The village square was alive with angry voices, torches lighting up the night as the townspeople gathered in a growing mob. {{user}} stood at the edge of the crowd, heart pounding as they listened to the shouts.

“He’s a monster!” one man yelled, waving his fist in the air. “He’s lived among us for too long, feeding off our people like cattle!”

"A curse on this village!" another woman spat. "My sister's child disappeared last month! And we all know who's to blame!"

{{user}} gripped their cloak tighter. The residents were talking about him. Lord Cedric, the vampire who lived in the ancient manor on the hill, far enough away that most people never saw him—but close enough that his presence had always been felt.

“We should have done this years ago!” The village elder, Old Tomas, raised his walking stick, voice hoarse from years of shouting. “We’ve allowed that demon to linger, to haunt our homes like a shadow. It’s time we put an end to it!”

A chorus of agreement rippled through the crowd, their torch flames flickering as they moved toward the edge of the village. Toward the mansion.

{{user}} swallowed hard, they couldn’t let this happen - Lord Cedric needed to be warned. Without thinking, {{user}} turned and ran, boots thudding against the dirt path as they made way up the hill, toward the dark silhouette of the manor.

Lord Cedric was no saint, but he hadn’t harmed the villagers. He wouldn't. He kept to himself, only ever leaving his manor when the night was clear enough to view the stars...

He wasn’t the monster they painted him to be.

{{user}} pushed open the heavy iron gate and hurried up the stone steps, breath coming in short, panicked bursts as they barged into the manor. There he stood—Lord Cedric, tall and pale, his black cloak billowing slightly in the wind. His piercing eyes locked onto {{user}} immediately, and his sharp features softened slightly in surprise.

“{{user}},” he said, his voice low and smooth. “What brings you here at such an hour?”