Win is turned into a vampire against his will after being attacked at the university pool one fateful night. Five years later, he finds himself saving a drowning human in the same pool, their situations eerily similar. Neither can forget and are dra...
Win rolled over, snuggling closer to Team. Despite the blanket pulled up to his shoulders, Win couldn't shake the chill, but hugging his boyfriend while he slept always warmed him up. He sighed into the pillow that smelled like Team, Win's arm reaching out to circle his waist. He wanted nothing more than to press Team against his chest and nuzzle into his neck.
His hand searched and groped at the cold sheets, clutching only air. Win's head shot up, sleep falling away as he looked around the room. No sign of Team. Win threw the covers off of himself before swiping his phone off of the nightstand. He didn't want to believe the daylight filtering below his curtains, but his phone didn't lie. It was day and Team should be beside him, asleep.
Shit.
Win clamored down the stairs, nearly breaking his neck in his haste to check the lower level. He could be doing homework, but Win doubted it—Team hadn't touched his books in days. Plus, the house was far too quiet for Team to be reclaiming some of his daytime hours. Fear coiled itself in Win's stomach, his breaths turning ragged as he searched. Panic squeezed tighter and tighter with each door that opened to nothing.
Team was missing, and Win's lungs weren't working. Anger competed with terror as the implications flowed through his mind. Win didn't know where he was, just that he wasn't here. Team was exposed and in danger. Free to be taken. Free to be killed. Free to be used for something horrible or caught in the middle of it. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck. Win's own dread leaked out, the beast stirring in his mind. Ready to spring forth in all of its fucking uselessness—always a problem, never a solution.
Goddamnit!
Win pulled himself up from where he had collapsed on the floor. Team could still be safe, he reassured himself. Maybe nothing happened yet and if they hustled, they could get lucky. Scoop him up wherever he was, bring him back. Maybe A-wut didn't have spies, wasn't watching him. Win gnashed his teeth against the cynical laugh threatening to slip out.
Yeah, right.
Vampire quick, Win sprinted up the stairs. He banged on Ari and Sert's doors, yelling at them to wake up. If he had any chance of getting Team back alive, or... no. Win shook his head. Get Team back alive and safe. They would help him, they had to. Shit. When did he even leave?!
Win barreled back into his room, almost losing his footing on the slick hardwood. He grabbed his phone again in the middle of pulling on his clothing and hammered out a message.
>>>Win: Where are you?!
He stared at the screen, hoping to see the check marks followed by jumping dots. Fuck waiting. Win connected the call and pressed the phone to his ear. It rang, each tone drilling into Win's patience. As Team's goofy voicemail greeting sounded instead, his heart sank. How many times does it ring normally before voicemail picks up? Win couldn't remember! Had Team dismissed it? Someone else? Did he leave his phone somewhere? Had it been taken? Destroyed?
"What the fuck, Win?"
Sert drew Win's attention from his phone. His brother leaned against the door frame, rubbing a fist into his eye and yielding to a yawn. Ari stood beside him, eyes half-open, her hair resembling a rat's nest from tossing and turning in her sleep.
"He's gone. Team's gone," Win said, and the pair sobered, waking up the rest of the way. The breakdown loomed, the looks on their faces not helpful as he spiraled. "We have to find him. Before, before..." Win choked on the words, not wanting to speak them into existence. The text remained unread when he glanced again, Win's phone a dead, still weight in his hand.
"He drank your blood, right?"
Someone asked, but Win didn't answer. It didn't matter; he didn't want Team to be hurt, period. Or used. Or tortured. His panic-addled brain envisioned A-wut towering over him. Win's meager attempt at contact left unanswered as A-wut's grubby fingers swiped over Team's phone. His hands touching Team's skin, invading his mind. Making him do things...
They couldn't find A-wut, so that meant... Could they find Team?
The floor pitched under Win's feet. He sat at his desk, gripping the edge and covering his face. Win was stuck in his worst nightmare and was powerless yet again to stop it. He needed to be strong, not dissolve into a snotty, sniffling heap of tears. Win jumped as Sert's palm squeezed his shoulder, the gruff man's attempt at comfort when the world was splitting apart.
"We'll find him."
Sert's dry tone didn't give Win much hope. "Either way," remained unsaid, but they both knew. Win shook his head as the tears fell. He didn't want the next time he saw Team to be in a morgue. See his lifeless body and wish for him to become one of them.
"I think I know where he went," Sert said.
Win lifted confused, red eyes to Sert's. His tone had shifted to annoyed.
"Little shit went to a swim meet." Sert shook his own head and groaned at the recklessness of youth.
"What?!" Win's hands fell away from his face and he noticed the piece of paper for the first time. He snatched it up, lips moving while he read.
Is this why you didn't answer? Why you're giving me a fucking heart attack? A SWIM MEET?!
What shred of hope Win gained, the flare of anger beat back. Win remembered Team's uncompromising attitude regarding the pool the night before. He hadn't thought it was strange then, the brattiness on brand. He sat roughly back in his desk chair, staring at the paper in disbelief. Had Team planned it? After the pool... Team's insistence about the blood while they had sex. Win's jaw clenched tight, the note crumpling in his hand.
He used me.
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A/N:
I feel so bad for Win here. 🥺🥺🥺
Also, fyi, taking a few days break before releasing the last two chapters. My friend is visiting and I have to prep part 2. I know y'all want to see what happens, but trust me, you want me to get the first few chapters of part 2 ready to go along with its cover FIRST, so you don't have to wait after the last chapter here.
