Chapter 30
When she regained consciousness, Catalina found herself in a sterile-looking room that wasn’t larger than ten by five. Her injured arm was bandaged, which meant that a medical professional had treated her.
She sat up. There was no furniture to speak of in the room.
She sat on a concrete bench that seemed to function as a bed, and in one corner was a steel contraption that looked like a toilet and sink in one piece.
She shuddered. This was a jail cell, not a hospital room.
Why had the police brought her here, when clearly, she was a victim?
Every second of the horrifying incident at Delilah’s house replayed in her mind.
Ross had bitten her with his sharp fangs and drunk her blood, and there’d been no help from Benjamin, because as it turned out, he too was a vampire.
The only choice she’d had was to flee. But before she could tell the police officers that she’d encountered what had happened, she’d passed out from blood loss or shock. She had to tell them now.
She got up and walked to the steel door: a solid steel plate on the lower half and steel bars on the upper part. Through the bars, she could see into an area leading to other, similar cells.
“Hello? Guards? Please, help me! Please! I need to speak to you,” she called out.
When nobody appeared immediately, she banged against the steel plate. Suddenly the residents of other cells also banged on their doors. The resulting noise was deafening, but finally a guard appeared. A loud, shrill sound of a whistle silenced everybody.
This was her chance to make herself heard.
“Officer? Guard? Please, help me!”
A moment later, a large, heavy-set male guard stopped in front of her cell and looked at her.
“What?”
The word was more a challenge than a question, but she had to speak to him even though he looked like he wasn’t in the mood to listen to her.
“I’m sorry, Officer, but there’s been a mistake. I don’t belong here. I’m the victim of a crime. I was attacked.”
She lifted her bandaged arm as proof of her injury.
“Nice try. Give it a rest,” he snapped.
“But I’m not supposed to be in here. I haven’t done anything. I was attacked. Please, you have to speak to somebody. There are terrible people out there. They hurt innocents. Please.” She lowered her voice, not wanting the other prisoners to hear her. “A vampire bit me. Please, help me.”
“Oh, of course,” he now said, nodding. “You’re the crazy one they just picked up, mumbling about vampires and shit.” He shook his head. “Nice try getting a head start on an insanity defense, lady.”
“What?” Why would she need an insanity defense?
“Don’t play the idiot. The judge isn’t gonna like it when he arraigns you tomorrow morning.”
“Arraigns me? What for?”
“Attempted burglary,” he said with a shrug.
He leaned toward the bars. “Listen, you seem like a nice kid. Be smart. Admit to it right away, be respectful, and the judge will be lenient. And if you have no priors and you’re lucky, he’s gonna let you go on your own recognizance. Or at least, he’ll set the bail low.”
“But I didn’t do anything,” she protested. “I didn’t commit any…”
As she said it, her mind flashed back to the security video Benjamin had shown her earlier in the evening.
“Like I said, be smart about it. Now rest. It’s late.”
He turned away and walked out of her line of vision.
Fuck! Had the Prestons pressed charges? Would she now end up like her brother and sit in jail for a crime she didn’t commit?
This couldn’t be happening. And now she didn’t have anyone who would help her get out of this mess.
For all she knew, Benjamin wouldn’t lift a finger.
Besides, she wouldn’t accept any help from him now, because his help came with strings.
And she wasn’t prepared to pay for it with her body or her life.
Now that she knew he was a vampire, she knew exactly what he wanted from her: to suck her dry.
Sure, he’d keep her alive for a while, until he lost interest in her and drained her of the last drop of her blood.
She shuddered at that thought. How could she have been so wrong about him?
How could she not have sensed the evil beneath his perfect surface?
She’d let herself be blinded by his charm and good looks, his tender caresses and passionate lovemaking.
How could the man she loved be a monster? Why hadn’t her heart warned her?
She felt tears roll down her cheeks, and she didn’t even bother wiping them away. Everything was over now. She would sit in jail and be convicted of attempted burglary, and nobody would help her or her brother get justice.
Dejected, she sank to the cold concrete floor and buried her head in her hands, letting the sobs come and wash away every little piece of hope she’d ever had, while her heart broke into a million little pieces that she would never be able to piece together again.