The Vampire Prince goes to High School (Book 1)

Purists

My eye twitched. I doubted she knew the real reason why the Prince went to high school. Pat would have a field day. 'Why am I here exactly?' I forced out.

Pat sat back. 'To make sure you've chosen the right side,' she's replied. 'After all, we have to keep this planet pure.'

Did Carlos really believe in all of this? Or had gotten himself into something where he might not be able to leave?

'I'm not on the vampires' side,' I had told her, choosing my words carefully. 'Truth be told, I don't want them near me. As for this 'enemy', I'm guessing you mean the Prince? You know how he is, it's just a tantrum. A cry for attention. He gets those a lot.'

I hadn't been lying. Not really. Honestly, the only vampire I wanted to be away from was the Prince. It had been difficult to tell if Pat had believed me. She might have because I got the grand tour of the place. Or maybe she wanted me to think that she believed me. At that point, I didn't care. I wanted to go home. I didn't want to be anywhere these people. My entire being rejected their ideas.

Feeling my temples pound, I went into my bedroom. Even if these Purists did leave a message somewhere, I could take it to the police and file it under 'breaking and entering.' The media would gobble it up. I could see the news. 'Terrorist group terrorizes citizen' or something like that. Either way, it would draw attention to the Purists. Whether they wanted attention or not, it was hard to tell.

In the darkness of my room, I closed the door and leaned my back against it. At least I had a lawyer. If things got out of hand, I could inform him of what was happening and see what I could do so I wouldn't feel so powerless and helpless. Sure, it was impossible to know who to trust but I couldn't develop a paranoia right now. That would be the opposite of taking control.

"Where were you?"

I flinched. I was more impressed than surprised that the Prince managed to keep quiet and his hands to himself. At this point, I wasn't surprised. The Prince would never follow the new contract but I was too drained to feel anger. Sighing, I flipped the light switch. The Prince wasn't in my room.

A knock came from my window. I jumped. I really needed to stop doing that. So, technically, he wasn't in my room – smart a$$. Defensively, I crossed my arms.

"Like you don't know?" I countered. "I'm sure you had your people follow me."

"I'm asking you." His voice was low.

My eyes narrowed. "I went on a drive and met . . . some interesting people that I will never see again."

"Why didn't you come to school today?"

"Because I didn't feel like it."

Neither one of us spoke. Then, "that's wasn't what we agreed upon."

Speechless, I gaped at the window. "A-agreed upon?" I sputtered out. "Since when have you ever done anything that was 'agreed upon'? Uh, hello? Did you forget you tried to kill me the other night?"

He didn't reply.

"Yeah," I muttered. "That's what I thought. "

Exasperated, I sat on my bed. I glanced down at my hands as my heart raged against my chest. I swallowed thickly.

"You know that symbol I showed you?" I asked. Pressure built in my eyes. "Well, surprise. I found out who was behind it. Carlos . . . he knew about it." I cleared my throat. "Sure, he could be a pain but I never thought –" I shook my head. "You think you know someone but in the end, you're the biggest fool."

I took a deep breath trying to calm myself. "You should have listened to their nonsense. It was all about 'top of the food chain' and 'the perfect structure' – it was ridiculous. The scary part: they believe that stuff."

"Did they convince you?" the Prince asked.

Angrily, I shot up to my feet. "Let's get something straight," I growled out. "I don't like you. I'm fine with all the other vampires and humans that want to get along and solve things instead of causing problems. It's you and everyone else that insists to spout the nonsense of them vs us that makes me sick."

I breathed heavily ready to smack him if he appeared before me. How could he think that I would join these Purists? My hands curled into fists.

"You haven't done much either," the Prince finally retorted. "All you do is complain. You haven't done one thing to convince me that humans are worth keeping around like equals. From where I stand, you all deserve to be nothing more than cattle."

I crossed the space between the window and myself and yanked the curtain back – the Prince was gone.

Bastard.

Did he really think that one person defined a species?