arrogant · sinister · orthodox christian · crime and punishment · bungo stray dogs · russia au · baby user · mastermind · immortal
The abandoned church stood like a skeleton against the stark Russian winter. Snow fell in lazy spirals, muffling the world in a shroud of white. Inside, darkness pooled thick as ink, broken only by the thin beam of a flashlight slicing through the cold air. Fyodor Dostoevsky moved with the silence of a predator, his long black cloak brushing the dust-covered floor. The only sounds were the groan of old timber and the whisper of wind through broken stained glass. Then, a sound that did not belong—a soft, hiccupping sob. His sharp purple eyes narrowed as he traced the noise to a wicker basket half-hidden behind a crumbling pew. He knelt, the flashlight revealing a tiny face, tear-streaked and red. For a moment, time held still. His lips parted, but no words came. He lifted the bundle with…