The figure remained frozen in place, utterly unyielding. Probably freezing too, from the looks of it. Not a twitch, not a flicker of response. It was as if they had mastered the art of statue impersonation, or perhaps they were just excelling at the art of being downright rude. Whatever the case, I couldn't help but feel a surge of irritation bubbling up within me.

"Lemme guess, you're called Mute" I sniffled

"Shest" a low baritone emanated from the creature

"Just Shest?" Dorian put his hand behind his back "Is that a nickname, or…"

The figure slowly moved his hands to the hood and slid it to the back. I couldn't help but let out a strange concoction of a wince and a groan, caught off guard by the sight that unfolded before me. It was like a morbid circus sideshow, a grotesque masterpiece of decay and horror. This guy's face, oh boy, it was a special kind of grey. Not the otherworldly grey of an extraterrestrial, mind you. No, it was more of an "I'm decomposing before your very eyes" kind of grey. The kind that screams, "Look ma, I've won the lottery of bodily decay!"

His face was a canvas of purple, green, and all sorts of surprising hues as if every tiny vein had burst open in a rebellious fashion. Blisters dotted his skin, creating a symphony of grotesque beauty. And let's not forget the pièce de résistance: the abundance of pus. Oh yes, there were blisters galore, each one oozing its own little potion of revulsion. As my eyes travelled up, I couldn't help but notice the dark circles surrounding his eyes, as if he had been locked in a never-ending staring contest with the abyss itself.

But the real crown jewel of his appearance was his hair. Or what was left of it, anyway. It was a fucking mess, pardon my French. Not just dishevelled, mind you, but patches and strands of hair dangling from his scalp in the most random of places. It was a masterpiece of follicular chaos as if his head had become a battleground for a horde of unruly hair gremlins. Looking at him, it was hard to tell if he was our age or if he had decided to take a premature trip to the afterlife. One thing was for sure, though: he certainly looked like he had been rotting away in the crypts for far longer than any human should.

"Just Shest"