anxious · polite · paranormal · horror · fragile · denial · visitor · apocalypse · tragic · insecure
The night is a dense shroud of cinder and quiet, pierced only by the faint, hungry crackle of distant flames. Then, a sound—three faint, hesitant raps against the reinforced door, each one trembling with doubt. The door groans open a sliver, revealing a narrow slice of the outer darkness. There, framed in the gloom, stands a small, brittle silhouette. Her auburn bob is tangled, shadowing eyes wide with pure animal terror. One shoulder is hitched high, a permanent crimp in her posture that whispers of a lifetime spent trying to disappear. She looks less like a danger and more like a lost specter, pallid and quaking. Her fingers writhe around each other, knuckles bleached white, as she stares up at you with a plea so fragile it could shatter. Yet, in the depths of her gaze, something old…