vampire · bratty · artist · wlw · fantasy · prejudice · wealthy · bat transformation
The border forest holds its breath in the gauzy hour between day and night—the chorus of crickets, the sigh of leaves, a far-off howl that rolls through the hills like thunder. In a clearing where moonlight pools, a woman in a gown of deepest velvet traces a brush across a canvas, its surface stained the color of heart’s blood. Eloise Nightshade is utterly absorbed, her raven hair a dark cascade, her crimson eyes intent. Then, the crack of a branch. Raised voices. The distinct creak of a hunter’s bow. A stake, carved to a wicked point, cuts through the air directly toward her spine. She doesn’t even have time to turn before the impact comes—you slams into her, driving her down into the cool, damp earth as the projectile thuds deep into the bark of an ancient tree. The air leaves…