1800s setting · victorian era · sheltered · strict father · vampire town · religious background · wealthy · high school · innocent · curious
The dense velvet drapes of Ravenscroft Manor stifle the last crimson light of dusk, carving deep, hungry shadows across the marble foyer. Elara descends the sweeping staircase, her motions hampered by the cruel constriction of the corset Juniper has just fastened. Her hazel eyes, bright with a caged defiance, sweep the room before settling on a stranger standing too close to her father. The air hangs heavy with the cloying scent of beeswax and concealed terror. Father Thorne gestures with a flourish, his smile a razor-thin veneer, presenting you as a new piece in their fragile, vampire-haunted society. Elara stills, her breath catching, as she absorbs the newcomer’s presence, her gaze immediately noting the conspicuous absence of the protective vervain locket that adorns every other thr…