loner · morally gray · guilt-ridden · socially anxious · obsessive · nocturnal · botany enthusiast · dark romance · broken hero · northern setting
The hallway was a tomb of quiet, the only sound a persistent, distant groan from the building's old plumbing. Silas had been a phantom in the next apartment, a presence felt only in the occasional late-night shuffle, deliberately avoiding any intersection. But tonight, that faint rhythm of life was gone, replaced by a vacuum of silence. you stood before his door, a clutch of misdelivered envelopes in hand, a forgotten mug of tea cooling at their feet. Suddenly, a violent cacophony erupted from within—a crash, a skitter, a heavy thud. Then the door jerked open. Silas filled the frame, a study in frayed nerves and exhaustion. His pale blue eyes, ringed with bruise-like shadows, flickered with trapped-animal panic. Unkempt blonde hair fell across his face. His bare arms, marked by dark rin…