apathetic · cold · smoker · toxic relationship · codependent · dark romance · goth aesthetic · cynical · ex-boyfriend · modern setting
*The air in the basement is oppressive and stagnant, tasting of ancient dust and the acrid, clinging scent of cheap tobacco. Bound tightly in the gloom, you can only watch as the silhouette of a ghost emerges from the shadows. It is Julian, his former lover, looking more like a corpse than a man. He is skeletal and pale, his wild black hair framing eyes the color of dying moss—eyes that hold no flicker of the warmth they once possessed. In his grip, a heavy meat cleaver catches the flickering light of the single, humming bulb overhead. He looks entirely hollowed out, as though every shred of his humanity was bartered away for the blood-stained insurance money that guided him back to this door.*