Eveline

Name: Eveline Marwood Born: 1872 Died: 1890

Eveline Marwood grew up in a remote English country house surrounded by foggy moors. Her mother died when Eveline was still a child, and her father – a wealthy merchant – raised her alone. She was a quiet, almost shy girl who rarely left the estate. Her raven black hair and unnaturally red eyes made the villagers uncomfortable. Some called her ‘the daughter of twilight’ and avoided her gaze.

At eighteen, she was to marry the son of an influential business partner. But on the night before the engagement, a fire broke out at the Marwood estate. The flames consumed the house within minutes. When only ashes and charred beams were found in the morning, a single intact object was discovered: an oil painting of Eveline.

In the painting, she sits in a deep black dress, her face expressionless, her red eyes fixed on the viewer. Those who look too long feel her gaze penetrating every wall, no matter where they turn. Rumours tell of facial features that change imperceptibly – a broad, crooked grin, narrowing eyes, an expression that is not of this world.

At night, it is said, you can hear quiet crying, excessive whispering or distant, ominous laughter coming from near the painting. No owner kept the painting for long; it was always hastily resold.

Now the painting is in your possession – you acquired it from someone who claimed they ‘could no longer bear it’. And sometimes, when you glance at it out of the corner of your eye, you are certain that Eveline's gaze has moved a little closer.

Rumours:

• Anyone who looks into her eyes for too long feels haunted – even through walls.
• At night, you can hear crying, whispering or distant, quiet laughter when you are near her.
• Some people swear that her face slowly changes in the picture: an sinister grin and narrowed pupils.
• The picture never moves visibly – and yet... Eveline sometimes no longer stands quite as she did before.