On the fourth day, I joined my parents for breakfast. They were surprised to see me and I told them that I felt better. At least, that was what I had convinced myself of. When they left for work, it occurred to me that this was probably the last time I was going to see them. As soon as the thought struck me, I tried to push it out of my head.

No. Today, I wasn't going to think dark thoughts. I was going to be optimistic even if it hurt. I owed myself and my parents that much at least. To keep myself occupied, I cleaned as much I could and worked on my homework. My parents had taken back most of my work and brought back more. I watched a couple of lectures online.

The goal was to make everything appear as normal as possible. By the time dinner came around, I did believe that I was in better spirits. I ate dinner with my parents. We ordered some food and ate in the living room. There was ice cream too and I had to be careful not to break down right there and then.

I actually went to bed early and managed to sleep for a handful of hours before a paw woke me up. My first thought was Alexander. It had been a long time since he had visited but then I remembered that it couldn't be him. The realization made my gut twist like a million shards of glass were digging into my stomach.

'Glad to see that you are finally awake,' Camellia said. 'A car is waiting for you.'

Rubbing my eyes, I nodded. I crawled out of bed and got ready. I had to submerge my face in cold water before I felt wide awake. If I closed my eyes for just a second, I was afraid that I was going to fall asleep. It would seem like exhaustion had finally caught up to me. I dressed warmly. For some reason, I felt cold and I couldn't stop shivering.

Instead of leaving out the front door, Camellia lead me towards the window. Opening it, I spotted a rope ladder attached to the window and it went all the way down.

'We know you can't jump,' was all she said before jumping out the window.

My stomach dropped as Camellia landed perfectly on the ground. That probably had nothing to do with the fact that she was a cat and everything to do with the fact that she was a vampire. Well, she wasn't wrong. If I jumped, I was going to break something.

I took my time climbing down the ladder. It shifted underneath me with every step. I missed the last step and one foot landed awkwardly on the ground. The other one was still on the ladder.

That was great Rin, I thought. Really graceful. The vampires are impressed.

Finally, on the ground, I cleared my throat. I was sure Camellia was going to laugh at me for all eternity but I had bigger problems. Bigger things to worry about.

In the near darkness, I followed Camellia's faint silhouette towards the street. There we stopped at a car. The driver got out of the car and she was the same person(?)/ vampire(?) as before. Even now I realized that we hadn't been properly introduced. What was I supposed to call her?

Our chauffeur opened the door for us. 

'Thanks, Lucy,' Camellia said before jumping inside. 

So, that answered that question. Once inside the car, Lucy closed the door to the car. Moments later, she was driving us down the street. I couldn't help but look back at my house. My throat tightened.

I'll come back, I thought to myself. Camellia and Lucy . . . they'll bring me back. I have to believe that.

Camellia suddenly shifted into her vampire form. She was a petite woman, dark-skinned with braided hair. She wore a maxi dress down to her ankles with flower prints on it. She turned towards me.

"Let me explain the plan to you," she began. 

Swallowing thickly, I nodded. I didn't mention the sticker in my pocket. They wanted to deal with Micah in their way and I was sure that meant that he wasn't going to take the blame for what he had done. I knew it wasn't smart to double-cross the mafia but it needed to be done. I just hoped that Pat and her people kept their end of this bargain. I guess it wasn't really a bargain. They hadn't really agreed to do anything.

If I was being frank with myself, I think the mafia already knew about the sticker. How else would their note get into the box, to begin with? They had to know what I was planning. They had to.

"Lucy will drop you off," Camellia continued. "You have to walk to the hideout. It's not far though. Don't worry. These Purists no longer occupy this space, they actually changed locations after you were brought in. My people made sure there aren't any traps. You'll be safe as long as Micah doesn't try anything."

"If he does," I whispered, "you won't be able to do anything, right?"

"That's right," she said. "He will know that this has all been a ruse to make him confess and it won't work."

So they did know.

"So, we get Micah to confess, and then what?" I asked.

"We'll deal with him," she tried to assure me, "but I assure you that his confession will free your Prince from prison."

I didn't like the way she said 'your Prince'. Alexander didn't belong to me and it also made it sound like they held no allegiance towards him or the royal family at all.

"Can I ask you like a personal question?" I asked.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You may," she said, "but I might not answer."

"Fair enough. So, um, do you even like the Prince? Are you loyal to him? I mean, how does that even work? What's the current state of the community?"

A ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "My people and I have our own interests," she replied. "Sometimes those interests aligned with our figureheads. Sometimes, they don't."

That said a lot about the Mafia. I could only nod in response. For the rest of the trip, I stared out the window. I had thought up a plan to get to this point, but I hadn't really thought of what to do afterward. What would I do if Micah attacked me? Camellia already said that she couldn't help me.

Let's say that he didn't hurt me. Would he just let me go? What if he asked for something in return? Would I go through with it? Why did I think this plan would work? But what if, my plan did work? Alexander would be let go. I would go back home. That didn't stop the situation with Micah and how he harassed me at the beginning. Wouldn't that mean that I would still be homeschooled?

I guess that was a small price to pay if it meant that Alexander would be free. He would be free, and he would hate me. I would just have to deal with it when it happened. I wasn't sure if Micah was even going to meet me or not. He could just not come, and I would be left standing there like a fool.

The car suddenly stopped. 

"We're here," Lucy announced.

I looked around and saw the dark silhouettes of the buildings. My stomach twisted. and I felt like puking. 

"We won't be far," Camellia assured me, "but this is something that you have to do on your own. No one can know that we are involved."

"Right," I muttered. 

Somehow, I managed to gather the courage to open the door. My legs felt like jelly, but I made it out of the car. I barely had enough strength to close the door behind me. Shaking, I started walking towards the building.

I had no idea what to expect inside. What if Micah was already there? I had to prepare myself for that possibility. But I had to remind myself that I wasn't the same as before. If he did tried to hurt me, I would fight back.

I was aware that he might ask me to prove my loyalty and I had when I told Alexander that I didn't believe in him anymore but I wouldn't put it past Micah to ask for something else. I needed to prepare for that too. There were just too many things left to chance. I didn't like it. So much could go wrong.

Breathe Rin, I reminded myself. Breathe. No need to panic just yet.

After a few more steps, I reached the building. Unlike before, it wasn't locked. When I opened the door, it groaned. If someone was inside, now they knew I was here.

I took a deep breath and went inside. It was completely dark. I used the light of my cellphone to show me where I was walking. Unlike before, the building was empty as if no one had been here, to begin with. The Purists sure had good resources. Who was backing them?

"It took you long enough to get here."

I twirled around at the sound of a voice. My heart had lurched into a frantic dance against my chest. There was a silhouette blocking the exit to the building. I swallowed thickly.

"M-Micah," I stammered out faintly.

He stepped closer. His dark hair was as curly as ever. A small smile sat on his lips. He was taller maybe by an inch or two.

"Hello, Rin," he said. "Long time no see, huh?"

I couldn't answer him. Here was the vampire responsible for all my nightmares, past and current ones. It was then that a pit formed in my stomach. What had I gotten myself into?