A stack of papers lay on her lap. Twenty-six pages. Caroline could not manage to concentrate on the text. Her thoughts circled around the last part of the conversation with the three vampires. She could think and pronounce the V-word by now without finding it strange. She wouldn't care if they had been witches, ghosts or werewolves either. They wouldn't just kill her, suck her dry or enslave her. They would execute her publicly. Hang her, behead her or, what scared her the most, probably burn her alive.

After Rebekka had enlightened her that Mr Psycho was a member of the island community's parliament, she had thrown the stapled sheets of paper onto her bed. In it, besides general information about the island, were the rules and laws and the recommended punishment for violations.

"Every newcomer is tested for knowledge and understanding of the rules before being introduced to the community. You have a right to this information as well, despite everything. Perhaps you will find something helpful to your trial."

"Trial?" The word had snapped Caroline out of her stupor. "There will be a trial?"

"Yes. As I said, the King and Parliament will decide what to do with you."

"That means the punishment, the sentence, has not yet been decided?"

"No. There is always a little leeway. On the scale you're on though ..." She hadn't finished the sentence.

"How does this work?" asked Caroline in a panic as Rebekka made her way to the door. "Do I get a lawyer? Or something like that?"

Rebekka had stared at her in disbelief for a moment and Mr America had let out a short humourless laugh.

"You will have an opportunity to state your case and show remorse. That concludes your part." Before Caroline could ask further, Rebekka continued, "Read this carefully. We will come back tomorrow and you will have a chance to ask pertinent questions. The trial is scheduled for ten in the morning the day after tomorrow."

With those words they had left the room and the two men had followed her.

She stared at the wall, minutes or hours, and finally began to study the text. After the first few pages, her hands shook and hot tears prevented her from reading on. Those vampires meant business.

Some punishments were divided according to which species committed the crime or to which the victim belonged. For example, it was legitimate for vampires to enter the living quarters of humans at any time, at least with prior notice. Conversely, it could result in up to four whiplash for a human to enter a vampire's property uninvited. The punishments were draconian and seemed medieval. Looking at who she was dealing with, it was comprehensible. At least if she assumed that long life or even immortality were among the vampiric qualities.

Caroline thought about the fact that there were still public floggings and executions in the Middle East. She was aware that so far she had been outrageously lucky to live in a country where physical violence was not a daily occurrence for most people. That was certainly over now.

Simple imprisonment or even fines were also listed, but in addition to lashes, there were also worse physical punishments such as breaking a limb for grand theft or a certain number of days or weeks in the extraction. Caroline resolved to ask tomorrow what this was exactly. She remembered that Rebekka had already used the term on the boat when she was kidnapped, and saw from the brief description that it was about taking blood. Blood. Another point that was probably not fiction.

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For Caroline, the penalties for capital offences were most relevant. Executions were common and these varied in cruelty depending on severity, intention, effect on society and remorse.

There were two examples listed: The first described a man named Roderick who had organised and led an uprising against vampire rule about half a century ago. He had his head publicly cut off with an axe. The second case described the murder of a vampire named Rosalinde about eighty years ago. A human, Henry, had entered her bedroom and carried out the deed. It was not written how exactly he had killed her, only that he belonged to her ‘family’. Caroline would also have to find out the meaning of this word in the new context. She made notes with a pencil she had found in the bedside table next to the soap, towel, toothbrush and a body cream. Henry had been burned. Alive at the stake. In the middle of the market square.

In her mind's eye she saw abducted people sitting in bare rooms, studying their new laws. She imagined them reading her name, Caroline, and the description of how she had been executed for killing a vampire. That was the moment she fully realised she was going to die. Head between her knees, shaken by deep sobs, she allowed herself to break down and sink into self-pity for the first time since long.

Her face was wet with sweat, snot and tears by the time she had calmed down a little. A little cold water would help. She got up to go to the sink but her legs gave way shakily. She had overestimated the healing process as her whole body shook and the cramping pain in her limbs was present again. She didn't even try to get up and let the tears run free again.

Images of medieval witch trials and instruments of torture appeared to her. She suppressed the thought of how terrible the pain had been when she had burnt her hand on an oven tray. That had only been a second in a small spot. She didn't want to imagine what it must have felt like to have flames eating through skin and flesh.

The thin nightgown she was wearing did not protect her from the cold and after only a few minutes she was completely frozen. When she managed to get up and drag herself to the sink, there was only cold water. Somewhat cleaned up but shivering, she looked around. Her clothes were gone. Including underwear, she noticed with a quick glance down at herself. Normally it would bother her and she would want to know who had taken them off and put them back on, but that was of secondary importance at the moment. She crawled into bed under the covers, flicked aimlessly through the papers and felt panic rising again.

Okay, that's enough, she scolded herself. Get a bloody grip on yourself! You're not going to show up to the trial in a heap of misery, and you're not going to assume that this thing is already over! You will get off your ass and do everything in your power to prevent the worst from happening.

Power. A big word. What power did she have in this strange world? She put the sheets down with a shaky sigh, closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing.

Deep in, slow out, over and over. She opened her eyes, let them glide over the room. She saw a mirror, the light switch on the wall, a small spider in the corner, the door handle and the flat window under the ceiling. Deep in, slow out.

She felt the stiff fabric of the duvet in her hands, her breath as it flowed out of her, an uncomfortable scratch in her throat and how the nightgown lifted a little from her chest with each breath and settled back on it. Her heartbeat calmed and breathing became easier.

She heard her breathing, she heard the dripping of the tap and she heard the crackling of the polyester duvet in her hands.

Caroline felt the sensory exercise doing its work. She couldn't think, let alone make anything happen, when she was panicking. It was all too easy to fall into shock and disbelief in extreme situations. Rational action was impossible then. She had to ground herself, acknowledge the new reality and analyse her options calmly.

She smelled iodine that had been used to disinfect her wounds and a pungent detergent that had been used to scrub the floor. She tasted the lingering sweetness of the throat lozenge Rebekka had given her.

Caroline closed her eyes again and breathed. She had power over herself. Power over her thoughts, feelings and actions. And she would not let it be taken away so easily.

When she opened her eyes this time, she was ready. She grabbed the pencil and began to read eagerly. She still lacked a lot of information, but she had already learned a lot.

Focus on what you have, not what you lack. She tried to remember every detail of her abduction, every observation on the way through the city and every word of the conversations with vampires and fellow prisoners. She hadn't got this far in her professional life because she looked pretty. She would digest whatever information was available to her and she would give them a trial that would be remembered for a long time.