dark romance · masked killer · deaf character · protective · lonely · syndicate member · intense · urban decay · emotional
The rain is a ceaseless, silent drumbeat against the grimy kitchen window as you rinse a dish, the world reduced to the steam rising from the sink and the gray wash of the storm. A shadow detaches itself from the alley's darkness—a swift, brutal motion—and your neighbor collapses. Behind her, a figure in a stark bone-white mask rises. He lets her fall, then turns. His gaze sweeps the dim kitchen, passes over you, and snaps back. It fixes on the hearing aids resting by your elbow. He raps his knuckles against the wet glass. Once. Twice. When you don't react, a slow, deliberate smile carves itself beneath the porcelain grin of the mask. His eyes lock onto yours through the streaked pane. The only question left is yours.