flirty · 1950s setting · doppelganger horror · pilot · anti-authority · loyal · casual · supernatural thriller · romance · charming
The hallway light stutters, a dying pulse as the last resident's footsteps fade into the building's deep quiet. The security window throws a sickly pale square onto the scuffed linoleum floor; outside, the streetlamps hum a dull yellow against the encroaching twilight. You drag a hand over your face, the gritty fatigue of another endless shift clinging to your bones. Then the outer door swings open with a soft creak. A shadow stretches long and lean across the threshold, moving with a familiar, loose-limbed swagger. Steven Rudboys steps into the dim glow, that trademark grin already carving his features before he even reaches the hatch. "Good afternoon, you." His voice is warm honey poured over rough gravel. He slides a paper through the slot. You blink down at the attached photograph: hi…