“Where did you get the money to buy drugs?”
“Who else in your circle takes drugs?”
“Your father mentioned a breakup. Dis your ex take drugs too?”
“Who is your dealer?
“Do you have any links to the underground racket that was discovered two years ago?”
My lips curved in an involuntary smile as the officer continued to question me. It felt good to be questioned like a normal person; not having to think about Andres or any of that crazy supernatural stuff.
“What are you grinning about? Do you think you can escape the hands of the law?” He growled in frustration. This only made me smile wider. He turned almost purple with rage.
His fist came slamming on the table. “Once your medical reports are here, I will wipe that smirk off your face.”
Oh yeah! The medical reports. Once they are here, it will be proven that I didn’t take any drugs. I will have to come up with some other story then.
A long sigh left my lips, and I stretched my arms. The prison life wasn’t that bad. I could read books and do physical labor; most importantly, I wouldn’t turn into a monster and harm the ones I love. The sense of contentment bubbling within me flowed out in a soft hum.
I was stupid to think that I had come up with a perfect solution. How could an inexperienced girl’s wit and planning overpower the shrewdness of a centuries-old vampire?
That night, the sharp clanking of a baton against the iron bars jolted me awake. My breath got caught in my throat seeing Andres standing outside the door. His lips lifted in a cruel smirk. “Did you really think that these stupid bars can protect you from me?”
I gulped and drew in deep breaths to calm myself. Gathering what little courage I had, I got to my feet. “Yes, I do think these bars can protect me. You would need Officer Mark’s permission to enter. Unfortunately, he has already gone home.”
My voice grew a bit more confident as I continued talking, “You should leave, too.”
His expression turned sinister as he turned to face the guard and wiggled his finger at the man. “Come here.”
“What do you want now? I have already allowed you to talk to her beyond visiting hours. This is the most I can do.”
Andres’s lips lifted in a cruel smile as he cupped the guard’s face with both his palms, “Get the keys and unlock the door.”
The guard’s eyes glazed over and he walked to the keyholder as if he were hypnotized. To my horror, he grabbed the keys and unlocked the cell despite my protests.
Stella’s words flashed in my mind, ‘Some vampires have the power of compulsion. They can compel human beings and weaker vampires to do their bidding.’
I scrambled backward as the familiar sense of dread gripped me in its clutches once again. I had tried so hard, but he managed to get to me, anyway.
Andres grabbed my wrist and injected me with the contents of a small vial. “This will prevent your body from overreacting.”
My body went limp in his arms as the drug took effect. He had given me a hefty dose of anesthetic to paralyze me. His expression turned icy and his jaws clenched, “I had warned you against trying anything stupid, but you didn’t listen.”
My heart had started beating so wildly that it seemed like it was going to explode. I wanted to kick and thrash; I wanted to scream but the effect of the drug rendered me motionless.
He drew closer and brushed the back of his knuckles against my collarbones, “I will punish you for what you have done, but first let us finish this, shall we?”
When he bit me this time, I couldn’t feel anything. A strange numbness kept me trapped in its embrace. Once Andres was done, he let me slump on the ground like a rag doll and walked out; locking the door behind him.
***
I don’t know how long I had been sleeping, but when I woke up, I found Officer Mark waiting for me. He opened the gate and led me to a coach.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I couldn’t be presented before the judge before the medical reports were out. I got into the coach with a sigh. My plan had failed colossally, and none of this mattered, anyway.
The ride was a quiet one. He didn’t ask me any questions but his gaze kept darting towards me again and again. His lips would part as if he wanted to say something, but then he would look away again.
“You need to be strong, Miraya,” he said in a tender voice as he helped me get down. “This is not going to be easy for you.”
The frown on my forehead deepened. What was the matter with him? Why was he being so kind all of a sudden?’
I was going to ask him about it when my gaze landed on the small cottage. We were at the Robinson Villa. My heart skipped a beat, and my eyes widened. “Why are we here, officer?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Robinson….” His voice turned a bit raspy, and he shook his head. His expression told me that something really bad had happened. Without waiting for him to complete his sentence, I extracted my hand from his grip and rushed inside.
My steps faltered at the threshold when I saw two bodies lying side by side. My hair bristled and my heart jumped to my throat.
A female police officer walked up to me and held my hand. “I am sorry, Miraya. We could not save them.”
“Save whom?”
A strong gust of wind blew the shrouds off bodies; revealing their faces. I staggered and crashed against the wall. Emma, Daniel? No, it couldn’t possibly be them. How could they die? When I met them three days ago, they were perfectly fine.
My mind blanked out, and I slumped to the ground; too numb to react. This had to be a bad dream or some kind of hallucination caused because of the vampire venom. I shook my head vehemently. I would soon wake up and find myself in the cell of the prison.
“Miraya!” Cassius’ voice sounded, drawing my attention to the doorway. His face was extremely pale; his eyes bloodshot. He rushed towards me and pulled me into a tight hug. “I am so sorry, Miraya. I am so sorry. I wish I had come to meet your parents; talked to them or done something, you know. If they had someone to support them morally, they wouldn’t have taken their own lives.”
I pulled away as a gasp left my lips. “They took their own lives?”
Cassius shut his eyes tightly, his grip around me tightening, “They… umm… When they found out that you were so depressed that you had to take drugs, they couldn’t bear it. They… um… blamed themselves for it and committed suicide.”
I shook my head and snapped in a frantic voice, “They would never do that. Daniel, and Emma; they can never do something like committing suicide. This is just not possible, Cassius.” I was screaming hysterically at this point. I punched his chest and cried out, “Please tell me that this is not true, Cassius. Please tell me that I am not the cause of their deaths.”
Cassius cupped my face and forced me to look at him. “I can tell you flowery lies if you want, but denial isn’t going to help you, Miraya. The only way to get through this is to accept the truth.”
“I am not in denial. My father is a strong man, Cassius. He would never commit suicide, never!” I shouted, freeing myself from his grip.
I ran out to find Officer Mark discussing the case with another officer. He stopped talking the moment his gaze landed on me; his expression turning softer. “I am releasing you on temporary bail so that you can put your parents to rest properly.”
His words hit me hard and it dawned on me that I would never see Emma or Daniel again; whether they had killed themselves or not was of no consequence. I could never see their smiles; or feel the warmth of their hugs.
My body broke out into a bout of violent shivering. Someone placed a coat around me and led me inside. I don’t know what happened after that. I was so overwhelmed with grief that nothing registered in my brain.