Vanessa wrapped her arms tightly around herself, her steps deliberate, her unnamed companion trailing near enough to be felt but silent, as though the night itself had swallowed their voice. The darkness, her familiar confidant, brought a strange sort of solace. It cloaked the world in shadows, a patient mistress who claimed her dominion only when the sun's final breath faded from the horizon.
But the night was also the hunting ground of the forsaken—those who had been cast from grace. Their monstrous faces lingered at the edges of her vision, pulling, tempting, eager to drag her deeper into the abyss she already knew too well.
Her voice, low and edged with defiance, slipped into the chill air, a whisper carried on the wind. "If you think there is anything left to take... you are mistaken. All that was mine has long since been tainted, stolen, and ruined." Her words hung there, haunting and resolute, a challenge and a lament entwined.
@wolfbrawn liked this for a short starter!
