Chapter 16: Conference

Death glares followed me everywhere.

I kept my chin up as I walked into school. The news vans were back. The world was finally going to get what it wanted: a statement from the Royal family with a special interview with a certain high school student. I had read over the script and basically, they were all the questions that were going to be asked. It was all censored. It was all rigged.

My parents got this information like the rest of the world this morning with the morning news. Not only was I grounded for not telling them last night – in my defense, it was late last night – but I also needed to appear at this event. I was supposed to speak in front of all those cameras. What I wanted to know if there were only going to be vampires. Sure, I'd been alone in a room of vampires before but not this many. Just the thought of it made my stomach churn.

Not to mention that none of this had exactly helped my situation with those terrorists. Thankfully, I hadn't found any more threats – as of now- but I'm sure that was going to change.

At this point it felt like the contract had been thrown out the window. Now it was just there for decoration.

"I guess you got your 15 minutes of fame."

Just as I reached the front entrance of the school, I stopped. Someone just had to say something. With a sigh, I turned around. A girl stood before me, polished and she reminded me of a clown. I also didn't know who she was. Like always, a crowd had started to form around us.

"What fame?" I asked tiredly.

Please let someone explain to me how anything that had happened to me was fame.

"Don't act stupid," the girl said. "You set the whole thing up."

I rubbed my face. My temples were beginning to pound and I hadn't gotten much sleep last night. The fear of never waking up would do that to you.

"Are you really listening to yourself right now?" I asked. "If you really believe that then you're stupid."

At this point I could care less about her jealousy. It was stupid. Why would I ever want any of this? Why would I set up this headache to myself? The girl stepped closer and I tensed. Her face was flushed and she looked ready to throw punches.

"Look," I told her. "Take your jealously elsewhere. It's pathetic."

I turned around and nudged the people out of my way. There was a shout behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the girl being restrained by her friends.

"Let it go," I heard someone say.

"She's not worth it," said another.

"Let me go, I'm going to rip her eyes out."

My eyes narrowed. Clenching my teeth, I went inside.

"After all that effort, I put into getting into her head, there was nothing to show for it."

The voice was smooth and there was amusement in there. His words didn't register until I was in front of my locker. Speechless, I swirled to look at him.

"Don't you use your mind powers on me," I sputtered out.

The Prince smirked and leaned against the lockers. Taking a deep breath, I ignored him and opened my locker. He wanted to provoke me and I wasn't going to let that happen. I was too tired. Tired because of lack of sleep and tired of everyone – mainly him – telling me what I had to do.

Despite all of this, I couldn't help but saying, "It was so nice and quiet without you. Shame you had to come back."

The Prince chuckled. Nothing fazed him. "You ready for tonight?"

Something inside of me suddenly flared. I turned to face him and the anger just vanished. The Prince's face was expressionless and, at the moment, no one could mistake him as not being a vampire. Sure, he put on his charm and flirted with almost everyone, but right now, he was different. There was no charm to him and he didn't try to hide his predatory aura. Everyone in the hallway could feel it and stayed away.

I was itching to leave too but his eyes kept me in place. A whimper crawled its way up my throat. I clenched my jaw and took a deep breath.

"I . . ." I forced out. "You . . . haven't told me anything about this. How can I be 'ready'?"

Miraculously, the Prince's aura vanished. The entire hallway took a deep breath. My mind was blank. The words that I wanted to say were just gone. I found myself leaning against the lockers. The coolness of the metal cooled my head.

"You were told enough."

The anger returned. There was no winning with him. I was so done right now. When I turned to face him, he was gone. Despite my anger, his absence worried me. While he was still arrogant and annoying, he wasn't as playful as before. Maybe he had finally gotten through his head to give me some personal space which was fine by me but it felt weird.

A part of me wanted to enjoy the freedom. Yet another part wouldn't let me. It's not like I cared for the Prince. I didn't but he had been so . . . angry the day I showed him the symbol on the pizza box. Honestly, I wanted to know what he had found.

