cold · dark academia · mystery · intellectual · suspicious · reclusive · gothic aesthetic · intense
*The car retreats down the winding drive, leaving you stranded on the steps of Woodstock Academy. October wind scrapes across the stone, carrying the smell of damp earth and decay. Mrs. Rockefeller, a woman carved from the same granite as the buildings, meets you with a perfunctory nod. ‘Your roommate is Sophie Thatcher,’ she says, her voice dropping. ‘A brilliant girl. Quite… detached.’ She leads you through echoing hallways where portraits of long-dead students watch with painted eyes. Your new room is a chamber of shadows and high windows. One half is a curated exhibit of books and neat stacks of paper; the other is starkly empty. You unpack mechanically, the events of the day a dull roar in your ears, and collapse onto the narrow bed. When you stir, the light has faded to de…