Lina and Isabelle walked into their dorms, but Isabelle had to take a phone call.

Lina thought nothing of it and walked into the dorm room, closing the door behind her to give privacy. A second later, the door bursted open. ​​

“You!” Isabelle gasped, pointing an accusing finger at Lina.

“Me?” Lina repeated.

“Who else?” Isabelle groaned. She hung up the phone call and threw it on the table.

“The man you met at the museum, what did he look like?!”

Lina blinked, midway folding her clothes for Winter break. “I told you, he resembled the Second King of Ritan—”

“I didn’t think you meant literally!” Isabelle gasped, shoving her phone into Lina’s face.

“Don’t tell me the person that you bumped into was Kaden DeHaven himself!” Isabelle cried out and Lina peered at the phone, her face going pale.

“What the hell is this?” Lina demanded, grabbing her phone and staring at it intently, hoping it’d disappear the longer she looked at it.

“This image is going viral now!” Isabelle exasperated. “As a journalism major, do you know how big this news was? You could’ve told me in advance so I could cover it and pass it to my internship—”

“You’re worried about your internship, I’m more worried about my parents seeing this.” Lina’s grip tightened on the phone, wishing it’d crack infront of her.

There was a photo of her limp body being carried by Kaden. Her face was clearly captured and she didn’t miss the veins that popped out in his hands, showing how tightly he held her.

Images of her first life flickered in her mind. The harsh rain on his body, his frantic breathing, panicked footsteps, and the heat of his large body. He had carried her once before, with the same urgency.

Lina’s heart plummeted to her stomach. Was their love story going to happen again and again, until finally, the ending wasn’t tragic? She touched her neck and sighed.

“Did your anemia conveniently acted up infront of him?” Isabelle mused.

Lina winced. “I-it sorta did.”

“Sorta my ass!” Isabelle scoffed, tapping aggressively on the phone. “If you did it on purpose, I wouldn’t blame you. He’s one of the most eligible bachelor of the country!”

Lina saw Isabelle was receiving multiple texts, asking for her phone number. Lina rarely gave out her contact, due to privacy reasons.

“How much has this photo spread?” Lina asked.

“As far and wide as sand travels in a desert,” Isabelle dryly responded. “By now, it should’ve reached Kaden’s publicists.”

Lina wondered what was going through Kaden’s mind. The similarity between Kaden’s name and the Second King of Ritan was just a single letter. Kaden was as bold as ever. She couldn’t wrap her head around how he’d survive ten centuries. Not even a Pure-Blood vampire lived that long.

“This photo should be gone soon,” Lina mumbled, already knowing it’d be wiped from the internet when the sun rose.

Lina realized there was going to be heavy rain fall, as the gloomy clouds loomed over her window, reminding her of that fateful night, where two lovebirds fell tragically in love.

BOOM!

Lina jumped when thunder hit the sky. She trembled, traumatized by the sound.

“Let me close the windows and curtains,” Isabelle hurried out, knowing her friend had a fear of storms. She shut the window and curtains, but it barely muffled the storm, glancing at her friend.

Lina’s proud shoulders suddenly seemed tiny and meek, like a white crane who’s folded their wings. She wore a pained expression on her face, one that made Isabelle stare.

It almost resembled a painting Isabelle saw in her textbook. Who was it again? She scrunched her brows, a lightbulb going off. The favored woman of the Second King of Ritan! Isabelle narrowed her eyes.

“And what do you mean the photos will be gone soon? Deleted by who?” Isabelle asked, suspicious of Lina’s reaction.

“M-most likely the DeHaven publicist team would delete the photo?” Lina said, though it came out like a question.

“Right…” Isabelle trailed off.

Lina crawled to her bed, like a child preparing to sleep until the next morning.

“It’s literally four in the afternoon and you’re going to take a nap? I mean, you do you, but like… It’s the afternoon,” Isabelle said.

“You sleep until the afternoon, and you’re going to judge me?” Lina nervously said, hiding under her blanket for comfort.

Lina’s favorite escape from reality was sleeping, even if the Second King was awaiting her in her nightmares. She closed her eyes and decided to sleep now, before the storm worsened.

“Good night, then,” Isabelle said, crossing over to Lina’s side of the room.

“Mmm…” Lina hummed, as she was beginning to lose her grip on reality. The last thing she felt was Isabelle’s comforting hand on her head, and her quiet voice.

“Let’s hope this storm passes soon…” Isabelle whispered, but she hardly meant the rain outside or the highly publicized photo.

If it wasn’t either of these photos, then what could this storm be?