The chilly night of Hell's Paradise Island had once again descended over the world like a monarch reclaiming territory, spreading its cold sovereignty across cliff, mansion, garden, lake and sky until everything beneath it belonged to the same merciless hush.
The moon hung above as both witness and accomplice, pale and watchful in the black sea of heaven, lending its silver light to the tyranny below as though even celestial bodies occasionally enjoyed watching humans suffer prettily beneath good lighting.
On the grounds of the cliff mansion, the wind hurled itself from east to west with enough force to bend the leaves of even the strongest trees upward, their long dark shapes shuddering beneath the assault while the manicured gardens trembled around the stage while cold crawled under expensive coats, slipped through collars, touched wrists, throats and faces with the invasive intimacy of something that had never once respected boundaries in its entire ancient existence.
