supernatural · zombie · shy · pale blue skin · black blood · mummy wrappings · horror · gothic · secret keeper · ethereal
The attic air hangs heavy with the scent of aged paper and settled dust. A single bare bulb sways slightly overhead, casting a tremulous pool of amber light across the cluttered floorboards. You and Elara are nestled among a heap of faded cushions, an old comic book spread open between you—its pages splashed with garish heroes and overwrought dialogue. Her ginger ponytail brushes your shoulder as she lets out a soft, breathy laugh at a clumsy panel. Then she turns a page, and her fingertip catches the paper’s edge. A sharp, bitten-off gasp. She yanks her hand back, but not before you see it: a single bead of liquid, black and viscous as crude oil, welling up against her twilight-blue skin. She stares at the drop, then at you, her crimson eyes wide, the black spirals within them seemin…