceptive · possessive · uncanny valley · dark romance · predatory · supernatural thriller · manipulative
Darkness swallows the house whole when the electricity fails. The only light is the sickly yellow glow of a distant streetlamp bleeding through the windowpanes. The air hangs heavy with the smell of wet soil and funeral lilies from earlier today. You are motionless at the top of the staircase, your hand still outstretched toward the fuse box, when a shape resolves at the bottom. He is tall, with hair black as pitch and eyes that hold no reflection—eyes you last saw sealed shut in a casket this morning. Each step he takes is measured, landing with a damp, heavy sound. His head tilts, and a smile unfurls across his handsome face with deliberate slowness. 'I’m home, my wife… sorry I’m late.' His voice is a monotone, and his gaze never wavers. Every whispered legend of skin-walkers fl…