In My Veins

Chapter 1: The First Message

"Are you feeling the holiday spirit yet, Abby?" Holtz asked, dancing around the living room of the small New York apartment. She was hanging tinsel on everything, including Abby.

"Would you stop putting tinsel in my hair?!" Abby laughed, pulling more of the sparkly string from her head. "But yes, I am feeling it. I'm excited for our first Christmas together, Holtzy."

"Me too!" Holtz exclaimed. "I hope you like what I got you."

Abby gave her a look that said, 'Yeah right,' with a laugh. "I'd love anything you got me, just because it's from you. It could be a dead goldfish and I'd still cherish it as a gift from you. Well, you know, after I disposed of it."

Holtz and Abby both had a laugh, but it ended somewhat abruptly. Abby got a strange look on her face as she looked down at the ornament she was holding.

"Everything okay?" Holtz asked, setting her strand of tinsel down and walking over to Abby with open arms. "Hug?"

Abby nodded and stepped forward into Holtz's arms, it was where she felt the safest. "Wanna tell me what's wrong?" Holtz asked, not loosening her hug.

"This ornament," Abby sighed. "Have I ever told you about my ex?"

Holtz scrunched her nose and thought for a second. "The one you wrote the book with? If so, yes. Only when you were wasted."

"Figures," Abby let go of the hug and sat down on the couch, still clenching the ornament. "She made it for me. The first Christmas we lived together after college. We had a run-down, hole in the wall apartment in the Bronx. But being together made it feel like home."

Holtz sad down next to Abby and grabbed her hand, "What do you wanna do with it? Throw it away or hang it on the tree? It's your choice, Abs."

Abby looked into Holtz's eyes with a smile. "Let's get rid of it. I don't need any memories of her, we're making our own right now." The two of them stood up from the couch, Abby walked over to the window and opened it. From the fortieth floor, everything on the ground seemed so small. "Goodbye," Abby uttered as she dropped the ornament out of the window and watched it shatter on the ground.

"You okay?" Holtz came up behind Abby and wrapped her in a hug. "I'm proud of you."

Abby grabbed Holtz's hand that was wrapped around her, "Thanks, Holtzy. It feels good to finally let go. Now I might need some eggnog." Abby never really liked to drink, she didn't like the way it made her act. But every now and then, she just needed to drink a little. She and Holtz did meet because of alcohol, in a way. 

Holtz walked into the kitchen and poured some eggnog from the carton into a glass, and mixed a splash of bourbon into it. Actually, she poured two. If Abby was going to get drunk, she wasn't going to do it alone. "Here you are, my love," Holtz announced as she walked back into the living room, handing Abby the glass.

"Thank you," Abby took a sip and winced. "This is strong. Perfect." 

Abby downed a few drinks way faster than Holtz did, maybe she was getting drunk alone this time. "Have I ever told you about my ex?" Abby asked with slurred words. 

"Only a few times," Holtz laughed, the only other time Holtz saw Abby drunk, this was the exact conversation they had. "Please, continue." Holtz sipped her drink and sat back at the kitchen table, awaiting the story she'd already heard. 

"We were perfect!" Abby stood up from the table and turned in a full circle. "She was perfect for me and I was perfect for her," She sighed. "But then she shattered my dreams... Along with my heart." 

Holtz had already heard the story, but it felt even worse this time. She stood up and walked over to Abby, who was now sitting back down with her head in her hands, "Come here." 

"I'm here," Abby muttered from behind her hands. She fell into Holtz's arms and they stood there for what felt like forever. "Thanks Holtzy. For everything, always." 

"Don't thank me for treating you right," Holtz smiled and kissed Abby on her forehead. "You wanna go to sleep?" 

Abby nodded and walked towards the bedroom. Before she got there, her phone made a sound in the living room. "What was that?" 

"Your phone, I'll grab it," Holtz walked back into the living and grabbed Abby's phone from the table. "Here, I think that sound was Facebook Messenger?" 

"Let me see," Abby grabbed her phone and looked at the screen. "Oh... I think I'm gonna be sick!" Abby dropped the phone and ran towards the bathroom. 

"Oh boy," Holtz was about to go in the bathroom to console Abby, but her curiosity got the best of her. "What the hell from Facebook could have made her so sick all of a sudden?" She reached down and picked up the phone. 

Facebook message: 

Erin Gilbert: Hey, Abby. This might be a little inappropriate. I'm sorry if it is. I know things ended badly between us some fifteen years ago, but I've been thinking a lot about you. About... us. I saw your Facebook page, that you're still researching the paranormal and have a new research partner, Holtzmann was it? Yeah... She looked nice in the pictures you put up. Anyway, I don't know if you're still in New York, but if you are, do you want to meet up? And talk? I'd really love to hear from you. Oh, and happy holidays, Abby."

"Whoa," Holtz looked up with wide eyes and let out a breath. "Speak of the devil..." She got snapped out of her trance from the message quickly, as she heard Abby getting sick in the bathroom, still. "Alright, let's clean you up."