The next morning, I was up early just so that I could avoid talking to my parents about what had happened last night and to take a shower. They had come home in a panic to find me and two policemen sitting in the living room in silence. People had come in and taken pictures of my room like it was a homicide. They were disappointed to only find a broken cell phone. Did they expect to find me in pieces?

The paramedics had taken me to the hospital and the embarrassment had been eating away at me during the ambulance ride. What surprised me the most was that there had been no news cameras or any paparazzi jumping out of the bushes or anything. I took that as a good sign. I didn't need my face in newspapers all over the world. I would never be able to live that down. 

After I had been declared mostly unharmed; my wrist was just wrapped for support and nothing was broken, my parents took me back home where they insisted on sleeping in my room. After a million reassurances, they finally agreed to sleep in their own room with the condition that they had to leave a baby monitor in my room.

I slipped out of bed and turned the baby monitor off. My back was aching and it was definitely bruised to the point of being green and purple. I took a quick shower and managed to shave in the process. It was painful to say the least. My wrist was a bit sore but I was able to use it. Every movement was torture and it was so agonizingly slow to slip into my clothes. Even my scalp felt raw.

I actually wanted to give up on my hair as I combed it up into a high bun. The radio had said it was going to be hot today with temperatures up in the 90s (courtesy of the drive home last night). My work was done and I actually wondered if my parents would let me interview a vampire for my paper. I doubted that was going to happen anytime soon without supervision or the paramedics standing by.

Grabbing my backpack and zipping it close, I headed downstairs carefully tip-toeing past my parent's room and expertly avoided all the creaky floorboards. The house was silent and there was a faint hum of the a/c in the background. I stopped just at the final step and peeked into the living room.

"Morning, sunshine," Dad said. He folded the newspaper and set it on the coffee table.

I felt my shoulder slump. "Morning," I said, reluctantly walking in.

Dad was in his business suit. There were a few gray strands in his brown hair. His eyes were all but boring into my face.

"How did you sleep?"

"I slept fine," I told him. "Like a baby and everything."

Dad patted the space beside the couch. "Sit," he said.

I sighed and dragged my feet until I was sitting beside him. My butt sank into the cushion. I sat back and turned to my dad.

"Mom wants to take you to a friend," he said.

"Urgggh," I said. "Dad I don't need a shrink. I'm shocked, to say the least, and angry but I'm not psychologically damaged."

"I know," he said. "But after the other incident, we just thought-"

"Dad," I interrupted. "That was a long time ago. I was young and naive. I didn't know what was happening. But everything turned out okay."

Dad patted my knee. "Alright," he said. "It just pains us that we weren't here to help you. We left you alone."

"I stopped being defenseless a long time ago," I told him. "I called the police and they responded very quickly. I doubt the Vampire Prince is coming back for a second round."

I pushed myself up before he could say anything else. "I'm going to get something to eat," I said. "Do you want anything?"

"No," he said. "You go ahead and eat. You missed out on dinner."

Not wanting to make my dad wait on me, I grabbed a packet of Pop-Tarts and left the kitchen. Dad stood up and followed me out of the house reaching for the keys in his pocket. There was still some fog on the ground and the lawn sparkled with dew. The humidity didn't feel so high but it was going to get worse.

The ride to school was a quiet one. A morning talk show played in the background but neither one of us listened to it. My sights were on the passing neighborhood. Everyone living here was human. Vampires had their own neighborhood. They had more security there than what we had here.

We passed the security checkpoint only five minutes later. Luckily there wasn't a huge line. The soldiers had to check the stamp on the car before allowing us to pass through and the passenger's passports. I guess you can say there wasn't much of a need for vampires to have security but it was protocol. Humans needed special clearance to enter a vampire neighborhood and vampires needed a higher clearance to enter a human area.

The reason why the soldiers hadn't come rushing to my rescue was that they couldn't leave their posts unless there was a huge attack on the neighborhood. Everything else was handled by the police. Every neighborhood had its own school and supermarket so that there wouldn't be any incidents between vampires and humans on the road or while shopping.

It felt like we lived during wartime. There were still areas humans could mingle like the mall and parks but those were watched closely too. However, vampires and humans didn't mingle at all unless absolutely necessary like in their jobs. For the most part, we didn't get close to them and they didn't get close to us. Separate but equal had been brought up to a new level.

I would be lying if I didn't say I was glad for the separation. Considering that vampires could potentially sneak past the soldiers, alarms and break into our homes, well, that was just an uncomfortable thought. The Government had said that the separation was for everyone's protection. It had only been twenty years and more time was needed to figure out a way for vampires and humans to live in society side by side safely. I didn't see vampires and humans mingling anytime soon.

The vampire neighborhoods were getting larger and larger and integration was nowhere near happening. The Vampire King had agreed to such living conditions for his people because it wasn't like he had much choice. From what I knew, in the early years, we were trigger happy and would have waged war against the vampires. I was sure the vampires lived cozily as we did. Built by vampires and for vampires was the slogan they were using. Even the billboards had it on them.

Looking into the future just didn't seem too promising anymore.

"We're here," Dad said.

I sat up. We were at school. Students were getting out of cars. There were no buses because the school was located at the center of "town". I spotted Sonia waiting on the lawn with her books in her arms. Taking my seat belt off, I kissed my dad on the cheek.

"Have a great day," he said.

"I will," I said and got off.

I closed the door behind me and waved. Dad waved before pulling away from the curve. I turned back around and shifted my backpack into a more comfortable position instantly regretting my decision as pain shot up my back. I gritted my teeth and headed toward my friend.

"Nice legs," she said as I came to a stop before her.

"Thanks," I said. "You don't look too shabby either."

She was wearing a sundress and sandals. Her hair was pulled back in a braid.

"Morning, sunshine," came an all too familiar voice.

A firm hand slammed into my backpack. I cried out as if I'd been shot and swirled around.

"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" I screamed at Carlos.

He took a step back surprised by my outburst. I was getting plenty of stares but I didn't give a rat's ass about them. I was going to decapitate him.

"Whoa chill," he said raising his hands.

"Don't tell me to chill," I hissed. "Do not touch me."

"Calm down, Rin," Sonia whispered behind me. "He didn't mean anything by it."

I swirled around to face her. She didn't even know why I had yelled at him. Why as she jumping to conclusions? Suddenly, the weight of my backpack disappeared and I felt a breeze against my back. My eyes widen. No, I thought in horror. He couldn't have.

Oh, but he had. Carlos had just pulled up my shirt. I tore my backpack and t-shirt away from him ignoring the burning pain. I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind when I saw him. He walked lazily down the sidewalk and acted like he owned the ground he was walking on.

I was completely frozen. Why was the Vampire Prince walking toward my school?!

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