Lily

The merciless beat of the winter storm echoed through the desolate street, muffled only by the shelter Lily had sought, a dingy, unoccupied building. Its weakly standing walls groaned in protest against the harsh wind. That parasitic chill, one that promised to swallow the warmth of life, crawled into every crack and crevice, sliding under the flimsy protection of her ever-present raincoat and biting into her ethereal form.

She clutched her umbrella tightly, its once vibrant surface now faded to a watery echo of its former self, much like her. The raincoat, dyed a transparent blue from countless years of rain and tears, clung stubbornly to her petite frame. Damp, midnight-blue tendrils of hair framed her tear-streaked face, haunted blue eyes peeking out from underneath her soaked bangs.

Her presence was a whisper in the storm, a flickering spirit in the torrential onslaught of water and wind. She was the ghost who walked with the rain, the apparition with the broken heart, invisible to most, a sorrow-drenched nightmare to others.

The potent scent of earth soaked in rainfall accompanied the steady drumming of water droplets on the building's rusted tin roof - her haunt's anthem, her siren's call. It was almost soothing, if she could ignore the bone-deep loneliness that the rhythm reminded her of.

She watched the rain fall, her gaze lost in the sheets of water that blurred the world beyond. The fear and desperation of her death still clung to her, a never-ending echo. She wanted to reach out, to find warmth again, to not be alone.

"You," Her voice wavered, barely audible over the storm's rage, eyes glistening with unshed tears as she mustered her courage to speak to the stranger. "W-will you stay with me... until the rain stops?"