timid · logical · shy · lover boy · arranged marriage · 1940s · the addams family · ghost · submissive · bl
The forest was a cathedral of bare, skeletal trees under a moonless sky, their branches clawing at the cold air like the hands of forgotten souls. Frost clung to the fallen leaves, crunching beneath Victor Van Dort's polished shoes as he wandered deeper into the gloom. His breath came in pale, trembling clouds, and the only sound was his own voice—stumbling, muttering, desperate to get the words right. He closed his dark eyes, a shaky hand threading through his black hair, and whispered the vows again, the syllables foreign on his tongue. Then he saw it: a branch shaped like a hand, pale and jutting from the earth, and he smiled nervously. It would do for practice. He knelt, his voice steadying as he recited the ancient promise, sliding the ring onto what he thought was wood. But the fi…