The Vampire Prince graduates High School (Book 3)

We're Everywhere

A/N: Hello, readers. Camp National Novel Writing Month starts in July. I do plan on participating, but the chapter schedule will remain the same. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in watching me Prep for Camp NaNoWrimo and/or watching me try to write 50k words in a month. You can use the link below to tell me your thoughts. 

This is just to gauge interest. No other information will be collected. Thanks.

https://forms.gle/XZ6r8D4SVCjXWYey9 

"You could stay longer if you'd like."

It was hard not to look at Alexander as he casually leaned against the doorway, watching me pack. I brought one suitcase with me, but now I needed an extra one for all the gifts I'd gotten over the last few days. Many gifts were still arriving, and most of them would go into storage for the time being. Trevor was helping me send thank you notes to everyone.

"I have to go home eventually," I told him.

It had been a few days since the riot began. Trevor and I had set a rotation of giving them something to drink occasionally, but we also didn't want to encourage them to stick around.

I moved around the room, grabbing my socks out of the drawer.

Alexander tapped his chin. "You could just stay here."

"What about school?" I asked, throwing my socks into the suitcase. "We're so close to graduation. Plus, I still have to talk to my advisor and everything. "

Alexander stepped away from the doorframe. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm sorry," he said.

I sagged against him. "No," I said. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap."

He rubbed my back. "I was going to suggest getting some tutors instead."

I shook my head. "That be nice, but I want to go to school if only to get some sort of normalcy." I looked up at him. "Is that what you're doing?"

He sighed. "I'm taking the classes online," he admitted. "We worked something out with the school. Sorry, I can't be there with you."

"It's okay. I have Lisa and the girls with me. They'll keep everyone away. Besides, not everyone is noisy."

He chuckled. "They do a good job at that."

I wiggled free. "All right, back to packing. Mom and Dad have gone home, and they're expecting me."

Alexander hugged me again. He leaned close. "I'll keep Cami here," he said. "For protection."

"That would be smart. I know Noah appreciates the extra help. How is he, by the way?"

"He had Violet take a step back from the spotlight and doesn't want her in public, but that's not her style."

"He hasn't found where the leaks are coming from?"

"No, which makes me think they've been doing this for a long time. This level of secrecy couldn't be implemented in a few months. They've been doing this for many years."

"I guess everything was going fine until recently," I muttered.

"Could be."

"Will you be okay heading home alone?" he asked. "I wish I could get out of this meeting, but the advisors are adamant about it."

"I'll be fine. Joseph should be on his way back from dropping off my parents. As soon as he arrives, I'll leave."

Alexander helped me pack the rest of my things until it was time for him to go. A few minutes later, I received a message that the car was ready. I rolled the suitcases out of the room and down the hallway. With everyone being so busy, moving two suitcases on my own was fine.

I would only leave the house without anyone's attention by using the extra secret escape route. All I had to do was take the elevator down to the sub-basement using a secret code. I sent Alexander a message that I was leaving before entering the elevator.

Once I punched in the code, the elevator started moving. Thinking about it, it was unbelievable how everything had turned out. Now that the ceremony was over, I could focus on finishing high school. I had yet to learn where I was on that front, but I had emailed my advisor for a meeting. Hopefully, I wouldn't be too far behind.

The elevator reached the bottom floor. A black car waited for me a few feet away. It wasn't the usual car, but maybe they had filled it up. The trunk was opened, but there was no sign of the driver. Shrugging, I rolled the suitcases to the back and loaded them in. Once they were in, I tried the back door and found it unlocked.

The door closed when I slid in, and the driver got in.

"Where's Joseph?" I asked.

"He had a family emergency," the driver said. "I'm filing in for him."

"Is everything okay?"

"Uncertain, ma'am. But don't you worry. I'll get you where you need to be."

The car moved through the garage. I checked my email but found that I couldn't. It seemed like the garage didn't allow any signals to be sent out or in.

Once we were outside, I rechecked my email. Still no signal. I looked around. There were trees on the path blocking the view.

"I don't have any service," I told the driver. "Is that normal?"

"hmm? Oh, it's a secured path," he said.

"Right."

I looked around again. I couldn't be sure if this was how my parents got home.

"How long will it take to get home?" I asked.

"It'll take longer than expected," he replied. "This route makes it difficult for us to be tracked."

I bit my lip. That made sense, but my parents had texted me the whole way. There was no way they could do that without a signal.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Call me Phillip," he replied.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.

There was something about this, something that didn't sit right with me.

"Where you need to be," he repeated.

"Are you taking me home?"

Philip didn't reply. I took a deep breath. This was not good. Why didn't he answer? I grabbed the handle and tried to open the door. It didn't budge. I doubled checked the lock, but it wasn't locked—stupid child-proof doors.

"Who are you working for?"

"They told me you were smart. I guess I don't need to keep up the charade."

"Are you with the Extremists?"

"Is that what the public call us?" he asked.

"How did you get into the palace?"

"We're everywhere."

"What do you want from me?"

"You'll see soon enough."

A cloudy haze moved in front of me. I swatted at it. It was smoke. My vision swam. I quickly covered my nose, but I knew it was too late. The images lengthened, and everything went black.