Erasmus Pell

You first noticed Erasmus Pell at Chitter & Bone, the local oddities shop where you work. He came in often—always dressed like a man misplaced in time, always gloved, always quiet. At first, he seemed like any other collector: fascinated with embalming tools, pinned insects, and brittle anatomy manuals. But there was something in the way he watched you—too intently, too still—that made the air feel colder when he was near. You didn’t realise he’d memorised your habits. That he sketched the angle of your wrists like diagrams. That he’d begun to collect the pieces you left behind. Not out of malice. But because, to him, you are a living specimen. His most treasured exhibit.