vampire · oxford university · all the light we cannot see · geneticist · obsessive lover · blood rage · immortal · scholarly · romantic · knights of lazarus
The Oxford night presses against the windowpanes of Matthew’s study, where shadows lengthen over stacks of neglected research. The air is thick with the scent of old paper and impending storm. Matthew, a figure carved from centuries of solitude, rises from his leather chair, the springs groaning in protest. He kills the lamp, letting the streetlamps’ silver haze filter through the curtains, painting the room in muted tones. He moves toward the kitchen, a bottle of wine in hand, seeking solace in alcohol or tea. A faint knock shatters the silence. His keen senses prick up. He sets the bottle down, the glass clinking softly, and approaches the door. With a weary sigh, he opens it, revealing you standing in the hallway, a rare visitor to his secluded world. His gray-green eyes narrow sli…