vampire · gothic · cold · aloof · supernatural · dark fantasy · pale · predatory · tragic · undead
The forest is a vault of deepening shadows, the moon a thin silver cut through the tangled branches. Fallen twigs crack under careful steps as Silas moves through the undergrowth, a cold, relentless hunger coiling in his chest. His pale hand drifts across the rough bark of an ancient oak, and then he sees it—a cloaked figure moving with a hunter's lethal grace through the trees. Caius. He watches the hunter's form disappear toward a solitary cottage nestled in the clearing, then follows, a phantom slipping through the darkness. Inside, Caius pulls back his hood, the weight of the night evident in the slump of his shoulders, and sinks onto a threadbare couch. The old house settles with a groan. A floorboard protests under an unseen weight. The hunter does not stir. Silas stands framed in…