003

Calen’s POV

I couldn’t stop looking at him.

Every time I tried to focus on literally anything else… the pool, other swimmers, the clipboard Coach Martinez was scribbling on… my eyes dragged themselves back to Karl. And the worst part? He was looking back.

Not obviously. Karl was too smart for that. But I caught it in the quick flicks of his gaze when he thought no one was paying attention, in the way his eyes found mine across the pool deck before sliding away like nothing had happened. Each time our eyes met, my stomach dropped and the mark on my neck throbbed.

I’d tried covering it this morning. Spent twenty minutes in front of my bathroom mirror with concealer I’d borrowed from my roommate, dabbing and blending until my fingers were stained beige and I looked like I had a weird tan line on one side of my neck. It hadn’t worked. The bite or whatever the hell it was showed through everything. Two small indentations, already bruising purple, standing out against my skin like a neon sign.

I tugged at my collar again, trying to pull the fabric higher. It didn’t help.

From my seat on the bleachers, I watched Karl dive into the pool with three other top swimmers. His form was perfect. He cut through the water like he’d been born in it, powerful and precise, leaving barely a ripple in his wake. The others struggled to keep up.

My mind wandered to places I didn’t want it to go.

How many of them knew? How many of them were like him… hiding behind human faces, walking around campus like they belonged here? Karl was the captain. The best swimmer on the team. He didn’t just get to the top by being normal and break records by playing fair.

What if the whole team was full of them?

The thought sent ice racing down my spine. I scanned the pool deck, watching the guys stretching and joking around, and suddenly everyone looked suspicious. Mike, who could hold his breath underwater for four minutes straight. Jason, who’d transferred here mid-semester and immediately started winning meets. Even Coach Martinez, with his sharp eyes that never missed a thing.

What if they all knew about me? About what Karl had done to me last night?

What if they could smell it on me?

My breathing went shallow. The mark on my neck felt like it was burning, announcing my presence to every predator in the room. I was prey sitting in a den of wolves, and I hadn’t even realized it until…

“Yo, what the fuck are you spacing out about?”

I jumped so hard I nearly fell off the bleacher.

Jeff dropped down beside me, throwing his arm over my shoulder like he always did. His grin was wide and familiar, the same one he’d been wearing since freshman year when we’d both realized we were destined to warm the bench together for the rest of our college careers.

“Jesus, man,” he laughed, giving my shoulder a shake. “You look like you’ve seen a fucking ghost. You good?”

“Yeah,” I said quickly.  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Jeff didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push it. Instead, his eyes drifted down to my neck, and his expression shifted.

“Dude. The fuck is that?”

My hand flew up to cover the mark. “Nothing.”

“That’s not nothing.” He leaned in closer, squinting. “Is that a hickey? Holy shit, Calen, did you finally get laid?”

“No!” My face burned. “It’s… it’s a mosquito bite.”

“A mosquito bite.” Jeff’s tone was flat, disbelieving. “In January?”

“Indoor mosquito,” I muttered, yanking my collar up again. “Can we drop it?”

“Indoor mosquito,” he repeated, shaking his head. “Man, you’re a terrible fucking liar.” But he let it go, settling back with his arms crossed. “Whatever. Keep your secrets.”

I should have left it alone, and have just sat there in silence until practice ended and I could escape to my dorm and pretend none of this was happening. But the paranoia was eating me alive, and Jeff was the closest thing I had to a friend on this team.

I had to know.

“Hey,” I said carefully, keeping my voice low. “Have you ever… I mean, this is going to sound weird, but have you ever seen anything strange? Around the team?”

Jeff turned to look at me, one eyebrow raised. “Strange how?”

“Like…” I struggled to find words that wouldn’t make me sound insane. “Like, I don’t know. Vampire strange?”

The silence that followed was deafening.

Then Jeff burst out laughing… loud and genuine, the kind of laugh that made other people turn to see what was so funny. “Vampires? Are you fucking serious right now?”

“Never mind,” I said quickly, heat flooding my face. “Forget I asked.”

“No, no, hold on.” Jeff was still grinning, wiping his eyes. “You want to know if I’ve seen vampires? Yeah, man. I’ve seen a whole fucking lot of them.”

My blood turned to ice. “What?”

“In Vampire Diaries,” he said, completely oblivious to the mini heart attack he’d just given me. “Damon Salvatore? Stefan? You seriously need to watch better TV, dude. That show’s fucking gold.”

I forced myself to breathe. “Right… yeah… TV.”

“Why the hell are you asking about vampires anyway?” Jeff looked at me like I’d grown a second head. “You feeling okay? Maybe you should sit out practice today.”

“I’m fine,” I lied.

But I wasn’t fine. Because across the pool, Karl had stopped swimming. He was standing in the shallow end, water streaming down his chest, and he was staring directly at me.

Our eyes locked.

Slowly, and deliberately, Karl raised one hand. His index finger touched his lips in a gesture that could have been thoughtful, casual, meaningless to anyone else watching.

But I understood.

‘Shut up.’

The message was crystal clear. My throat went dry, and I nodded… a tiny, almost unnoticed movement that I hoped only he could see.

Karl’s lips curved into a smirk. Then he turned and dove back underwater like nothing had happened.

“Seriously, you look like shit,” Jeff said beside me. “You sure you’re good?”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “I’m sure.”

I wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

***

The message came through Jeff twenty minutes before practice ended.

“Hey, Karl called a team meeting,” he said, checking his phone. “After we wrap up. Says it’s important, everyone needs to stay.”

My stomach dropped. “Everyone?”

“Yeah, even us benchwarmers.” Jeff shrugged. “Weird, right? Karl usually doesn’t give a fuck about us.”

‘Oh, he gives a fuck,’ I thought bitterly. ‘Just not the kind you’re thinking.’

When practice finally ended, we all gathered in the locker room. The space felt smaller with the entire team crammed inside… about twenty guys in various states of undress, sitting on benches or leaning against lockers, waiting to hear whatever Karl had to say.

He stood at the front of the room, commanding attention without even trying. Still wet from the pool, a towel slung around his neck, looking every inch the golden boy captain everyone worshiped.

His eyes found mine in the crowd, and I looked away.

“Alright, listen up,” Karl said, his voice carrying easily over the low chatter. “I’ve been thinking about something, and I wanted to run it by you guys.”

The room went quiet.

“We’ve got a lot of talent on this team,” Karl continued. “But we’re not using all of it. We’ve got swimmers sitting on the bench every meet who could be out there competing, getting better, helping us win.”

A few guys nodded. I felt Jeff shift beside me.

“So here’s what I’m proposing,” Karl said. “We’re going to pair up. Every benchwarmer gets matched with one of the top swimmers. Your partner’s going to work with you, teach you, help you improve. We’re going to make this team stronger as a whole.”

Murmurs of approval rippled through the room. It actually sounded… reasonable and generous.

I should have known better.

“I’m going to let each of you choose your partners,” Karl went on. “But there’s one exception.”

His gaze locked onto me, and the air in my lungs turned solid.

“Calen,” he said, my name rolling off his tongue like a caress and a threat. “You don’t get to choose.”

Every head in the room turned to look at me. My face burned.

“I’m choosing you,” Karl continued, his smile sharp and dangerous. “And I’m going to personally make sure I teach you everything you need to know. By the time I’m done with you…”

He paused, letting the silence stretch.

“You won’t be able to walk after swimming.”

A few guys laughed, thinking it was a joke about intense training. But I saw the glint in Karl’s eyes, the way his smile didn’t quite reach them.

I didn’t need an interpreter to explain what he actually meant.​​​​​​