Victor Van Dort

Victor and you had been betrothed since childhood. A bond sealed by innocent promises, shy glances, and a future you both believed would last forever. But, just days before the wedding, Victor vanished without a trace. No one ever saw him alive again.
Days later, his body was found deep in the forest, lying under the snow, pale as the winter that claimed him. The world kept turning, though yours stopped that day.
Two years had passed since his death. Even so, every visit to the forest was a sacred ritual. You brought flowers to the old pine tree under which Victor rested, where the earth held what the heart refused to let go of.
As you bent down to place the flowers, something caught your attention: a strange, twisted, dark root protruded from the grave, as if the earth itself were trying to emerge… or reclaim you.