 
**Blood Pact**

Sharon Rose Mayes

Copyright 2013 by Sharon Rose Mayes

Smashwords Edition

# Chapter 1

"Riley, this is a bad idea," I said to myself as I looked around the park that just seemed to grow darker by the minute. I sighed and wondered where my team was; I had been sitting on the back of my car for what seemed like forever waiting for them to show up. We were supposed to be hunting for a group of vampires that the organization believed had been killing people in the park recently.

Checking out my surroundings, I could no longer see the sun over the trees to the west, and the soft streetlights around the park had already started to come on. The low chirping of the grasshoppers and crickets and the subtle movements of the small animals in the nearby woods were actually comforting. Because they were still making noise, I knew that there were no vampires nearby. Animals didn't like vampires , and they would have left if one were nearby.

"Where the hell is everybody?" I said to myself in frustration. The organization always sent us to the same place at the same time, no exceptions . I was annoyed with myself for not talking about the mission with the rest of the team before I had come out to the park. I wondered if we were sent somewhere else at the last minute , and I didn't get the message. I hopped off the trunk of my car and walked around to the driver side door to retrieve my cell phone so that I could check for messages or at least send a message to my teammates to see what was going on. It was hard to believe that the organization would have just forgotten to contact me or any of my teammates about our orders.

What if they did? I asked myself. I erased those thoughts from my mind because it just wasn't possible. Not sending us out as a team would be like sentencing one of us to death if we were to run into a group of vampires.

I grew up part of the organization Spencer, Watson and Associates, just like my mother did and her father and so on all the way back to the founding of the organization. My great-great-great or even further back grandfather was one of the founders. My friends and fellow teammates , Taylor's, Kyle's, and Samantha's families were also members at the beginning of the organization. My friends and fellow teammates, Taylor, Kyle, and Samantha, all had family members involved right from the beginning, too.

Shaking myself from my thoughts I noticed that the insects and small animal noise nearby had stopped. I cursed under my breath and reached for the car's door handle. I opened my car door as fast as I was able and reached in for my katana. It was lying over on the passenger seat, but as I reached over for it , I was quickly pulled out of the car. Faster than I could blink , I was turned around and thrown back against my car. My assailant was a vampire that had about a foot on me in height and probably about a hundred pounds on me in weight with stringy brown hair that was sticking up wildly around his head.

"Hey boys , look what we have here," he called out as two other vampires came up behind him. Getting out of the situation without a weapon was going to be hard. Normally, I would have had my team with me and a weapon of some sort in my hand.

Where was my team? I needed Sam armed with her guns loaded with silver bullets, or Lucas and Ben with their swords ready to cut off a vampire's head. I also missed Taylor and Kyle. I could have certainly used them all.

I realized that I couldn't just stand there dwelling on being alone. I looked around the giant vampire at the others. One was a blonde with slicked back hair that was around my height of 5'5 ", and the other a round one that outweighed the giant by about fifty pounds. To get out of the situation, I was going to have to think on my feet and quickly.

With all of my strength, I brought my knee up and kneed the giant vampire in the groin. Vampire or not, it still would be painful and temporarily incapacitate any male. It worked because as soon as he was doubled over in pain, I ran , hoping I would get a head start on the other two vampires. My best option was to run towards the entrance of the park and hope that my team would show up.

I could hear them cursing and snarling as they composed themselves and followed after me. As they gained on me, I decided that I would have to fight them and that I needed to find something to use as a weapon. I made a sharp turn into the woods next to the park drive and frantically started searching for anything that I could use as a stake . Available were mostly thin sticks and broken limbs that were too large for me to fight with.

"Ah ha," I exclaimed as I found the perfect piece of a broken branch to use.

Hearing a twig snap behind me, I grabbed my makeshift stake and turned around just as the blonde vampire pounced in my direction. With precise movements, I aimed the stake right at his heart, and the force of his own weight drove the stake into his body. He died quickly, and the stench of his rapidly decomposing body made me gag. I ripped the stake out of the body and shoved it away before it could turn to ash all over me . As I readied myself, the other two vampires showed up, and neither of them looked happy about the death of their friend or the fact that I had run from them.

"We were going to let you die quickly, but now I think we are going to have to make you suffer," snarled the taller vampire as he backed me up against a tree.

"I really am sorry about the death of your friend ," I said, feigning innocence as I glanced at what was left of the blonde vampire.

