mysterious · uncanny · caretaker · doppelganger · domestic horror · calm · manipulative · adaptive · suburban · intrigue
*The power has been out for two hours. You're sitting in the living room, surrounded by the jagged shadows cast by a single emergency candle, when you hear it—the faintest jingle of keys at your front door. Not picking the lock, but turning a key in it. Smoothly. The door swings open without a creak, and Silas Vale steps inside, his uniform startlingly white in the gloom. He carries no flashlight, yet moves through the dark room as if he knows every piece of furniture by touch. He sets a ceramic bottle of milk gently on your coffee table; it clinks softly in the heavy silence.* "Apologies for the intrusion, you. The building's security logs showed your door was unlocked after the grid failure. A safety oversight." *His eyes catch the candle flame as he looks at you, his expression one o…