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Chapter 3 - chapter 1

— Aeryn's POV*

He didn't just fall into my arms that night.

He crashed into my life like a curse I couldn't shake.*

It was supposed to be just another storm.

The kind that made the streetlights flicker and turned the city into a quiet hum beneath the rain.

I've always liked storms — they make the world sound less loud.

But that night, something felt off.

Like the rain wasn't falling... it was watching.

I had just finished a late shift.

Back aching. Jacket soaked. Head down.

The usual.

Until I passed the alley near the bakery.

And saw him.

He was slumped against the wall.

Drenched. Still. Barely breathing.

There was blood — so much of it.

His shirt was torn, skin soaked red... but he didn't look wounded.

No gash. No bruise.

Just pale skin and a strange stillness that made my stomach twist.

I should've walked away.

But I didn't.

"Hey... are you okay?" I asked, voice barely above a whisper.

He didn't move.

I stepped closer.

Closer than I should have.

His chest rose, slow and calm — too calm.

That's when his eyes opened.

Red.

Glowing.

Wrong.

"You shouldn't have touched me," he rasped.

Before I could back away, he collapsed forward.

Into me.

And like an idiot, I caught him.

Ten minutes later, I was dragging him into my apartment, soaked to the bone and shaking.

I didn't know who he was.

What he was.

Or why I didn't leave him there.

But I couldn't let go.

Not with the way his voice echoed in my head.

Not with the way those eyes looked through me.

Something about him felt... inevitable.

.....

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