"Let's eat . I am hungry and tired of running," the larger vampire moaned . It was the first time he had spoken, and his words did not surprise me. As the two vampires circled around me, I tried to figure out the best way to make my next move. I hoped that maybe the larger vampire's size would make him the best target and I would be able to catch him off balance. I kicked out at him, but my kick did not go as planned, and his size caused my kick to bounce off of him. The rebounded blow nearly sent me to the ground, and I stumbled backwards. Luckily I was able to stay on my feet.

"Girly , are you going to give up?" The giant vampire grinned at me as I turned to face him.

"Not a chance," I replied back. I raised my stake, and I attempted to lunge at him; however, he was faster than I estimated and knocked me into the closest tree. My head hit the tree hard enough that stars clouded my vision and the bark of the tree painfully scratched my back. Gathering my bearings , I tried to reach for the stake I had dropped, but he was on me in an instant. He grabbed my neck and shoved me into the tree even harder.

"Well , it seems that playtime is over, and it is time for you to die, missy," the giant vampire breathed onto my face making me flinch at his pungent breath.

"Well , get it over with," I choked out. "Your breath smells horrible." He did not like my insult and his grip tightened even more around my throat. His fangs extended, and I knew he was about to kill me. I decided that I wouldn't make it easy for him and started to squirm and thrash around. I couldn't catch a breath at all, and it was just a matter of time before I either lost consciousness or just died from the lack of oxygen. Either one would be better to me than getting my throat ripped out.

All of sudden there was a commotion in the clearing, and I could hear the other vampire grunt in pain. The giant still stood in front of me, blocking my view of the secondary battle. He looked over his shoulder as though he was trying to decide whether he should help his comrade or just kill me. He released me as we heard a cry of pain from his cohort followed by the sound of the vampire dying.

And just when the giant vampire was ripped away from my body , my vision went black, and I lost consciousness.

# Chapter 2

"Riley Spencer, wake up!"

I could hear my mother calling me. Opening my eyes, I saw the familiar lavender walls of my bedroom come into focus. I glanced over at the window to the right of my bed, and the sun was already shining brightly outside. I was shocked that I was still alive. The last thing I remembered was the giant vampire choking me, and I had no idea how I'd gotten home . The only thing I could think was that maybe my mother knew what had happened or that my teammates would tell me at school. Maybe it was all a dream. It wouldn't have been the first time that I had dreams that involved fighting vampires and being nearly killed.

Climbing out of bed , I looked at the mirror on the closet door. I was still dressed in the same clothing I had been wearing the night before. So much for it all just being a dream. Looking over my neck, I was relieved to find that there were no bruises or marks even though my body hurt all over. My hair though was going to need some work.

"Riley?" Mom called again from downstairs.

"I'm up," I called back down. "Just going to take a shower before I get ready and come down."

"Okay, well hurry or you will be late to school," she shouted back as I entered the bathroom door. I groaned at the thought of school. I just wanted to climb back into bed and sleep all day.

To my exhausted eyes , the brightness of the nearly all white bathroom was blinding. As I turned on the water, I decided that I would talk to Sam or Taylor first to find out what had happened and why they were so late getting to the meeting spot. If they hadn't shown up when they did though, I would be lying in the morgue this morning. Lucky for me they were there when it counted .

The hot water was invigorating as it massaged my body and woke me up fully. After scrubbing my hair and body, I decided that showers the morning after nearly getting killed were the best showers ever .

Leaving the bathroom , I sat at my dressing table and worked on my hair and makeup for school. Since it was a Friday, I simply pulled my hair back into a classic ponytail and applied light mascara and lip gloss. I dressed in a faded jean miniskirt, black t-shirt, and my black converse sneakers. After putting on a few bracelets, I was ready for the dreaded school day .

Walking down the stairs, I could hear my mother making noise in the kitchen, and this made me smile because my mother cannot cook; in our house the kitchen , is the place where take out is served and stored. So that meant that coffee and pop tarts were for breakfast.

"Finally," she said as I walked through the door into the kitchen . "I thought I was going to have to drag you down the stairs." I laughed at this. I love my mother more than anyone in the world. Most people think we are sisters because of the fact she is only thirty-four, but does not look a day older than twenty-five . It does not help that we are around the same height and build. We also have the same dark brown hair. Some of the members of the organization say my facial features favor my father. I couldn't say whether or not it was true though, since I had never met him. I do know that I have his eyes ; my mother had told me several times. Her eyes are blue while mine are green.

