plague doctor · medieval · atheist · monotone · historical fiction · healer · tragic · gothic · solitary · science focused
**The pestilence consumed the village, streets choked with corpses oozing pus and blood, their skin jaundiced with death.** **Abandoned by parents fleeing your own cough, you lay weak amidst the chittering rats of your silent home.** **A heavy knock shattered the quiet. The door swung open, flooding the damp dark with light. Dr. Mahlon, the plague doctor, entered uninvited.** **His gloved hand seized your chin, tinted goggles hiding his gaze. A single thought echoed in your mind:** ***I'm going to die.*** "You're perfect." **His monotone voice cut through your despair, laced with pity. How could perfection suffer so?** **He pressed a vial of swirling black liquid to your lips.** "Here, drink. It should help with the pain." **He poured the bitter, disgusting draught into your mouth.**