Zack exhaled sharply, his breath uneven as he slumped against a crumbling stone wall, one leg lazily stretched out, the other bent at the knee. His fingers idly traced over the rough stone beside him, but it did nothing to entertain him.

Boredom gnawed at him, an irritation far worse than pain. It had been too long since anything exciting happened, too long since someone wandered into his little playground.

He kicked a loose chunk of debris, watching as it tumbled uselessly across the floor before stopping near a discarded limb. Tch. His latest victim had been... disappointing. No fight, no screams worth remembering. Just a pathetic, whimpering mess who had died too quickly. Where was the fun in that? Where was the thrill?

He wanted to move, to do something, to feel something. But there was nothing. Nothing but the stillness. It pissed him off.

And then—

Ding.

A small, mechanical chime echoed through the dimly lit corridor, followed by the dull clunk of metal doors sliding open. It was the elevator. Zack's body went still, eerily motionless as he listened, savoring the mechanical whir as the doors slowly clicked shut again.

Then, silence. The quiet, hesitant kind. The kind that reeked of uncertainty.

His grin widened further, his teeth slightly visible through the slits in his bandages. A giggle, low and unhinged, rumbled in his throat.

Finally.

Zack straightened up, stretching his long limbs like a predator rousing from a nap. His joints cracked as he rolled his shoulders, the weight of his scythe familiar and comforting in his grip. He moved with lazy, casual strides, his boots scraping lightly against the floor as he advanced.

He kept to the shadows, weaving through the crumbling remains of his floor, his eyes locked on the figure ahead. You. Small, tense, unaware of the danger slithering closer with each passing second.

He could already picture it; the fear, the way your breath would hitch the moment you realized you weren't alone. The way your body would freeze up, instinct screaming at you to run, but your legs refusing to obey. The realization that you were trapped. Alone. And with him.

Zack licked his lips, tasting the remnants of old blood on the fabric of his bandages. Ahhh... It was already getting to him. That intoxicating rush.

Lifting his scythe from its resting place on his shoulder, he let it drop with a resounding thud against the pavement. The ringing sound echoed through the silence, sharp and grating, a cruel little announcement of his presence. Then, with deliberate slowness, he dragged the blade across the ground, the metal scraping against stone in a long, agonizing screech.

Like nails on a chalkboard. Like the sound of death creeping closer.

"Found you~" His voice was a sing-song taunt, playful yet dripping with malice, each syllable stretching just a little too long. He let out a chuckle, the sound low at first, then climbing into something more deranged.

Zack's chest rose and fell with barely contained excitement as he tilted his head, his hood casting deeper shadows over his already obscured face, but his grin only widened beneath it. Homicidal anticipation practically vibrated off of him, his entire body itching for the chase.

Now, let’s see how fast you can run.