The fog curled around Marin Vale's ankles like a living thing, whispering secrets she didn't want to hear. She tugged her hoodie tighter, ignoring the chill that nipped at her skin. The streets of Eldridge Hollow were empty at this hour, except for the hum of distant streetlamps and the occasional rustle of unseen creatures in the alleyways. Most of the town slept, oblivious to the darkness hiding just beyond their doorsteps—but Marin had never been like most people. She had always felt it. The pull of something ancient, something dangerous, lingering just out of reach.
Her boots echoed on the cobblestones as she made her way home from the late shift at the café. She tried not to think about the old tales of vampires haunting Eldridge Hollow, tales her mother used to whisper when she was little. Ghost stories, they called them. Lies. But tonight, a strange heaviness pressed against her chest, a warning she couldn't ignore.
Then she heard it—a low, deliberate footstep behind her. She stopped. Held her breath. And the fog thickened, as if shielding the approaching figure from her sight.
A voice, smooth and impossibly calm, slid through the mist.
"You shouldn't be walking alone, Marin Vale."
Her heart stuttered, but when she turned, there was no one—just the shadow of a man, tall and impossibly still, the fog curling around him like a cloak.