Chapter 5

Move-in day finally arrived.

At 10:00 AM, the sound of heavy suitcase wheels echoed down the hallway. A key turned in the lock, and the door swung open.

Chloe stood in the doorway. She was wearing a white crop top, denim shorts, her hair pulled up into a high ponytail, sporting her signature sweet smile.

She was dragging a massive silver suitcase and carrying a heavy black backpack. Her eyes quickly swept the room, pausing on me for a fraction of a second.

"Hey! You must be Sera!" her voice was soft and bubbly.

"Hey Chloe! Nice to meet you!" I stood up and helped her pull her heavy suitcase inside.

She pushed her suitcase directly under the top bunk opposite me—right facing my bed.

Then, she began unpacking, pulling out her things one by one.

Toiletries, clothes, her iPad, snacks—and a small, black, hard-shell pet carrier with tiny ventilation holes.

It was tiny, barely eight inches long. Easily small enough to slip into a backpack or a custom-made hidden pocket.

As she pulled the carrier out of her bag, she subtly turned her body, using a bag of chips to block my view. Her movements were so smooth she had clearly practiced this a thousand times.

But she didn't know that from the moment she walked through that door, every nerve in my body was locked onto her.

I pretended not to notice. I leaned down, picked up a pack of tissues she had dropped, and handed it to her with a smile. "Here you go, Chloe. Wow, this packaging is so cute."

"Oh, thanks! Ordered them on Amazon," she said, taking them and quickly sliding the pet carrier into her nightstand drawer.

It was incredibly fast. If I hadn't been watching her like a hawk, I would have missed it.

But she had no idea that in my past life, to figure out where that damn snake was coming from, I had torn this room apart when she was in class.

I knew every single one of her hiding spots—under the folded sweaters in the bottom drawer, inside the lining of her hanging duffel bag, and the hidden pocket taped directly underneath her mattress.

All of them were fitted with opaque, custom-made zippers.

Does a normal college freshman arrive with that kind of stealth gear? No. She was on a mission.

After she finished unpacking, Chloe turned to me with a sweet grin. "So, Sera, remember that surprise I mentioned?"

She reached into her drawer and pulled out the black pet carrier, placing it on the desk.

There was a dark, eager glint in her eyes, like she was holding her breath to see me scream.

In my past life, the moment she popped that lid and that black-and-red snake poked its head out, I had screamed, stumbled back, and knocked over my water bottle.

That was the beginning of my living nightmare.

This time, she popped the lid.

The black-and-red snake slowly slid its head out.

It was slightly smaller than I remembered, but the dark scales and blood-red bands were exactly the same. It flicked its black tongue, its vertical pupils narrowing into slits.

My stomach violently churned.

The memories of my past life rushed back like a tidal wave.

The feel of cold scales sliding up my thighs, the wet tongue on my neck, and that raspy, dead man’s voice whispering in my ear: "What a pretty face... let me wrap around you."

My temples throbbed as anger flared in my chest. Under the desk, my hands clenched into tight fists, my nails digging deep into my palms.

In my head, I slowly counted to three.

One. Two. Three.

Then, I smiled. I let my eyes crinkle up, showing a completely innocent, bubbly expression.

"Oh my gosh! He is so cute!" I leaned in closer to the desk. "What kind of snake is he? His pattern is beautiful, like a vintage floral print!"

The eager smirk on Chloe's face froze.

According to her script, I was supposed to scream, pale, and run to the other side of the room.

Then she could play the "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I thought you said you liked snakes!" card, instantly labeling me as the weak, easily bullied roommate.

But I didn't follow her script.

"You're... you're not scared?" her voice shook slightly with confusion.

"Are you kidding? I told you, I love snakes!" I reached out a finger toward the little reptile.

The snake immediately recoiled, its body tensing into an S-curve, its eyes locked onto my hand.

I could feel it. The greasy, perverted, greedy aura of Kai Carter radiating from that tiny reptilian body.

Chloe quickly slammed the lid shut and shoved the carrier back into her drawer. "He's super shy. Don't touch him, he might bite."

"Aw, bummer," I said, pulling my hand back with a harmless laugh. "I'll just wait until he gets used to me."

Chloe forced a tight, awkward smile.

That first round ended in Chloe's utter confusion.

But I knew this was just the warm-up. She wasn't going to stop just because I wasn't afraid. Because the pervert trapped inside that snake wouldn't let her.