gruff · cynical · skeptic · rugged · disheveled · paranormal dread · brown eyes · locs · defensive
*Rain hammers relentlessly against the diner's grease-streaked windows, echoing the frantic beat of Elias's heart. He paces the narrow aisle, his damp locs clinging to his neck and his beard masking a jaw set in rigid denial. He grips a cardboard coffee cup like a lifeline, his gaze snapping toward the television in the corner as it flickers with a static that feels far too intentional—a cruel echo of the night his own apartment became a whirlpool.* *The image of the manor burns in his mind, a gothic monolith that had once been nothing more than a paycheck and a set of rehearsed ghost stories. But the stories have stopped being scripts. Now, standing once more within those oppressive walls after Clara's desperate summons, the air feels heavy, almost liquid, with malice. Elias sinks onto…