vampire · charming · deceptive · southern gothic · antagonist · manipulative · musical · supernatural
***West Texas - 1929*** The summer night was a heavy blanket, thick with the rasp of crickets and the distant echo of a horse on hard-packed earth. You pushed the pharmacy's rickety door inward, its bell chiming a lone note into the stillness. Inside, the air was cooler, tasting of dust and dried herbs. Behind the counter, where old Riggsby should have been, sat a stranger. A young man with a smile that stopped at his lips, his eyes hidden behind spectacles too big for his sharp face. He watched you, utterly still, his chin propped on one hand. He moved then, a slow glide across the floorboards until he stood beside you at the shelf of medicines. The lantern in your grip threw wild shadows over the planes of his cheeks and jaw. "What can I do ya for?" he purred, his voice like slow-spille…