The Vampire Prince goes to High School (Book 1)

Face-to-Face

We stared at each other for a very long time. I couldn't move. I felt like a bird under the hungry gaze of a large snake.

"I - I didn't think you'd be here," I stammered out.

Micah didn't speak. Instead, he crossed his arms. My gut twisted. I knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted to be in control of the situation. But there was no time for that.

"But I'm g-glad that you are," I continued. "I'm sure you know that I talked to the Prince and -"

"Don't. talk. about. him. in. front. of. me." Each word was coated in hatred.

Unconsciously, I took a step back. Even after all this time, I was still afraid of him. I couldn't help it. Micah was unpredictable. I never knew what to expect of him or what he was going to do next.

"I didn't expect you to be the jealous type," I whispered.

Micah took a step forward. I had to force myself to stay still. While it was stupid of me to provoke him, I needed him to start talking.

"I'll never be jealous of him," he hissed out. "He's nothing but a spoiled brat. I can't believe you actually associated yourself with him."

I shrugged. "I didn't really have a choice. A f-friend got roped up in all of this and -"

"Ah, yes. The fool."

So Micah did know the Purists. I could only imagine that he was talking about Carlos.  He might have been their sponsor.

"He proved useful," Micah supplied, smirking.

"How so?" I asked casually.

He looked sharply at me. "Why are you so curious?"

I shrugged. "I just wanted to know how long you had been watching me."

"Not long," he confessed. "Your lawyers did a good job at hiding you and your family. Plus, my parents have been vigilant. They forced me to go to therapy. Can you believe that?"

I didn't answer him. Micah's parents were devastated to learn that their son had been taking advantage of me. It was all kept secret from the public to protect me more than anything. Looking back at it now, I was sure that, as vampires, they didn't want this to get out to the public so they agreed to all the terms.

"I can't imagine why," I muttered. I cleared my throat. "But why did you look for me? Why do all of this?"

"Do what?" Micah asked. "What exactly have I done? Tell me."

"Those notes?" I blurted out. "You left them in my locker at school and -"

"I assure you that I never left anything in your locker."

"So, you had others do it for you."

He shrugged. "Think what you want."

Micah was smart. There was no way he was outright going to say anything outright.

"At least the Prince never kept anything hidden from me," I blurted out. "He always told me what he wanted to do. He never lied to me. He never hurt me."

Micah appeared in front of me, his hands around my neck. I froze,  breathing heavily.

"I told you to never speak about him in front of me."

"So, you are jealous," I forced out. "You wanted me to hurt him saying that I didn't believe in him because you know he's better than you."

Micah started to squeeze. I grabbed his wrists, knowing full well that I wasn't going to be able to do anything to him. Blood pounded in my ears.

"You framed Alexander because you couldn't bear the sight of us together. You didn't want to accept the fact that I chose him over you!"

The next thing I knew, I was airborne. I was suspended in mid-air for a few seconds before landing heavily on my arm. The wind rushed out of me. My head smacked against something. Dots flashed across my vision.

"How is he better than me?! He doesn't know you as I do. We grew up together. I never wanted to control you but you left me no choice. You spent so much time with other humans - why? Was I not enough for you?"

Groaning, I laid on the ground, unable to move. Micah lifted me, cupping my head in his hands. His eyes were pools of crimson. I saw myself reflected in them. One move and he could crush my head.

"I was your friend," I whispered. "I wasn't going to leave you. They wanted to get to know you. How could you think that I wasn't going to be your friend anymore?"

Growling, Micah pushed me away. I stumbled back, tripping over my own feet and falling. Micah paced around like a wild animal. His hands clenched and unclenched.

"Don't lie to me," he hissed, stepping forward. "I didn't need them. All I needed was you and you betrayed me. You hurt me. That's why I had to hurt you too."

"Is that why you did all of this? Why you used the Purists to frame Alexander? Why you've been eavesdropping and spying on me?"

Micah came to a halt. "Alexander?" he asked. "Is that was he's calling himself?" He threw his head back and laughed. "Don't be so quick to trust, Rin. His royal pain in the ass has many names. He likes coming up with them himself."

Wincing, I forced myself to stand. "I don't care," I said. "To me, he is Alexander. To me, he is  . . . someone special."

Micah stalked towards me. "You will never be with him. He's going to be executed for his crimes if I have anything to say about it. Honestly, it was just too easy. He brought it upon himself, you know.

"You should have seen him before. He was so trusting of humans. He loved them and then they stabbed him in the back. He's the one who forced everyone into hiding because his feelings got hurt."

I held myself. This was the first time anyone had hears about this.

"At least that's a better reason than your own," I shot back. "You were scared of abandonment. He has more reason to act the way he does than you."

"That attitude is going to be the death of him. The public just loves it. They want any reason to blame vampires. All I had to do was give it to them. After all, you humans gave me the idea after all. All I had to do was a vampire appear as another vampire."

The breath got stuck in my throat. Pressure built behind my eyes. I looked at Micah. I was speechless.

"Why?" I choked out. "Why hurt those people? You didn't have to do this."

"Believe me I did. There was no other choice. Once your precious Prince is dead, I'll show you how wrong you were to choose him."

I took a step back. "I'm not going to let you hurt me again."

Micah smiled. "You won't be able to do anything." He spread his arms wide. "Sit back and enjoy the show, Rin. I'm telling you, it's going to be worth it."

Then Micah simply vanished. My legs gave out from under me. I didn't even notice when I hit the ground.

A/N: There are only two chapters left until the end! It's been such a long journey to finally get here. Thanks for all the support you've shown to me and my writing. You guys are amazing.