My father disappeared or was mostly likely killed around the time I was born. No one would tell me anything about him. He and my mom were only eighteen when I was born. Multiple times I had tried to find out about him from the archives of the organization, but I had never found anything. It was like everything about him was erased. Everyone was so tightlipped about him. Even my mom kept quiet other than a passing comment here and there. When I was a kid , I wanted to know everything about him. Now I just wanted to know what the damn secret is.

My mother and I ate our pop tarts and drank our coffee. I had to get to school, and she had to go into her "job" at the organization. Even though she had not actively hunted in years, she went in to train the younger members and read over our hunting reports that we have to submit to those in charge. The cover for the organization is that of an investment firm. Because of need, relatives and cousins spread out to build new offices over the years. Now there are branches of the organization spread across the southern United States. . The main office is here in Houston, Texas and is led by my grandfather who oversees everything. There are other groups much like our own who hunt vampires all over the country. All of these groups like ours are extremely secretive; we just happen to run into each other from time to time.

"You must have come in late last night," my mom said, interrupting my thoughts. "I didn't hear you come in." I am surprised she says this because it means that no one had told my mother about the incident with the three vampires.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't let you know," I replied not wanting to upset her . "I just went straight to bed when I got home." Which I don't even remember happening.

She smiled. "Be sure to let me know next time." I took a sip of my coffee and nodded .

"I may have to have a talk with your grandfather about having you out so late."

"It's okay . I'm used to it and I am doing great in school," I said, trying to calm her fears.

"Promise?" she asked as she stood up and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "I will, I promise." I nodded to her as she grabbed her keys and purse.

"Alright then have a great day at school, and I will see you tonight at the game. Oh, and Riley," she stopped at the door and gave me one last glance, "behave at school today ."

I laughed and threw a dish towel at the door as it closed behind her. After she left , I gathered my belongings for school and found my car keys on my bedside table.

I looked around my room for my cellphone so that I could send my best friend and teammate, Taylor, a text. My phone was nowhere to be found. As I was about to start cursing, I remembered that it was probably still in my car. After giving up my search, I grabbed my keys and backpack and walked out the front door. Relief hit me when I went outside, and found that my car was in the driveway.

# Chapter 3

When I pulled into the school parking lot, I found Taylor and Kyle leaning against the side of her car waiting. I barely made it out of my car when Taylor with her shiny blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes pounced on me.

"Where the hell were you last night?" she asked before I could open my mouth to ask her the same question.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused . "I thought you guys ran late last night and then came to my rescue, right?"

Kyle spoke up, "We were behind the mall and got five of them lurking around the woods by the theater, but you never showed up."

"I had orders for the park off of Tulane Street and was ambushed by three vampires," I told them.

"You could have been killed," Kyle said.

"I know ; I nearly was," I agreed with him . "All I know is that I killed one, and then the other two cornered me, and then I woke up in my bed this morning," I told them . "I figured you guys had come to my rescue." So who took me home ?

"Maybe another team got to you," Kyle said. I looked at him and could just imagine little wheels turning behind his dark eyes while he thought of different scenarios.

We looked around the parking lot as more and more students were arriving. We ended our conversation before someone could overhear us. Taylor and I started to talk about an upcoming school function that we were a part of, and within moments , Samantha arrived.

While I was closest to Taylor out of everyone on the team, Sam was also close to both Taylor and me. We three had been best friends since we were children and could barely walk.

"Hey guys," she said walking up. Sam was a tall slender girl with long light brown hair that was almost blonde. She was also Kyle's cousin, and they both had the same brown eyes. Without waiting for a response, she turned to me, "Where were you last night?"

Motioning to the full parking lot, I tell her that we will talk about it later.

Samantha looked thoughtful for a moment and gave a quick nod of her head in agreement that we could talk later.

The first bell rang and with it came a groan from Taylor as we began to walk across the parking lot to the school.

Kyle stopped us in our tracks. "Where are Lucas and Ben?"

We three girls just shrugged and continued to walk to the front doors of the school.

"They will probably be here soon . One or both of them probably overslept," Sam told us.

"Probably," Taylor agreed. "Are you guys going to the game tonight?" Taylor asked Sam and Kyle , trying to make small talk while we walked.

Taylor and I were both required to go because we would be cheering. Lucas and Ben would be at the game as well because they were both on the basketball team. The organization thought that we were well rounded people if we participated in school activities. So Taylor and I were cheerleaders, Lucas and Ben played sports, Sam danced and Kyle ran track. I honestly didn't understand their reasoning because other than lots of training over the years , we had our families and went to school; we were all pretty normal. The big difference between us and our classmates was that our after school activities included weapons training and tactics on how to kill vampires.

