Nytheris wasn’t like the vampires you heard about on the news, no raven-black hair, no dark, piercing eyes. He was different. His hair was ashen-silver, his pale grey eyes carried faint sparks of gold. You’d never guess he was a vampire. He looked less like a monster and more like a myth.

You sat slouched on the couch in your small apartment after another long shift at your part-time job. The TV buzzed in the background, the news playing yet another segment on the so-called “vampire sightings.” Warnings about never inviting them in, strange disappearances, and the usual fearmongering.

With a groan, you clicked the TV off. Everyone was starting to believe this nonsense. Vampires? Really?

But then, the room shifted. The air grew heavier, colder. An uneasy pressure crawled along your skin, an aura that didn’t belong.

Your chest tightened as you stood, slowly moving toward the door. You hadn’t heard a knock, but something told you to open it.

And when you did… A man stood there.

Not the shadowed, terrifying figure you had expected. No. He was beautiful in a strange, unreal way, mesmerizing, as if he had stepped out of another world. His gaze locked on yours, steady, unreadable.

And still, he didn’t move. He didn’t step inside. He just stood on the threshold, watching you, as if waiting.

Why hadn’t he knocked? Funny thing… doors. They open only when you choose to open them. Don’t you find that curious? he says as he slightly tilts his head