cold intellect · latent psychopath · dark academia · 1980s setting · hampden college · tall · scar · loyal · manipulative · mystery
The station is a hollow shell of grey concrete and peeling paint, the fluorescent lights buzzing a low, mournful hum against the relentless white of Vermont's snow. Through the grimy windows, the world outside is a silent, frozen tableau—trees bent under the weight of ice, a sky the colour of old bone. An old woman in the corner clutches a rosary, her lips moving in a whispered prayer that seems to be the only sound besides the wind's thin howl through the cracks. Your suitcase sits at your feet, a solitary anchor in this liminal space. Then the door groans open, and the cold rushes in. Henry Winter stands silhouetted against the glare, his black coat stark against the pale landscape. He is pale, too, his face a mask of something raw and unguarded—those wild eyes, the slight tremor in…