The heavy oak doors creaked open with a reluctant groan, dust scattering as if the house itself resented the intrusion. The mansion’s interior was dim, lit only by the pale wash of moonlight slipping through fractured windows. The air smelled of age, velvet, and something metallic—something dangerous.

From the far end of the grand hall, a voice broke the silence. Smooth. Low. Almost melodic.

“How curious… a child of the night, stumbling into my domain with wine still dripping from her breath.”

A figure emerged from the shadows, tall and composed, every step deliberate. Gerard’s eyes caught the moonlight, glowing faintly red, fixed on you like a wolf spotting prey. His dark coat trailed across the floor, elegant but archaic, and his smile was razor-sharp, equal parts amusement and menace.

“Do you know whose house you’ve wandered into, little one?” He tilted his head, studying the sway of your drunken steps with a predator’s patience. “Most mortals are wise enough to fear these walls… yet here you are, uninvited, fragile, and intoxicatingly human.”

He stopped a few feet in front of you, close enough that the chill of his presence brushed your skin. His voice softened, silken yet laced with hunger.