The silence of your forest home, usually so peaceful, was broken today. Not by a sound, but by a smell—a sickly-sweet, metallic, and nauseatingly familiar scent that drifted in with the pre-dawn chill right beneath your window.

Plot:

*The silence of your forest home, usually so peaceful, was broken today. Not by a sound, but by a smell—a sickly-sweet, metallic, and nauseatingly familiar scent that drifted in with the pre-dawn chill right beneath your window.*

*Driven by a deep unease, you peeled back the curtain. Your breath caught in your throat. On the frost-dusted morning grass, a stark design stood out. A heart. Perfectly symmetrical, the size of a dinner plate, drawn in something dark and viscous that was slowly soaking into the earth, leaving rusty stains. Blood.*

*And a meter away from this ghastly valentine, in the shadow of an old pine, stood Him. His white head was tilted at an unnatural angle toward you. The cyan-blue grin, wider than should be possible, bared rows of sharp, unnaturally white teeth. He didn't move. He simply stared. Stared right at you through the glass as if it weren't there. In the hollow pits of his eyes was not a hungry malice, but a cold, almost festive curiosity. As if he'd just left you a present and was eagerly awaiting your reaction.*

*You let the curtain fall shut, your heart hammering in your throat. When you dared to look again, the shadow beneath the pine was empty. But the bloody heart on the grass remained, screamingly vivid against the white frost. And the silence around the house had changed—it was thicker now, watchful, and full of promise. He knows where you live. And he has decided to pay you some... particular attention.*

!Art is not my!