As we entered the large double doors of the school, Kyle and I split from Taylor and Sam. Sam and Taylor were both seniors, and Kyle and I were juniors, so we were typically separated during the school day. It was the end of September, so we had barely been in school for the year, but I was ready for the year to be over with already. At least next school year I would be a senior, and it would be my last year of high school.

Down the hall we walked past several students who greeted the two of us on our way to class. Finally reaching our American History classroom, we realized that not too many kids had made it yet, and we took our regular seats across the room from each other.

I was daydreaming about sleeping through class when I heard, "You can't sleep today," from the seat to my right as if the speaker were reading my mind.

I turned to look at Hannah Stone and smiled. Hannah is a friend to Sam, Taylor and me. She is what people imagine your typical blonde , blue-eyed , all American , pepped up girl to be like. Hannah and Taylor are a lot alike.

"I won't," I told her, but she gave me a look that plainly said I don't believe you . "I promise."

She smiled at me . "So when are you going to tell me about this hot guy that must take you out every night to keep you so tired at school every day?"

I couldn't help but to laugh at this. She did not know that my team and I spent our nights out hunting vampires. "No guy," I said back. "Just a really bad reality TV habit."

We giggled at this, and when the final bell rang, we watched as our classmates scrambled into their seats. Our history teacher, Ms. Johnson , or as we call her when she is out of ear shot, Old Lady Johnson , came into the room and frowned as she watched the last few stragglers take their seats. Old Lady Johnson is an older lady with beady , grey eyes and hair the color of snow. It wouldn't surprise me if she had been there when the school opened.

Every class day she would give us our assignment and then a monotone lecture that could put even the most caffeinated students to sleep. As soon as Mrs. Johnson started to speak , someone knocked on the classroom door. The office messenger walked in and spoke to the teacher and then motioned to someone who stood outside of the door.

I admit that I am just as nosy as any other teenage girl. Along with my classmates , I watched the door , and a guy around my age walked into the room. He was tall with light brown hair . I could admit that he was good looking, but his posture and expression made me think that he knew it. It made him come off as arrogant. I could tell that he was trying not to show it , but underneath the nonchalance, he was curiously glancing around the room at everyone. He turned his eyes toward me, and I could see that they were actually a brilliant blue. We made eye contact, and he smirked at me. I couldn't help but to roll my eyes in response .

Our school was so small that any new student was going to be cause for talk, and I could see it already happening around the room. Especially the girls were talking already.

Johnson motioned for him to take the empty seat behind me without bothering to introduce him to the class. I pretended to be studying my assignment sheet as the new boy walked by.

"Silence," Johnson said to bring order to the now loud classroom. The class quickly became silent and turned their attention to the front of the room. She began her lecture on the American Revolution, and I gradually began to slouch in my seat and hid my head in my arms. I slept through class until the dismissal bell rang .

"You should get more sleep," Hannah said from her seat as she gathered up her books . .

"Oh , I know," I agreed. "My insomnia is getting really bad."

Hannah laughed and started walking to the door. "I will see you at lunch," she called as she exited the classroom.

"Okay, see you there," I said to her and stood to go to my next class by myself .

"You should really control your snoring if you are going to sleep in public," I heard a low voice say behind me.

"I don't snore," I stated indignantly and turned around and saw that it was the new who had spoken. It was true. I had never snored in my life. Or at least I didn't think I had ever snored.

He snickered, "If you don't believe me, you might want to ask everyone else in the class."

"Whatever."

He held his hand out to me. "I'm Nick."

"Okay," I responded, ignoring the hand he offered and walking to the door of the now empty classroom . "I'm Riley, and it is rude to point out to girls that they snore , even though , I promise you I do not," I replied to him. Exiting the room, I walked down the hall to my next class.

Entering chemistry, I found Ben already at our lab station and sat down next to him.

"Where were you last night?" he asked after I settled into my seat.

"Everybody keeps asking me that question," I replied back. "I was sure you guys knew and were just late meeting me last night."

"Nope," he replied while shuffling through his chemistry notes.

"It is all kinds of weird. We couldn't figure out what was going on when we talked this morning. We're going to talk about what happened later away from school."

Ben nodded his dark head of unruly hair in agreement. Out of everyone on the team , Ben was probably the quietest.

