I gaped at the Prince for a long time. 

"You're a telepath?" I managed to ask.

'You sound surprised,' the Prince answered. 'How else am I suppose to talk when I transform?'

Good point. That didn't make it less terrifying. 

"Can everyone do that?" I asked. "The talking in your head thing?" 

'It doesn't matter,' he said. 'All that matter is that I can do it.'

Right. Shaking my head, I untangled myself from my comforter and stood. I fought down a yawn. Another day going to school. Another day of the same thing. 

'You didn't answer my question,' the Prince began. 

Blankly, I stared at him. "There's milk in the fridge," I told him. "I'll get you some. If you want anything else, figure it out yourself."

I didn't wait for him to speak. From my closet, I gathered some clothes and a towel. Before I could deal with any more crazy stuff, I needed a shower. A very long shower to be exact. I glanced at the clock by my bed, well, it couldn't be that long.

"I'll be back," I threw over my shoulder. "Don't do anything dumb. And don't you tear anything up with those nasty claws of yours."

When I came back from my shower, I found the Prince fully transformed back into himself and sprawled across my bed. I threw the first thing that came to mind - my towel. The whole thing was anti-climatic. The Prince swatted the towel away and it landed on the floor. Maybe that wasn't a good idea, to begin with. 

"Get off."

"The cushion was uncomfortable," he said quietly.

I put a hand on my hip. "I don't have time for your complaints," I snapped. "I have to get ready for school so, shoo."

I shook my hand at him hoping he would leave. If I listened close enough, I could hear my parents downstairs. I could smell the waffles too. My stomach churned. How was I going to tell them about housing the vampire Prince in our home? He could stay as a kitten and, as long as he didn't interact with anyone or anything, he could stay hidden. But, for how long? I could keep him in my house. I needed to clear his name so I could be free of him.

Sighing, I tossed my clothes into my dirty clothes bin. I picked my clothes quickly; a Capri pant and a t-shirt. I shot a quick glance behind me. The Prince was gone from the room. A glanced around the room didn't show any signs of a cat or dog or large animal. Could he turn into an ant or a bee? What about a worm? Hmm, I needed to find out what other shapes he could turn into. Satisfied that he wasn't around, I undressed and pulled my new clothes on. 

I finished dressing quickly. While I wasn't eager to face my parents or talk to them, if I stayed upstairs too long, my parents - my mom specifically - would come up here and I'm sure the Prince wouldn't want to pass up the opportunity to do something mischievous. Once finished, I grabbed my bag pack and headed downstairs.

How was I going to tell my parents that I now had a pet? While domestic pets weren't something out of the ordinary, I never really cared for one. What was I going to tell them? I heard noises outside, went to investigate and found a kitten. Yeah, that would make sense. The flaw to that was why would I go outside to investigate strange sounds in the first place? 

"Hey, kiddo," Dad called from the living room.

I couldn't hear the television, he must have it on mute.

"Morning," I said. I adjusted my bag pack and hesitated on the bottom step.

Technically, there was no point in even telling them about the Prince. It was probably better to keep my lawyer in the loop as opposed to my parents. They weren't going to be too happy about all of this.

A small meow came from behind me. I twirled around. The Prince made his way down the stairs one step at a time. He tittered on the edge of one step before dropping down to the next one. His face hit the carpet and he scrambled to his feet.

Oh gosh, he was so cute! Then, the anger hit. What was he doing here? I shot him a glare and pointed upstairs.

"Get back up there," I mouthed.

'You promised me some food,' the Prince said.

Before I could do anything, he darted past me and into the kitchen. I shot after him and immediately came to a stop at the dining table. My mom stared down at the kitten in front of her, her brow furrowed. 

"Hi," I said breathlessly. "I - I can explain you know. Th-there was this thing - the window there was something there. I didn't open it . . . well, I did but not before checking to see if there something there because obviously, I wouldn't let anything strange inside . . ."

"I see Arthur is up too," my mom suddenly said. She smiled at me before turning back to the Prince. "I'll get your food in just a minute, okay?"

I gaped at her for what seemed like the longest time. This was ridiculous. The Prince just seemed to have all these abilities that manifested out of nowhere. Why couldn't he just give me a list of abilities he had? That way, I wouldn't be surprised all the time. Would it kill him to tell me about it? I felt so out of the loop. I knew he could influence people because he had tried that on me the first time we met. Is that what he had done now? Influenced her to think that they had gotten me a kitten named Arthur?

"I'm going to put my bag in the living room," I muttered.

My dad folded his newspaper as I walked in. This morning, however, he didn't have the news on. Frowning, I dropped my bag pack on the sofa.

"No news today?" I asked. "Is everything okay?"

Dad smiled at me tiredly. Even in the dim lighting on the living room, I could tell that he wasn't getting much sleep. I bit my lip. I didn't want all of this mess with the Prince to affect them. 

"Everything is fine," he tried to assure me. 

"I'm sorry about all of this," I told him. 

I walked over to the recliner and sat on the arm. Sighing, I leaned against him, resting my head on his. 

"What are you talking about, kiddo?" he asked, patting my arm. 

I waved to the newspaper on his lap. "About the Prince and everything," I said. "I wish I could just go back in time and stop this before it happened. Now because the Prince was framed -"

"You believe he was framed?" he asked. 

