I pulled my foot free of the undergrowth and almost stumbled into the asylum's clearing. I froze, hearing the men talking. Instinctively, I got down. They weren't actively looking around the outside property but they had set up lights and yellow tape crisscrossed every opening into the building, adding a new layer to the decrepit exterior.

My breath quickened. They were already here. Was Scarlett in there still? Had they nabbed her already? I sucked in a breath and ran my eyes across the building's face, checking each window for her figure or even a glint of that pink eye reflection. 

She was nowhere to be seen. That made sense. I also didn't see any police cars with people in the back seat so perhaps they hadn't found her. I had to hope. What would the police do with a vampire anyway? Was there a special task force to deal with supernatural creatures? I didn't know.

It took me by surprise how quickly I'd gone from not believing in so much as a ghost to believing that Scarlet was the real deal.

I had no flashlight of any kind to navigate the woods with, so I ended up making a lot of noise. But the crickets were surprisingly effective at covering it up for me. And the officers standing by the door seemed to be casually chatting away and not paying much attention.

I circled the building, looking for a way in, but they'd covered every entry point with that yellow crime scene tape. There was no way in or out. 

I came back to my starting point. The officers were still chatting.

What could I do? Was there a vampire power Scarlet could use to get out of there? They had things like hypnosis and compulsion right? But then why did she be so aggressive with that security guard if she could just lull him closer? What else?

Improved senses. 

"Scar," I whispered. I didn't even know what to do if she heard me. "Scarlet," I pressed. I looked around. She was still nowhere in sight. Not in the building or what I could see of the woods.

I waited for an eternity. The officers finished their chat and started sweeping their flashlights back and forth across the property. I ducked down as one came close.

It was time to go. She wasn't here and I wasn't helping her at all by being here. I turned around and gasped as I saw the pink of her eyes staring at me from slightly deeper in the woods.

I held a hand over my mouth as I slowed my breathing. 

She came closer, giving me a good look over. "You came back," she whispered. Her voice was getting a bit stronger each time I heard it.

I nodded. I guessed by the way her eyes shined like a cat's she had decent night vision. "Let's go," I told her and reached out to take her hand.

She pulled away from me and simply stared with those almost-glowing eyes. Her lips parted and the very tips of her canines were visible. They were just long enough to be noticable. 

"It's okay," I reassured her. "They're looking for that security guard." I looked up at the men patrolling around. "Or….I guess they already found him."

"Are you one of them?" she asked.

"Police? No. I– I'm sorry, I guess I did bring them here but I didn't know— I wouldn't have–" I couldnt quite out the words together. I regretted going to the cops now.

Not only had I been humiliated, now that I wasn't humiliated Scarlet was put in danger. Elias was right. I shouldn't have gone to them.

"I'll bring you somewhere to hide," I reassured her. "Will you trust me?"

She looked past me at the asylum. Her eyes were steadily following the men's movements.

"You promise you're not one of them?" she asked.

"Of course not." I offered my hand again. This time she took it willingly and I led her down the hill. The further from the cops we got the more we relaxed. I didn't let out my breath until we had finally gotten to my house and crawled through the bedroom window. Scarlet stared at me all the while and huddled down in a dark corner.