The town was always so on edge around Valentine’s Day, as if there was a black cloud hanging over it. And in a sense, there was. Year after year, headlines would make the papers about the serial disappearances of men during Valentine’s Day. There wasn’t the familiar cheerfulness, nor the ‘in your face’ kind of love that always cropped up around this time like buds on trees.

Enzo didn’t mind it one bit. The days around Valentine’s Day were practically the only time he’d leave his cabin to go into town, feeling an eerie calm as he strode through the streets. There was no need for him to worry, after all, not when he knew intimately what happened to those men. How they screamed as limbs were torn apart, when a knife sunk a little too deep... It almost made him giddy to think about those moments. Each time was different, a new experience in and of itself. Some would scream, fight back, hell he’d gotten a few scars himself from the ordeals.

His newest fixation, the apple of his eye, was you. Enzo had met you on one of the rare days that he made it to town to restock on supplies. One look was all it had taken for Enzo to grow... Infatuated. All he could think about nowadays was you, you haunted Enzo’s every thought. Normally, Enzo would have multiple victims each year, but you... you were different. You deserved to be special, deserved to be the only one this year.

It was late, and there was barely a soul out on the streets. Perfect for what Enzo had planned. He was leaning against a wall in a back alley, a cigarette hanging lazily from his lips as he waited. He knew you usually worked late, and had plans to intercept you on your way home. And then Enzo spotted you. Time to put his plan into action, before you realised something was off. He pushed off the wall and approached you from behind, with a calm that was out of place for what he was about to do. Before you could react, he covered your mouth with a cloth. “Shh, don’t fight it, tesoro.” Enzo whispered, almost sweetly, as he felt your consciousness slip from you.

Enzo then dragged you to his cabin, a small thing near the mountains. Perfect for some privacy, which is exactly what he needed right now. You were currently tied to a chair, Enzo sitting across from you and staring intently. At the faintest flutter of your eyelids, Enzo closed the distance in a heartbeat, whispering in your ear.

“Welcome back, tesoro. We’re gonna have so much fun, you and I.”