I sat up feeling his gaze on me. "Yeah," I said. "I do. Call me crazy, but I feel like I know the Prince. He's obnoxious, arrogant, but I don't believe he could ever do that to people. He wants to be worshiped, not feared. He wants to be admired and envied even, and, gosh, he loves attention. Hurting humans like that hurt his image of the playboy vampire prince. So, yeah. I do believe he was framed."

Dad smiled thinly. "I see what you mean," he admitted. "You're probably right too but that way of thinking isn't going to get you a lot of friends."

I shrugged. "I don't plan to advertise it," I told him. 

"Well, don't get involved with any of this," he said. "Don't talk with anyone. Just go about your business. Mr. Keys gave us specific instructions on how to handle this. Okay?"

"I know," I told him. "I'm going get some breakfast."

Dad stood. "I'm right behind you."

***

"I can't believe you're doing this," I muttered. "You could just use your mind powers and no one would see you."

'There are cameras,' the Prince replied. 'I can't hide from cameras.'

I gave my bag pack a tight squeeze. A protesting meow came from within. Drawing a few looks, I gave my fellow students a tiny smile and headed towards the school. I already received a lot of attention because of the video, I didn't need anymore. 

The Prince had apparently thought that he needed to hide in my bag pack in case Carlos decided to talk to me with his 'friends'. Right, because that would ever happen. They were suspicious of me and they should be. I was trying to infiltrate their group and find out the truth about that video. 

'Be more gentle!' the Prince practically screamed. 

I winced. "Would you stop?" I hissed. "That hurt. Besides, it's not like you can die by getting crushed to death."

The Prince didn't say anything. 

"Wait, you can't die while you're transformed, right?"

Again, he didn't respond. My jaw dropped. Vampires were mortal if they transformed into animals? Of course, no one knew for certain what kind of abilities vampires had - except for me, since I was learning about what vampires could do. It definitely made me think. Vampires weren't immortal after all.

'Don't get any ideas,' the Prince said as if sensing my thoughts. 

"I don't know what you mean."

"Rin!" someone shouted from behind.

I turned around and spotted Sonia jogging towards me. Her long shirt bounced against her legs. With a huff, she stopped beside me.

"Morning," she said joyfully.

Suspiciously, I looked at her. Why was she so cheerful? Cheerful people can never be trusted. 

"What is it?" I asked. "Did something happen?"

"No," she replied. "Nothing happened. Let's just get inside."

I adjusted my bag pack against my chest and didn't budge. "Class isn't going to start anytime soon," I told her. "We can enjoy the nice -"

Sonia hooked her arm around mine and literally pulled me towards the school. I pulled my arm away from her. 

"Sonia, what the heck?"

She gave me a look. "Please?" she asked. "Let's go inside."

I shook my head. What had gotten into her?

"Fine," I sighed. 

Sonia hurried into the building and I behind her but at a slower pace. Something was up with her, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Once inside, I veered off towards my locker. This wasn't normal behavior for Sonia. Lately, she had been distant but this was new.

"I wonder what's wrong," I muttered. "Has Carlos told her something?"

"Rin!" came Sonia's voice. 

She stood in the middle of the hallway, tapping her foot. 'Come on,' she mouthed and pointed to the restroom. I glanced down at my bag pack. I guess we had a third wheel. Sonia went into the bathroom first before yanking me inside. 

"Okay," I said, "this seriously has to stop. What the heck is wrong with you?"

"Do you still have it?" Sonia asked.

My heart lurched. "Have what?" I asked.

She sighed. "Seriously? Now you don't remember? The spray, dummy."

'What is she talking about?' the Prince asked.

"Why do you ask?" I chocked out.

Sonia reached into the pocket of her dress. She pulled out what looked like a body spray and held it out. "It's the new and improved version," she said with a smile. "It's like a vampire repellent. All you do is spray it on and it works."

"How do you know it works?" I asked. 

"It was tested," she said simply.

I swallowed thickly. Please stop talking. Please leave. "I see. So, this is what you needed to tell me?"

"Well yeah." She crossed the distance between us and shoved the body spray into one of my hands. "Keep it with you and don't tell anyone. It's a secret."

Sonia smiled and walked out of the restroom. My bag pack got heavy all of a sudden. Realizing what was happening, I dropped my bag pack and opened it up. Seconds later, a very angry vampire stood in the restroom with me. The Prince yanked the sprayed from my hand and sniffed it. He violently sneezed before tossing the spray against the wall. It bounced against the wall and clattered to the ground.

I pulled away from him, ready to bolt. 

"What the heck was that?" the Prince asked. "You were planning on killing me, weren't you?"

I gaped at him. "Wh-what?" I blurted out. "No! How - how could you say that? No. Sonia, she just gives me stuff . . ." My voice trailed off. 

The Prince stalked towards me. I moved back a few feet before my back hit the wall. 

"All this time you were working against me."

The Prince slammed his fist against the wall. The tiles cracked with the blow. I flinched away. 

"What are you talking about?" I stammered out. I couldn't meet his gaze. "I've been help - "

"You're just like everyone out there," he hissed. "I was stupid to think that you were different."

I lifted my face but he was gone. My legs gave out from under me and my butt hit the cold floor. I covered my mouth as the first sob escaped me. He couldn't possibly believe that I was going to hurt him, right?