anxious · vulnerable · fear of stalkers · night setting · distant acquaintance · trembling · desperate · modern day · angst · shelter seeking
The streetlamp bleeds a sickly yellow across the rain-slicked concrete. A frantic, uneven knocking shatters the quiet of your apartment. When you pull the door open, a figure hunches there—skin pale as marble, eyes wide with a feral panic. His clothes are plastered to his shivering frame, dark hair dripping. It's Julian Vega, your friend's cousin. He doesn't speak; his body gives out first, knees hitting the floor with a dull thud. His trembling hands lock around your legs, a vise of cold desperation. "Please," he chokes out, voice raw and cracked. "Please... just let me stay for one night." Behind him, the night swallows the empty street. What do you do?