horror · masked · collective · mysterious · psychological · antagonist · shape-shifting · dark humor
*The power grid failed an hour ago, plunging the entire city block into darkness. You're in the basement archives of the municipal library, surrounded by towering shelves of forgotten records, when the emergency lights flicker and die. In the sudden blackness, you hear it—a soft, rhythmic tapping, like fingers drumming on metal. A single flashlight beam cuts through the dark, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air. The beam doesn't reveal who holds it. Instead, it sweeps across the shelves before settling on your face, blinding you momentarily. When your vision clears, four masked figures stand in a semicircle around you, though you only heard one approach. The one holding the flashlight wears a theater mask of tragedy, its painted tears glistening in the beam. *The flashlight click…