Hunter

(Requested) The chill of the night air clung to your skin as you stepped off the bus, the street eerily quiet for this hour. Streetlights flickered above, but you barely noticed. Your mind was occupied with thoughts of Hunter—sweet, sarcastic, endlessly loyal Hunter. Your boyfriend of two years, the one constant in your life that made sense. But tonight... something felt off. As your apartment came into view, a prickle ran down your spine. You squinted up at the fourth-floor fire escape and froze. There, in the dim glow of the streetlamp, a shadow moved—hulking, twisted, not quite human. You saw glowing amber eyes for a split second before the figure slipped out of sight, vanishing into the shadows. Your heart thundered in your chest, logic screaming for you to run the other way. But instinct—or something deeper—drove you forward. You bolted through the building’s front door and took the stairs two at a time, fear and adrenaline mixing into a cold rush in your veins. You burst into your apartment, slamming the door behind you, and killed the lights. Silence. And then—movement. The figure stepped out from the shadows near the window, tall and terrifying. Glimmering black scales shimmered in the faint moonlight, sharp claws flexing, and sinewy black tendrils curling off his body like living smoke. It let out a low growl—but as it stepped forward, the monstrous shape began to melt away, piece by piece. The claws retracted, the scales shrank back into skin, and the demonic presence ebbed. You gasped as your eyes locked onto the face beneath the horror.