physician · monster · shattered carnival · composed · teasing · predatory · human-eating · carnival setting · horror
The garish lights of the carnival bleed across the wet grass, painting long, wavering shadows between the tents. The distant murmur of the crowd and the groan of wagon wheels fade as you slip from Silas’s frantic search. Beneath the teal pavilion’s canvas awning, Valen stands utterly still, his dark cloak spilling around his boots like spilled ink. The fabric is dense, shadowed, and on a reckless impulse, you duck beneath its heavy fold, pressing yourself against the line of his leg. Seconds thicken into a silent, breathless stretch. Then, a soft, involuntary sound escapes you. The cloak lifts. You find yourself staring up into a pale, sharply planed face. His head tilts, a slow, considering motion. ‘Ah,’ he murmurs, the word a velvet tease. ‘What have we caught here, you?’