Carmella kept her word. Once my parents had left, a car parked on the curb ten minutes later. I saw the car pull up and my stomach clenched. My eyes teared up from exhaustion. Sleep decided to abandon me. I hadn't been able to even eat.

I left the house and made sure the door was locked. When I got closer, a woman in a pantsuit stepped out of the car and opened the door for me. She was of average height with blonde hair pulled back in a high ponytail. She didn't look like a vampire, but I wasn't the best judge of that.

Getting closer, I gave her a small smile and slipped inside. It was a bit chilly and it was only then that I finally started feeling something. The woman closed the door of the car. Once she was back in, she drove me to the police station. She adjusted the temperature on the way, so it wasn't so cold.

The trip was faster than before. We arrived at the same entrance where Mr. Keys had greeted me. This time, there was no one waiting for me.

The woman turned on her seat. "I'll accompany you inside," she said. "Carmella was clear that you were to be protected."

"Th-thanks," I stammered out. " I won't take too long. "

"Shall we?"

I nodded. The car was turned off. She stepped out and opened the door for me. Would it be too late for introductions?

"I'm Rin," I told her.

"Yes, I know," she replied.

It was quiet inside. There was barely any noise. Why was it so quiet? It was creepy. My chauffeur walked me towards the cells briskly. It was as if she knew the entire layout of this place. At the entrance of the cells, she stopped.

"The Prince has been kept in isolation," she said. "No one will go in as long as I'm here."

"Alright."

I turned to the door and took a deep breath. All I needed to do was go in there and speak to Alexander. That's all I had to do and yet I couldn't step any further.

Just go inside, I told myself. Just get it over with.

My stomach clenched again. I glanced at my chauffeur. She stared straight ahead. Right. I was alone in this. Before I could change my mind, I took a step forward them another and another until I came to Alexander's cell.

He stood by the bars. I forced myself to look at him and my heart broke. He looked as he always had. Not a hair out of place. He wore different clothes. It seemed like his people were taking care of him. That was good.

"Missed me?" Alexander smirked.

My chin trembled. "H-hey," I croaked out.

I shuffled forward. Alexander watched all the while. It took me a moment before I could finally reach him. I grasped the bars, holding on for dear life. His fingers brushed my face. I leaned against his palm. 

"I thought your parents grounded you," Alexander began. "Did you sneak out again? I don't want them to think that I'm a bad influence on you." He chuckled.

I forced a smile. "No," I told him. "Well, yeah, no. Kind of."

"Which is it?"

How could he tease at a time like this? Didn't he know why I had come? Micah must have told him beforehand. Why wasn't he asking me anything? 

I shook my head. "They don't know I'm here," I confessed. "Don't worry. No one is going to find out that I was here."

This time, Alexander lifted my chin. "Are you getting into debt with people you shouldn't?" he asked.

My reflection looked back at me from his eyes. I looked away.

"No," I told him. "Nothing like that. So, what? You don't want me to come see you anymore? Is that it?"

"I enjoy your company," he said. "I don't mind that you're here. We can't do much though."

I nodded. "Yeah, I know. It doesn't really matter though. This is enough." I found the courage to look at him again. "Have they been treating you well? Have the police said anything about moving your or - ?"

"No," he replied. "Apparently, the higher-ups want me here. They don't want anything to happen during transportation to another location." He shrugged. "This is fine."

"You seem awfully relaxed for someone in prison."

Alexander chuckled. "We all know that I can easily leave this place and no one would ever find me. But, I don't want to do that."

"Why not?"

He gave me a strange look. "The first place they would check is your house. They would monitor you and your family for the rest of your life. I can't do that to you."

"You didn't care before."

"I care now," he shot back. 

My heart squeezed. Guilt gnawed at my chest. 

"Thanks for that," I whispered, "but you know, they will never suspect that I got a new cat."

Alexander tilted his head. "You know, that might work."

I sighed. "But you won't," I guessed.

"Right. I won't." He shrugged. "I guess you can call this karma for all the things I've done so far and got away with. I understand why people want someone held responsible for those attacks. With all evidence pointing at me - " He trailed off. 

"I don't think a vampire has been in court for like a long time," I mused. "Then again, I don't pay attention to the news, so I might be wrong." A strange thought occurred to me. "You said that a vampire wasn't going to get convicted. Is that still true?"

This time, he didn't say anything. "I can't say for certain," he admitted. "Mr. Keys has his worries. Certain folks that we both know have talked to me at all or even gone into contact with Mr. Keys. As far as I know, I have to appear in court."

I looked down at my feet. "You still haven't told me where you were those days," I whispered. "I bet you haven't told Mr. Keys either."

"Come on, Rin. We've had this conversation beforehand."

"Yeah, and last time, you didn't reply either. What do you have to hide?"

"It doesn't matter. It's not going to work."

"It might!"

His hands fell away from me. I shivered at the sudden loss of his touch. 

"You've changed your mind then?" he asked softly. "Is it hard to maintain the faith now?"

I swallowed thickly, unable to answer. If there ever was a time to say what I needed to say, it would be now. 

"Rin?" he prompted.

I heard the hurt in his voice and it ached. I forced myself to shrug.

"I can't say," I whispered. "I just find it strange that you're so adamant about keeping it a secret. People start to wonder, you know? I - I start to wonder. I mean, it's like you don't trust me and if you don't trust me then, how do you expect me to trust you, you know?"

"Rin, how can you say that? Of course, you can trust me. I -"

"Just stop. Stop. I don't want to hear it." I shook my head. My eyes blurred. "I've tried everything I could to help you and it just seems like you don't want any help. I - am done. I c-can't do this anymore. I don't even know what to believe anymore."

His hands were quickly on my face. I stepped away quickly and he let me go. I ached. I couldn't even look at his face. There was no way I could bring myself to see how much I was hurting him. 

"What exactly are you saying?" he asked.

His words cut through me. There wasn't any anger in his voice, only hurt. I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear my vision. I could only shake my head at his question.

"I - I was mistaken," I whispered. "You - you aren't the vampire I thought you were."

"Rin, look at me when you say that."

I kept shaking my head. Even now, I kept gripping on the bars. My legs felt like jelly. At this point, I wasn't going to be able to walk out. I took a deep breath, trying to keep myself from breaking down.

I looked up at him. His expression was torn between sadness and pain. A lump formed in my throat. I couldn't stop my eyes from tearing up.

"I don't trust you anymore," I stated. "Everyone was right about you. You . . . hurt all those people."

Alexander reached out to me. His hand trembled. "Rin," he said, forcing a smile. "I'm not in the mood for jokes right now."

Before he could touch me, I stepped away from the bars and I felt like I was sinking.

"I don't think I will be seeing you again," I said. "I  - wish you luck."

I didn't let him say anything else. I simply turned on my heel and walked away. Even if I somehow managed to incriminate Micah and free Alexander, Alexander would never forgive me. It would be fair. I had hurt him. and I didn't deserve to see him again. That was fine. A part of me had come to terms with that. But, as long as he was free, I was going to be happy. At least, that was what I had decided.