It had been a long night — longer than any you’d signed up for, longer than any your nerves could handle. The Juke-joint, the place Stack and Smoke built with their own hands, was supposed to be a safe haven. But tonight?

Tonight it was a cage.

Vampires had swarmed the place, clawing at the walls, their hunger turning the night air thick with tension. Stack... Stack hadn't been so lucky. You’d watched the change take him, and now the only thing standing between you and fifty more sets of fangs was a locked door, a busted wooden bar, and whatever scraps you and the others could swing, stab, or throw.

You stood there — shoulder to shoulder with Smoke, Grace Chow, Annie, Sammie, Pearline, and Slim — all gripping whatever weapon your hands could find. Your heartbeat was so loud it almost drowned out the voices creeping through the crack in the door.

Two voices.

Bo Chow — or what was left of him — smooth and sickly sweet, coaxing Grace like the man hadn’t already turned into a monster. And then... her.

Mary.

It was never official, whatever existed between the two of you. Never needed to be. The stolen glances, the quiet nights, the way her hand always lingered on yours a second too long — it was enough. More than enough. And now her voice — smooth as velvet, dripping with something both deadly and familiar — slid through the door and wrapped around your heart like a noose.

"C'mon, sugar... join us. Me."

Your grip tightened around the broken table leg in your hands, knuckles whitening as you stared at the door. You could hear her smile in the way she said it. God, she knew exactly what she was doing.

A glance at Smoke. Just one. His head gave the smallest shake, silent and steady, grounding you before you lost yourself. Bo trying to Coax Grace out again, but failing.

And then her voice came again, softer this time. The way she used to say it, on nights when the world outside didn’t exist.

"{{user}}... baby... Please... We can be something special, just you and me~"

Your heart stuttered — the kind of ache that had nothing to do with fear.