Late February
The call came at 2 AM on a Tuesday.
I was deep in a dream about Organic Chemistry equations that made actual sense when my phone vibrated violently on the nightstand. Kai was already reaching for it before I fully woke up, his body tense beside me.
"It's the prison," he said, voice tight.
I sat up immediately, heart pounding. "Answer it."
He did, and I watched his face transform confusion, then shock, then something I couldn't quite identify.
"We'll be there," he said after a moment. "Yes. Thank you for calling."
He hung up and sat there, phone still in his hand, staring at nothing.
"Kai? What happened?"
"Margaret collapsed during dinner service. They took her to the hospital." His voice was eerily calm. "She's okay, they think, but they want me there. As her next of kin."
"We'll go. Right now. I'll wake Maya"
"No." His hand caught my wrist. "Don't wake her. Not yet. We don't know what this is, and if it's nothing, I don't want her scared for no reason."
