Caroline was sitting cross-legged upright in the middle of the bed when Rebekka came in with her two companions the following day. The brochure, densely written in many places, lay on her lap.

"Someone has been busy," the vampiress noted with a quick glance at the first page. "You now have a chance to ask questions if there's anything you didn't understand or need more detailed explanations."

Caroline wondered if her expression was always so stilted.

"Hello." A polite start couldn't hurt. She cleared her throat. "Is there a limit to the questions? In number or range?"

Rebekka sighed deeply, sat back in the chair and folded her arms. "This is going to take longer, isn't it?"

Caroline smiled wryly. "Before I start, is your name really Rebekka and how should I address you, Ma’am?"

The rulebook explained that all high-ranking vampires, recognisable by the emblems of their clan that were always visibly worn, had to be addressed as My Lord or My Lady. All other vampires, regardless of whether they had a rank or not, were addressed with Sir or Madame. Family names did not exist or had been abolished to cut old ties.

Rebekka raised an eyebrow in surprise and hesitated for a moment. "Yes, my name is Rebekka. You can do without the Madame. There's no point in insisting on formalities for such a short time."

Caroline ignored the side blow. Before she could continue, Mr America approached her and held out his hand. "My name is Damien."

She grasped it and in contrast to his heat, she realised how icy hers was. Instead of letting go of Caroline after the handshake, he grabbed her second hand as well.

“You're cold,” he said with his eyebrows drawn together. Have you eaten anything since yesterday?" His gaze fell on the untouched bread sitting on the floor beside her bed.

"Yes, this morning," she answered truthfully. She concealed the fact that she had only managed to down one bite. He let go of her and she could have sworn he looked a little worried.

"I'm Daniel. Same with the formalities." The third vampire's voice emerged from behind Damien.

"After we finish the introductions, shall we get started? I don't have all day." Rebekka sounded annoyed, but Caroline didn't buy her attitude anymore.

"Okay," she began "just one more question about you three." She looked at them in turn. "What level of hierarchy are you on?"

From their uniforms, all three belonged to the Guard. This institution was a mixture of military, police and morality officers. It was peculiar that there were no badges. Everyone knew who they were subordinate to and what area of responsibility they had to manage. No egos were stroked by pinning colourful medals and flags to their chests.

Rebekka and Damien looked at each other briefly before Rebekka turned back to her. "Why is that relevant?"

"I want to be able to assess how important, or rather critical, my case is judged to be. For that, I would like to know what resources are being made available to prepare me."

She nodded curtly. "My rank is officer and my area of responsibility includes everything that concerns newcomers."

According to the pamphlet, humans and vampires who had lived on the island for less than five years were called newcomers. It surprised Caroline that she had an officer sitting in front of her. There were only three ranks on the watch: the commander, about a dozen officers and the crew.

She saw Daniel and Damien give each other a quick glance and Damien nodded slightly.

"I'm also an officer and my area covers everything to do with internal security," Daniel explained succinctly.

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Caroline nodded and made two quick notes. Two officers, then. Looking up, she was surprised to see Damien smiling. Presumably her eagerness amused him. "I am commander of the guard." His smile widened as her mouth dropped open. "Aren't you going to write that down?" he asked, this time unmistakably amused.

Caroline put the pen down on the sheets and ran her hands over her face.

"Okay, how come the commander and two officers..." She paused. "Ah, I think I understand. You" She pointed at Rebekka "are responsible for me being here and being instructed in rules and laws. I suppose you don't normally do that yourself, but there are special circumstances here." She hesitated for a moment. "And you feel partly responsible for what happened, don't you?"

Rebekka's gaze darkened a little. "I am fully responsible for what happened." She crossed her arms and Caroline realised she wasn't going to say anything more about it.

"You" she glanced at Daniel. "Are responsible for ruling out the possibility of me being a security risk of any kind."

Daniel said nothing and nodded curtly.

"And you" she turned to Damien "report directly to the King, so you can provide all the first-hand information he needs to make a decision, can't you?"

"I hope you understand better now what your position is?" Damien did not directly confirm her assumption, but that was not necessary.

"So I'm going to die for sure, and now the only question is in what way, isn't it?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Why did you even bother to save my life under that bridge?"

Damien stroked the back of his neck with his hand and moaned softly. "I can't guess what the verdict will be," he groaned. "You have to understand, we've never had this case before. We've never had one of our own perish in confrontation with a newcomer before a introduction into the community."

"And Damien saved your life because we had to question you," Rebekka rejoined. "Our point was not to punish you, but to eliminate any possible security breaches."

"You saved me?" Caroline looked at Damien in surprise. "How?"

"That would be going too far now. But in short, what gives us longevity has a salutary effect on your kind in smaller doses."

Caroline thought about his words for a moment, remembering the lips on her neck.

"That means the genetic variation in your DNA causes not only a halt to ageing but also rapid wound healing? Which is transferable, presumably through bodily fluids, locally and directly to humans?"

Rebekka opened her mouth, but apparently didn't know what to say, and closed it again. Daniel grinned and Damien even laughed softly.

"I don't see what's so funny about that." Caroline felt unexpected anger rising inside her. "In the last forty-eight hours I've been nearly killed, abducted, chained in a submarine, had my throat ripped open, I find out vampires are real and now want to burn me alive at the stake after a show trial."

She had to fight back tears again, but this time they were born of anger rather than panic. "Yes, I'm trying to understand and get to know everything that could prevent that. And damn, I could really use some help." She wanted to say more, but the fear that her voice would break silenced her.

"If you're expecting pity now ..."

"I don't need pity," She interrupted Rebekka cuttingly. "I need information and I need it by ten tomorrow morning." She took a deep breath. "You know perfectly well that I pose no threat to you." She looked Damien in the eye "You know quite well that I have neither the physical strength nor the intention to kill any of you. Above all, you know that to burn me would be unjustified and I believe that is precisely why you are still here."

With that last sentence, she ventured a shot in the dark. She didn't know where the certainty came from, but she had the impression that the three of them were not hostile to her. Even Rebekka. She was sure they wouldn't waste so much time and energy if they just wanted her dead. From what she witnessed they probably hadn't liked the vampire they'd killed very much either, and probably wouldn’t hold personal grudges. Besides, Caroline hoped for a spark of humanity and a personal dislike of unnecessary executions and torture. That's a hell of a lot of maybes!

No one said anything for a while.

"Let's assume you're right," Damien interrupted the silence. "Let's assume it really was a tragic accident that led to Jonathan's death. You just made the mistake of taking advantage of our inattention, defending yourself against a kidnapper trying to escape. It hardly matters."

He looked her straight in the eye. "Some of the elders, friends of Jonathan, have suffered a bitter loss. Besides, they have all been made to remember their mortality. They want blood!" He folded his arms in frustration. "Even if you get all the help in the world, you will hardly manage to make enough of them merciful."

"I don't need the world's help," Caroline said quietly. "Yours will do for now." She angled her legs and put her arms around them. "After all, it's not about escaping punishment. Just some proportionality." To her own surprise, that was the truth.

"Well, let's get going." Rebekka looked doubtfully at Damien, as if she thought she had misheard. He ignored her and continued. "We're here to determine if you're a threat and to prepare you for the process so that it goes smoothly. How detailed we do that is at our discretion."

He looked at Rebekka until she finally nodded. He walked over to Caroline, picked up the notes from the bedspread and thrust them into her hand, pen and all.

"What do you want to know?"