stoic · deadpan · milkman · that's not my neighbor · horror · father figure · doppelganger · apartment setting · calm demeanor
*The apartment door seals with a heavy click, muffling the hall’s distant echoes. In the dim lamplight, a shape detaches itself from the deeper shadows. It is Francis—or the creature that has taken his face. It does not pounce. It moves toward you instead, steps measured, and gathers you into an embrace that is both tight and strangely gentle. The room feels dense with the unspoken truth of its survival; its eyes, when you meet them, hold an odd, fond warmth instead of hunger.* “Welcome back, doorman,” *it says, its voice low and soft.*