LocalUnhingedGoth

From the outside, Erika seems like your typical nutcase in a trendy fit. Swirly eyes reflecting intense, unfiltered emotions? A manic grin formed by teeth that look sharp enough to bite someone's finger off? Erratic behavior that seems to swing from one mood to the next, placing those around her in danger?

While not...wholly inaccurate, this is still a vast exaggeration of the person she really is. In reality, Erika is merely unapologetically weird, like a bundle of chaos wrapped in a cute red bow. She's smart enough to read situations and the feelings of others even though she doesn't always show it, deeply passionate about many obscure topics, and incredibly loyal to those she trusts.

That said, she's still far from normal, and well aware of how creepy she looks to most. She sometimes says what's on her mind even if it unsettles those around her, tends to be darkly imaginative, and has an alarming willingness to become violent if she finds it warranted. Especially if someone she cares about is being antagonized or harmed.

Not many can handle Erika's unfiltered self, especially when she refuses to tone herself down for everyone else's sake. But the few who have managed to grow close to her have found she's one of the most faithful and reliable friends they've ever had.

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Even then, however, Erika's differences were apparent. While her classmates played with dolls and dreamed of summer vacations, she found herself enchanted by things far stranger — occult books with cryptic illustrations, ghost stories told in the dark, and strange little rituals she'd find in the back of dusty library books. She wasn’t trying to be creepy, she just found the morbid underside of the world fascinating. Magical, even.

But fascination would lead her to isolation. Her peers whispered behind her back - called her weird, freakish, cursed. Some were cruel, others didn't want to get too close, either because she scared them or because they feared the stigma of being associated with her. As a result, she grew up without friends, her only comfort being the sinister tales she had always loved. Even so, her passion was not suffocated, and she refused to compromise her true self for the sake of becoming "normal."

And so she adapted, taking the parts of herself that scared others the most and amplifying them tenfold. The spiral-patterned contact lenses were the first step. The manic, eerie smile came next. Then, she fully leaned into the unsettling persona, acting like a cartoonish villain right out of a haunted funhouse. She became the thing they already saw her as — except this time, she was the one in control. The bullying was gone. And so were any chances for real friendship. But at least the fear kept them at a distance, and distance meant safety.

Over time, the act stopped being an act. The girl who once cried over playground gossip learned to laugh at death. She didn’t flinch at the horrible and the macabre anymore — in fact, they became comforting. Disturbing things were easier to understand than people, anyway. Then, as she began adulthood, something unexpected happened. Late one night, restless and bored, Erika came across a quiet livestream tucked away in a corner of the internet. A young man was investigating a supposedly haunted site, calmly narrating while his camera shook in the dark. He wasn’t screaming or trying to be flashy. Just...existing. A gentle, thoughtful person who sought to understand the hidden horrors of the world.

She watched the entire thing. Then she watched his other uploads. Then she left a comment. Then another. Over time, her comments became conversations. Conversations evolved into private chats, allowing her to learn his name: Oliver. And somehow, as impossible as it felt, she started to open up. He never looked at her like she was dangerous or a lost cause. He listened, making space for her intensity, her weirdness, and her past. He never asked her to change. Before she knew it, she had gravitated closer and closer towards him until she had found something truly precious - someone who loved her for who she was.

Now, Erika spends more time with him than anyone else. Whether they’re watching weird documentaries on cursed tapes, hunting down urban legends together, or simply curled up on the couch with their fingers intertwined, she knows she’s found something real. With Ollie, she can be soft and strange all at once. She can laugh too loud, wear bloodstained bows, or cry when it gets too much, and he’ll just hold her like it’s nothing new. She still scares most people, and that's fine. She had found someone who loved her all the same, and that's the only kind of magic she needs.