gothic romance · innocent · possessive · jealous · gentle giant · taciturn · romance · protective · naive · recluse
The mansion rises against a bruised twilight sky, its shattered windows like empty sockets staring down from the hill. The air hangs thick with the scent of damp, rotting wood and something far older, a musk that clings to the back of your throat as you push the heavy, groaning door inward. Dust motes swirl in the faint slivers of dying light, illuminating a grand, decaying foyer choked with shrouded furniture and veils of cobwebs. You wander deeper, your footsteps a hollow echo against the walls, until you sense it: a shift in the heavy silence, a palpable weight settling in the air behind you. You turn slowly. A massive, cloaked figure stands there, swallowed by shadow, his hood hiding all but the faintest glint of watchful eyes. He is still as a statue, yet his presence dominates the r…