When I walked into the classroom, the Tutor wasn't present. Some loud techno music and beeping sounds came from the Prince's cellphone. It looked like the rumors were true. He did like playing mobile games. I approached my desk and placed my bag pack on it. Stiffening my spine, I cleared my throat. He didn't notice.

I opened my mouth to speak but stopped. Come to think about it, I didn't even know his name. I cleared my throat.

"So," I said, "did you find anything on what I gave you?"

The music and beeping continued. I crossed my arms. Although I wasn't thrilled to be under his menacing gaze again, I had to know. This involved my safety and that of my family's. I continued to stand there for a few seconds but he didn't speak.

"It's rude to ignore people when they're trying to talk to you."

I was really getting tired of that jungle.

"Hey!"

I took a step closer and stopped abruptly. Mentally, I kicked myself. The award for insensitive comment goes to me. Calling anyone 'hey' instead of their name was rude. At least that's how I saw it. I rubbed my face.

"Sorry," I muttered. In a louder voice I said, "I don't even know your name. What do I call you?"

The music stopped. I watched the Prince straightened and glance over his shoulder. "You didn't know?" he asked. "Call me 'Your Highness'."

My eyes narrowed into a glare. Without batting an eye, the Prince turned around and the music started up again.

"Good Morning," the Tutor said walking into the classroom. "Miss Borek, why don't you take a seat and I'll explain what's required of you tonight."

#

"This is a mistake," I muttered to myself. "Anyone who knows me will see right through her."

Feeling my stomach churn, I paced back and forth in the sound booth. I couldn't hear any of the guests in the building but I could picture them. Vampires and Humans grabbing their names tags and being lead to the reception hall where they would later be invited into the conference room and ask questions. It was more like a panel than a press conference.

It had all been a lie – my appearance at the press conference wasn't required. I didn't have to memorize any lines. This whole thing was a set up. Not only had the Royal family lied to me but they had also lied to everyone. At this point, I didn't know why that came as a surprise.

Earlier today, I had gotten home and found a turquoise dress on my bed. My mom had gone out and bought it so I could wear it to the press conference. She had curled my hair and put some make-up on me to look 'presentable' for the occasion. Then, the security sector took me to the George Pavilion – the conference hall named after the first human who find evidence of vampire existence – where I was taken to meet my twin.

Maybe that's the wrong word. No, she wasn't my twin. All the prosthetic make-up made her my look alike – my stunt double. It was like staring in a mirror of a prettier version of yourself. In one of the back rooms, it had been set up to look like a salon. There were hair dressers (all human) and even racks of clothes lined up but to make matter's worse, they had me undressed so that my stunt double could look the part. My hairdo was copied and all I was left with was a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. The hairdressers washed out my hair and even my make-up was removed.

My role in the press conference: I was to answer questions through a microphone while my stunt double repeated those same words to the audience.

I should have just stayed home. It would have been less of a headache if I had recorded my answers beforehand. With a sigh, I took a seat on the stool that was graciously provided. The tech people promised that everything had been checked twice and there shouldn't be any connection issues. Right because, that was my biggest concern.

There was a knock on the door and I felt myself flinch.

"Jumpy, are we?"

With a yell, I shot up only to fall on my ass. Laughter echoed inside the room. I groaned. With a grunt, I hauled myself up. The Prince shook with laughter and even pretended to wipe the tears from his eyes. All I could do was glare. My face had started to heat up.

"Why aren't you at the conference?" I forced out. "Leave."

"Do you honestly think any one of the Royal family is even here? Well, except for me."

I opened my mouth and closed it. He had a point. "So, it's all a set up."

"Yes."

I glanced at the microphone. "Am I even needed here?"

"Seems like you can use your brain," the Prince said. "Not really. Your twin already knows how to answer any question regarding the whole incident."

"So, I'm just here because your family wanted me to be at ease and feel like I was part of this."

"Give the woman a prize!"

My shoulders dropped. "This was a waste of time."

At this point, I don't think I was surprise. They just did anything and everything they liked and expected me to go along.

"I'm done."

