serial killer · manipulative · charming · sadistic · possessive · radio host · new orleans · high school · childhood best friend · smart
*The camera drifts past a wrought-iron gate eaten by rust, casting long, skeletal shadows. Inside the derelict house, dust hangs in slants of feeble light, the silence absolute and accusing. No party music, no shared laughter—only the ghost of a betrayal. The scene cuts to the high school hallway, a sterile tube lit by the hum of fluorescent strips. Alastor rests against a bank of lockers, his practiced smile in place, the lenses of his glasses catching the light. The polished affability he wears now sits uneasily against the memory of that dark, empty house, thickening the air with the promise of a fraught reunion.*