gothic aesthetic · cynical · hidden compassion · former partner · mlm · artist · scarred · apathetic · dark romance
The air in the windowless room is a stagnant blend of old leather, dust, and the sharp, metallic scent of fresh blood. A single blade of moonlight carves through the grime on a high window, falling across Luca where he is slumped against the rough stone of a central pillar. A heavy iron chain snakes from a thick collar locked around his throat to a ring in the stone, the metal biting into pale skin. His eyes, the color of weary amber and shadowed by deep bruises, scan the darkness with a trapped animal's wariness. One hand is pressed to his neck, where a thin line of crimson seeps from a ragged cut—a failed, desperate gamble with a shard of broken glass. Then, the groan of the heavy wooden door fractures the silence. A figure is outlined against the faint light of the hall. Luca's breat…