I walked past the Prince and grabbed the door knob. His hand slammed against the door preventing it from budging.

"Excuse me?"

I didn't bother to turn around. "You heard me."

"You signed a contract," the Prince hissed in my ear. "You're not allowed to walk away."

"Screw that!"

I swirled around and found myself face-to-face the Prince. "I'm so sick and tired of being dragged around!" I yelled. "There is no contract anymore! Don't you see that?"

The Prince stepped back.

"I'm going home."

I opened the door and walked out into the hallway. The guards moved to stop me but froze. So, the Prince was letting me leave. Seemed like I finally got through to him. The victory didn't feel so good. I stalked down the hallway ignoring the security guards, the hairdressers, event staff, the VIP guests, etc. I was sure that no one would be able to recognize me in sweat pants.

As I navigated through the building, I searched for my phone . . . and didn't find it. Oh right, the staff took that too. Security reasons and whatnot. The Royal family probably didn't want me to out them on how they used stunt doubles. I stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked up at the white ceiling. How was I supposed to get home?"

"Need a lift?"

"Here to laugh again?" I asked with turning around.

"Yes or no?" the Prince asked.

I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. I also didn't want to look at him. Against my better judgement, I nodded. I prepared myself for his laughter but it didn't come. Instead, I felt a hand on my back guiding me forward. I started walking feeling my heart pound against my rib cage. Why was the Prince touching me? Why wasn't I moving away? Wait, was this even the Prince?"

Realizing that I was probably walking with a stranger, I took a peak at the figure behind me. Yup, that was the Prince. His face was neutral but even if he had a stunt doubt, I was sure I could tell the difference. Feeling uncomfortable, I quickened my step but his hand returned to my lower back.

At the end of the hall, instead of going through the lobby, the Prince guided me to the left where signs pointed to the garage. The noises and voices faded behind us. By this time, my anger had somewhat faded and the mood made the silence worse.

"Where are your body guards?" I asked.

"You sound like Violet." His response was curt.

"You're taking me home?"

He didn't answer my question. We reached the end of the hall and came to a stop in front of an elevator. We took it down to the ground floor. It was only when the doors opened to reveal the garage that the Prince removed his hand. He stepped out with a pair of keys in his hand. I hesitated before following him out.

It was hard to tell which car belonged to him. They were all shiny and new and expensive looking. We walked to the back of the garage and came to a stop in front of a blue car. It was slick and had a curve to its body. It was a shame I couldn't really appreciate it. The Prince walked to the driver's side. For some reason, my feet wouldn't move. Was he really going to take me home or was he playing a joke? Then again, I didn't really want to stay here and I didn't have my phone or any other means of going home.

I walked over to the passenger side and got in. The leather seat squeaked underneath me. The inside had that brand-new car smell. I closed the door and put my seat belt on. The Prince could survive car crash. I couldn't. The engine turned over and the Prince peeled out of his parking space. I closed my eyes feeling my body swayed against the sudden momentum.

Moments later when I opened my eyes, we were on the street. Miraculously, we weren't speeding. The lamp posts went past us at a moderate speed. At a closer look, we weren't even on the main road. We were on the back roads and avoiding all the traffic. I kept my gaze on the blurring buildings. No need to make this more uncomfortable than it was already.

I cleared my throat. "Thanks for taking me home."

"Who said anything about taking you home?"

I turned to face him so quickly I felt my neck creak. "What?"

Our eyes met. His were back to being mischievous. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Don't kid around," I told him. "Take me home."

A smile pulled at the side of his lips. I forced myself to look forward. He was joking. Of course, he was. He had to be. The car came to a stop at a light. The trick was to stay calm. I couldn't let him see that I was upset. It took all my effort to take a deep breath and look at him. From the corner of my eye, I saw the light changed.

I opened my mouth to speak but stopped. Flickering lights appeared on outside his window. The car lurched forward and the lights grew closer and closer.

"W-wait-!"

My warning came to late. The crash slammed by body against the door and my limbs flailed in all directions. Pain exploded against my head and everything went black.