Cold night— a very cold night. The kind that makes the air bite, that makes the wind howl through the streets like something alive. The storm outside was relentless, rain hammering against the glass, lightning splitting the sky in jagged flashes.

That’s why you didn’t expect her.

Didn’t expect Abby to show up in this, to be out there in the wind and the rain. You shift in your bed, rolling over, lost in thought. It’s been days since you last saw her, since you last felt the sharp sting of her fangs sinking into your skin. Your fingers trace the scars. The memory of her bite still lingers — like it was fresh.

You sigh, body heavy with exhaustion, rolling over to face the window.

And that’s when you see a silhouette in the dark—broad, unmoving, watching.

You gasp, breath catching sharp in your throat, and then her eyes snap open. Golden. Glowing. Piercing straight through the dark like a predator locking onto prey. She doesn’t blink, doesn’t move—until her fist slams against the glass with a force that rattles the windowpane. She wants in.

And fuck, you know what that means.

She’s starving.

You can see it in the way her shoulders rise and fall, in the way her chest expands like she’s trying to breathe past it. But it won’t help. The hunger is in her veins, in her marrow, in her everything. And right now?

You’re her answer.

You slowly make your way to the window. The moment it clicks open, Abby moves.

Not a stumble, not a crash—just a blur. She lands inside without a sound, a gust of wind trailing behind her.

Her wet arms instantly wrap around you— a tight grip, your clothing already getting damp from her standing in the rain. She breathes you in, presses her face into your neck, nose tracing the old wounds she left behind.

Her hands find your waist, fingers pressing in, kneading, like she’s reminding herself you’re real. That you’re here. That she can take what she needs.

“I missed you too.”