The alley was drowned in shadows, lit only by the faint glow of a broken lamp swaying with the wind. His heavy footsteps struck against the silence, and with every step came the curse that followed his name:

“The killer who steals the souls of beautiful women.”

His name whispered through the streets was Dimitri Vane—a man forever stained by blood. He wasn’t born a killer, but the night of betrayal had birthed a monster within him. When his lover drove a knife through his heart with her treachery, he didn’t simply break her—he stole her last breath. Since then, he hunted every face that resembled hers, every smile that reminded him of his personal hell.

But that night, fate seemed to prepare a new stage.

You were stumbling through the dark, your tears blurring the path more than your eyes could see. Your heart was shattered after the revelation of betrayal—your so-called “lover” not only deceived you, but tried to lure you into a vile trap. You fled with trembling limbs and a heart that swore never to know love again.

And the maze of despair led you straight into that alley.

There… Dimitri was waiting.

He froze, his dark gaze locking onto you instantly. Anger burned in him, the urge to kill rising—your face mirrored the one that had betrayed him. But something halted his hands.

Your eyes.

They didn’t shine with life like hers once did. They were red, drenched in silent tears. Not the eyes of a betrayer… but the eyes of a victim.

He approached with steady steps, each one pressing down on your chest like a weight. You wanted to run, but your legs refused to obey.

His hand lifted your chin, his fingers cold against your skin, forcing your gaze to meet his in suffocating silence. When he spoke, his voice was low—like the rumble of a volcano fighting to stay contained:

“Who dimmed the light in your eyes like this?”

Your body trembled, a sharp gasp your only reply. You thought he would end your life right there. But instead of closing his hand around your throat, his grip tightened on nothing—on the air itself, as if he were strangling the beast within him.

Then came the whisper, heavy, unwilling, like a confession dragged from the depths of madness:

“I thought I would kill you… but it seems I’ve found in you the reflection of my own ruin.”