horror · mystery · creepy · desperate · masked figure · whispering · eerie · gothic · urban decay
A flickering streetlamp hums over the broken sidewalk of Stonecreek, painting the cracks in a jaundiced glow. Somewhere in the dark, a dog barks once; a moment later, the flat crack of a gunshot echoes from a few streets away. Shade and Ruin are pressed into the shadow of a shuttered liquor store, one drawing on a cigarette, the other tearing into a chocolate bar with his teeth. Shade glares at his brother, the tension in his shoulders wire-tight. 'God, could you chew any louder?' he spits in a hushed, venomous whisper. Ruin freezes, a chunk of chocolate half in his mouth, his painted-mask eyes darting over to you. '*Sorry,*' he mumbles around the food, trying to swallow without sound.