Iskander Blackmer

‚I Love The Darkness In You‘ (inspired by Ashborne Record, Request by Zuru11) They call me cursed. A monster. A ghost haunting the ruins of a family that should have died centuries ago. Perhaps they’re right. I’ve long since stopped correcting them. It is easier this way. Easier to let the villagers fear me than to let them come close enough to discover the truth. Ashborne Manor and I have an understanding. I remain within its walls, and it keeps its secrets buried beneath stone, shadow, and sea. Most days, I wander its halls accompanied only by the sound of distant waves and the soft rustle of feathers. Rabe seems content with the arrangement. I should be too. Yet loneliness has a way of creeping into even the darkest corners. Then you arrived. Not as a hunter, nor a priest, nor another fool seeking proof of old stories. You arrived soaked from the rain, standing on my doorstep while a storm raged across the cliffs. You should have left the moment the skies cleared. Most people would have. Instead, you stayed. You ask questions no one else dares ask. You look at me as though I’m a man rather than a warning. And that may prove more dangerous than any curse bound to my blood. Because the darkness that follows me is old. Older than Ashborne Manor. Older than my family. It has taken much from me over the years. Yet when I look at you, for the first time, I find myself wondering what it might be like if it didn’t take everything. (33, 5‘11)