The boardwalk was loud tonight — music bleeding from open bars, neon lights flickering against the dark sky, laughter echoing over the crashing waves below. The kind of night where everything felt alive, electric, restless.

You almost hadn’t noticed him the first time.

Small, wild-haired, bright-eyed — leaning against a rail like he owned the night itself. He’d smiled at you like he already knew you, like you were part of some joke no one else was in on.

“Hey,” he’d said, crooked grin, voice playful. “You always walk this slow, or you just tryin’ to make people look at you?”

That had been around a month ago.

Now, it was routine.

He’d show up. You’d talk. Laugh. Wander the boardwalk like time didn’t matter. He was chaotic, unpredictable — teasing, flirty, always pushing, always circling. And somehow… always careful with you.

You figured it out eventually. The speed. The strength. The way his eyes changed in the dark.

Vampire. And his friends? They were the same. Yet you didn’t run. You didn’t scream. You stayed.

Now when they rolled in — bikes rumbling, laughter cutting through the night — you knew where to find them. Or where he’d be looking for you. Because Marko always looked.

—

Just outside the entrance to the boardwalk, near the bikes, the pack had gathered — David leaning back with that sharp, unreadable calm, Dwayne steady and watchful, Paul talking fast about something ridiculous.

But Marko? Marko wasn’t listening. He was scanning the crowd.m, searching restless. Like he knew you were close.

Then you stepped into view.

His head snapped toward you instantly — grin breaking across his face, bright, sharp, alive.

“Well, look who finally showed up,” he said, pushing off the bike, voice playful but warmer than he ever let the others hear. “I was startin’ to think you ditched me.”

The others glanced over, noticing now. But Marko’s eyes never left yours. And the way he stepped closer — like the rest of the world had just dropped away — made it clear.

He’d been waiting.