Tangled Hearts.

~Chapter 18~

~Raelyn~

~Friday, February 7th, 2022~

I skipped class on Friday. Sue me. Honestly, I was so drained, I felt like I'd been steamrolled by a semi and then betrayed by midterms. Plus, I was in what could only be described as a light coma. You know, the kind only a vampire who hadn't fed in over a month could understand.

Normally, I feed like clockwork every four weeks. But between school, stress, and the ongoing tragedy of someone heating tuna in the dorm lounge every day, my routine was totally shot. So when I finally fed last night, my body pretty much threw up a white flag and shut down—like a glitching computer crashing mid-save.

Blake stayed with Riley's mom because, well, I wasn't in the mood to pretend to be a normal human. And honestly, no one outside my girl group knew. Especially not Colby.

Telling your almost boyfriend that your vampire metabolism makes you crash like a faulty battery? Yeah, I wasn't about to go there. Especially not when things between us had been... rather...complicated lately. That kiss-a-week thing had turned into practically full-on make-out sessions whenever we were in the same zip code. And the tension? Thick enough to use as a blanket.

But I was still scared. Scared he'd bolt the second things got messy. Or worse—bite back. He knew I was half-vampire and that meant I could smell all the scents of the pack. But I hadn't fully explained everything—like the fact that my feeding schedule made me look like I'd been hit by a freight train sometimes.

~Colby~

Raelyn didn't show up to class on Friday.

Which, I'll be honest, was not normal.

She was always there. First one in, notes organized, coffee in hand like she was the caffeinated version of Wonder Woman. So when I walked into class and her seat was empty, something in my gut did a little panic dance. It was a low-level buzz at first, then it spiraled into full-blown alarm.

After class, I tried to play it cool. I told myself to calm down. I told myself it was no big deal. Seven minutes later, I grabbed my keys and was speeding toward her place like I was auditioning for Fast & Furious: Vampire Drift.

Her car was parked in the driveway.

Quiet.

Too quiet.

I knocked on the door. Nothing. I called her name. Still nothing.

The door? Unlocked.

Great. This is where I die.

I stepped inside, feeling like I was the dumb protagonist in every bad horror movie who never hears the ominous music building.

"Raelyn?" I called.

Nada.

I crept toward her room, and when I cracked the door open—there she was.

Out cold. Curled up in a ball, looking like the world's saddest burrito. Pale. Unmoving. Breathing, but just barely.

My stomach sank.

"Raelyn!" I shook her, harder this time. Nothing.

Not good. Definitely not good.

I whipped out my phone and dialed Katrina faster than you can say "emotional breakdown."

"Yo," she answered, already sounding suspicious.

"She's out. Like really out. Won't wake up. Looks bad," I rushed.

Katrina's voice shifted into full defensive mode. "Whoa, whoa, whoa—slow down. Who, what, where?"