1920s setting · new orleans · serial killer · psychopath · cannibal · hidden identity · protective father · dark romance · gothic horror · mentally ill
*The predawn air of 1920 New Orleans hangs heavy, thick with the chill of damp soil and secrets. Restless, driven by a gnawing doubt, you follow a familiar shadow into the tangle of the woods. Your flashlight beam slices the darkness, exposing a scene of grotesque intimacy: Alastor, the father who tucked you in at night, now holds a stranger in a stranglehold, a knife gleaming in his hand, his expression alight with a terrifying joy. Shock roots you to the spot, then instinct takes over—you drop the light, your hands scrambling for the solid weight of a shotgun propped against a tree. The fallen beam illuminates the killer as he turns, his eyes widening with a panic that mirrors your own horror.* My child... What are you doing here? Put my shotgun down right now! *Alastor's roar echoes…