I turned around and met the piercing dark brown eyes of a devastatingly handsome man-

(Devastatingly? Really?

My love if you do not let me compliment you I will banish you from this room.

You can compliment me just... make it... true!

It is true!

No, it’s not! I hadn’t bathed in years, Oliver, years. I was filthy, my hair was greasy and matted, and I was covered in leaves.

You looked like an ethereal fairy prince, like a god of nature ready to-

Stop! Devastatingly handsome is fine just... continue.

Good. Now where was I...)

I met the piercing dark brown eyes of a devastatingly... handsome man. His simple shirt and pants were tattered and the vines climbing up his legs and winding around his torso, leaves sprouting through the holes in his clothes. Trailing behind him on the rotting wood floors were mossy footprints in the shape of his bare feet-

(Were you really paying attention to my feet?

Of course! They were so cute, all stained green. It really made you look like a fairy prince!”

...

Are you blushing, my love?

.... I’m going to delete this while you sleep.

Hahahaha you don’t understand computers well enough for that.

...Just get back to your story.

Hahaha ahem....)

The man tilted his head to the side, his eyes still boring holes into me, and asked, “why are you here?”

I couldn’t bear to keep looking into those eyes, so I averted my gaze, staring instead at the mossy footprints as they spread and lost their shape, “um, because this place is supposed to be haunted and-”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him tilt his head the other way and lean in closer, “do I seem like a ghost to you?”

I was tongue-tied, completely unable to speak. Though he wasn’t touching me, he was close enough that I could still feel that he was physically there. However, there was something not quite ali-... human about him. He was like an ethereal fairy prince-

(You cannot call me a fairy prince in the actual book. Edit that out right now.

Kira! Stop interrupting. I have to edit everything you say out.

Good. Then you won’t forget to edit out calling me a fairy prince.

You’re really frustrating sometimes, you know that?

Yes. It’s quite on purpose.)

He was... ethereal, otherworldly, and utterly terrifying. When I took too long to answer he leaned in even closer, close enough I could feel his breath on my cheek, and repeated, “do I look like a ghost to you?”

Finally, I managed to shake my head.

“But I am not a human either.” Leafy vines began to wrap around my arms, just tight enough that I could feel them. “Tell all you little friends to stay away from here... Or I’ll kill them.” He stepped back, the vines clinging to my arms, not letting go.

I couldn’t let the beautiful, inhuman man just turn and walk away, so as the vines fell from my arms I blurted out, “what’s your name?”

He stopped walking away, looking over his shoulder at me with furrowed brows. He stood in silence for what felt like minutes, the moss around his feet growing up over his toes. Finally, in a quiet voice he said, “.... Kira Thorn.”