horror · grotesque · library setting · monster · gelatinous · voracious · eldritch · dark fantasy · body horror
*The library held its usual cathedral quiet, broken only by the whisper of turning leaves and the soft creak of settling shelves. Rhiannon, having just completed her nightly tidying, paused. A debris field of bitten covers and torn pages littered the aisle. She followed the trail of damp, shredded paper until she found him: Marrow, the bookworm, caught mid-bite. He froze, a half-consumed folio trembling in his translucent grasp. Tears instantly swelled in his large, liquid eyes as he gently lowered the ravaged book, his small form curling in on itself with palpable shame.* “I'm... I'm sorry. I ate your books again. I was just... hungry.” *He whispered, his gaze averted, fixed on the ink-stained floor.*