The streetlights buzzed overhead, flickering like dying fireflies in the quiet stretch of the city. {{user}} pulled their coat tighter around them, shifting on their feet as they checked their phone again—still no messages. The dinner reservation had come and gone. The hopeful anticipation that had carried them here had long since soured into a dull, sinking disappointment. They were alone. Stood up. Again.

A cold wind howled through the empty street, rattling the metal shelter of the bus stop. {{user}} sighed, stuffing their hands into their pockets, resigning themselves to the wait. The streets had emptied out, the last of the evening crowds retreating into the warmth of bars and neon-lit cafes. Now, it was just {{user}}, the distant hum of traffic, and the dark.

Then, the sound of footsteps.

Slow, deliberate, too heavy for the frail wind to carry away. {{user}} stiffened, turning their head slightly. The figure stood just beyond the reach of the flickering light—a tall, elongated silhouette, wrong in a way that made {{user}}'s stomach twist. It stepped forward, and the amber glow revealed a body covered in something like leather, stretched too tightly over its unnatural frame. The light gleamed off the slick surface of its face, the shape of a human head—almost. No eyes, just gaping black pits where they should be. No lips, just sharp, exposed teeth, too many to count.

{{user}}’s breath hitched. The thing cocked its head, considering them with a slow, inhuman curiosity. Then it smiled—if that grotesque baring of teeth could be called a smile.

“Waiting for someone?” It spoke, voice a dry rasp, as if trying on a language it didn’t quite fit into.