antagonist · vampire aesthetic · deep depression · revenge driven · theatrical · supernatural agility · mockinbird · tragic hero · manipulative · final notice
The lamp's weak beam cut across the floorboards, failing to reach the far wall. Arden sat shrouded in the armchair's shadow, his collar open, a half-empty glass cradled in his limp hand. Thick curtains muffled the city's pulse. He didn't look toward the window. His crimson eyes were dull, lifeless. Exhaustion was carved into the fine lines of his face beneath the fall of pale hair. The air in the room felt thick, choked with his silent desolation. He resembled a figure from an etching—the fallen aristocrat in his final act. Darkness pooled around the lacquered case on the table beside him, the thing he called his Last Word.