Tangled Hearts.

~Chapter 5~

~Colby~

I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring like a fire drill on steroids, dragging me out of yet another craptastic sleep. My room looked like a small tornado had hit only my side of the house. Clothes were flung across the floor like a failed laundry grenade, and my backpack was doing its best impersonation of a corpse in the middle of the chaos.

I groaned, rubbing my face like it owed me money, and muttered, "Awesome. We love waking up in a crime scene." My fists still throbbed—sweet reminder of last night's charming little blowout with my dad. My head wasn't doing much better. Felt like a hangover without the party.

There was supposed to be some "important discussion" last night—pack business, the usual dominance pissing contest—and surprise, things went nuclear. My dad and I in a car together is like shoving a grenade and a firecracker into a microwave and hitting popcorn mode.

I yanked on my black tank top, those weirdly iconic black-and-white half-and-half jeans that made strangers stare like I owed them an explanation, and my combat boots—because of course I did. They were the only consistent thing in my life.

I hadn't been sleeping much. Partially from stress. Mostly from family. But the real kicker? I'd been missing Gage—my older brother. The 21st anniversary of his disappearance was coming up, and yeah, my brain had been spiraling down that delightful trauma rabbit hole all week.

~June 21st, 2000~

I was only two.

The world was a mess of murmurs and shadows, too big for me to understand. Kalani held me close, her arms wrapped tight like a safety net, rocking me in our Kansas living room. The thunder rumbled outside, but it was her voice that tried to drown it out.

"It's okay, baby, I've got you," she whispered, but her voice wobbled. Even back then, I knew she was scared.

Then—bang bang bang—a knock at the door.

Gage walked across the floor like a soldier heading into battle. "Stay back," he ordered. His voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be.

The door creaked. Then hell opened its mouth.

There was yelling, scuffling, those sounds—the kind that claw into your bones. Kalani hugged me tighter. "What's happening?!" she yelled.

And then—our mom's scream. One of those soul-shattering ones.

"GAGE!"

Silence hit afterward like a train. Kalani's body trembled as she held me.

"He's gone, Colby. Gage is gone." Her tears hit my face, and though I didn't understand the words, the pain burned into my bones.

On the floor: a scrap of his shirt, stained red.

"Why did they take him?" Kalani sobbed.

Mom knelt beside us, her arms wrapping us up like she could shield us from the world.

"We'll find him," she promised.

We never did.

That night shattered everything. The monsters weren't under the bed. They were at the front door.

~

I shook the memory off like it had crawled into my skin again. Nope. Not today, Satan. I yanked on my boots just as Sam popped his head into the room.

"You alive or just dramatically sulking?" he asked, squinting at the disaster that was my room.

"I contain multitudes," I mumbled, grabbing my bootlace. "Also, bite me."