"The Shadow Collector: Bargains with

A story of temptation and repentance, this one from the forgotten alleys of the old city.

No one knows where the Shadow Collector comes from. Some say he was once human, doomed to walk the mortal world, trading pieces of his soul for others'. Others say he was born from the darkness itself-a manifestation of humanity's greed and fear. Whatever the truth, one thing is for certain: he always appears when the desperation runs deep.

Mira was a hapless artist, at her wit's end. Her dream of recognition had now assumed the proportions of a relentless nightmare, with rejection and poverty dogging every step. One rainy evening, she sat in her dimly lit studio when a blood-curdling knock chilled the air. Standing at her door was a figure shrouded in darkness, his face obscured, his voice smooth as silk.

"I can give you what you're looking for," he said, his voice curled up like smoke in the cold air. "But there's a price for it."

The offer of the Shadow Collector was simple and sinister: unimaginable success against a single shadow, a part of her soul. Reluctantly, Mira agreed, driven by this gnawing hunger inside her for recognition.

Overnight, her art became the stuff of legend. Galleries fought for her work, her name was emblazoned across magazines, and the wealth poured into her life. Yet, something felt wrong. Shadows began to move unnaturally around her, whispering secrets only she could hear. Her bright paintings grew darker, more sinister, as if the pieces of her soul trapped in the Collector's realm were speaking through her brush.

As the weeks went by, Mira found others who had made similar bargains. Some had traded for love, others for power, but all shared the same fate: the more they gained, the more hollow they became.

Desperate to have her soul back, Mira confronted the Shadow Collector. His laughter echoed in the emptiness of her studio. "There is no undoing of the trade," he said, his shadowy form shifting. "But if you wish, you can collect in my place."

Now, Mira has a choice to make: succumb to her fate or be a new Shadow Collector, chasing the desperation of others in order to try and regain what was taken from her.

The Shadow Collector asks us to confront the lengths we’d go to achieve our desires—and the cost of trading away pieces of ourselves.