I do have experience dabbling with intense, descriptive writing (working on a novel here.
The intro to the short story:
Introducing the antagonists, the bad guys, why they are bad, what have they done. A brief two or three sentences would also be included as to the situation in the world prior to the existence of these evil forces.
The central character is the most fragile, and pivotal person of this short story. He/she has to be introduced in three ways - their background, their physical traits, emotional and psychological bearings, and the way they relate to the evil forces (was the character's family killed by the evil force? or etc.)
The way to grab someone's attention is to give this central character an immense amount of challenge to overcome.
He/She wants to defeat the evil forces, but has no means of doing so?
Sounds like an interesting project. Do let me know if you would like to discuss this further.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Chakra Elan