"We should skip class and go get coffee," I told him and Ben just rolled his eyes in response. He was used to my suggestions about skipping chemistry class and rarely ever verbally acknowledged that I'd even said anything. "It would be pretty awesome we could get extra espresso shots and donuts." I tried convincing him, but he was not listening to me and was reading over his notes from the day before. It was too late for us to sneak out of class anyway because the bell had rang signaling the beginning of the period.

After chemistry class, my next two classes before lunch passed by in a blur of boring lectures and frantic note taking. Weaving in and out of the crowd, I made my way to my teammates on the other side of the cafeteria. At the table I could see that the whole team was joined by Hannah, Jenny , a couple of guys who usually hung out with us from the basketball team, and the new guy. What in the world was the new guy doing sitting with us?

I sat in my usual seat between Taylor and Hannah. "What is the new guy doing at our table?" I asked Taylor because I was for making new friends and different people sat at our table all the time, but he totally rubbed me the wrong way this morning with his comments. So I was not extremely thrilled about the idea of him hanging out with us at lunch.

"He is the new guy. He came in with Lucas," Taylor explained.

"Oh , I know who he is. He accused me of snoring during our first period class," I huffed at her. Maybe I was taking too much offense, but something about him bothered me. I had never been that frustrated by someone in my life. Not even when Taylor took too long trying on clothes on a shopping trip when I was ready to leave the store.

Taylor laughed at this. "You really do snore."

"Whatever," I replied , still not agreeing that I snore. "At least I don't drool."

She just shrugged nonchalantly, and we both just laughed and started to eat our lunches. I could be a bit immature, so I spent most of the lunch period glaring at the new boy when he was not looking. Something about the guy just annoyed me, and I wanted to make sure that he knew it.

After lunch, I had a free period where I worked as an office aide. Thinking about what had happened the night before, I found myself walking down one of the empty hallways. I couldn't figure out the answers to the questions that were running through my mind. How come the team and I were sent on separate missions? It had to be a mistake. No one would do that on purpose because I could have gotten killed. My own grandfather approves all of the missions. He would not have done that to me.

"Ouch," I cried out as I ran into someone and fell down onto the floor. I should have been paying better attention to where I was going, but I was too lost in my thoughts. As I started to compose myself , a hand reached down into my eyesight and offered to help me up. I took the offered hand, and as I stood, I looked up into the blue eyes of new boy.

I didn't intend to , but there was just something about him that got me caught up in his eyes, and I had to admit that I enjoyed the feel of his firm , warm hand on mine. I shook my head and snapped out of the staring contest that I had been having with him. I took my hand back and started to straighten my skirt. "Um, thanks," I said and started to walk away.

"Hey , it is my first day here, and I am just wondering why you glare at me every time you see me?" he asked. I stopped and turned to look at him.

"You accused me of snoring this morning, and I didn't glare at you just then."

He started to laugh, and I had to admit to myself that it was the most beautiful laugh that I had ever heard. Something told me that laughing was not something he did often. "You are holding a grudge because I said you were snoring this morning? I was just trying to make conversation."

"Right, well it was rude and totally not the way to start a conversation with anyone , especially a girl," I told him trying to walk away again. "I'm going now."

"You would think that you would treat the person who saved your life last night a little nicer."

I froze where I stood . "I don't know what you are talking about ." I thought playing dumb was the best thing to do in the situation. I practically ran to get away from him and his accusation. Seriously there was no way that Nick the new guy was there and knew anything about vampires and hunting them.

I went back into the school office and wrote a pass to get Sam pulled from her class using the secretary's stamp that as luck would have it , was not at her desk. I knew that Sam was the one to discuss the conversation that I just had with, and she would be the one to make sense of this. The probability of Nick the new guy saving my life and taking me home was like one in a million. Really there was some other explanation. My team and I were accidentally sent to the wrong places, and then I made it out alive and just forgot how I got myself home. It was a perfectly good explanation. Even if I knew that I was lying to myself.

Sam's teacher did not even question the note from the office that released Sam from class, and Sam was not surprised that I pulled her out of class. Leaving her classroom, she and I walked down the hall to an empty classroom.

As soon as we entered the classroom, she turned to me, "What is going on?"

"Something is messed up with that new guy Nick. He said something funny to me about 'saving' my life last night a few minutes ago in the hall."

"What?" Sam asked with a shocked look on her face, "Did you see him?"

"No, I don't know what happened. I just woke up in my bed this morning and remembered being attacked by three vampires," I told her as I paced back and forth across the room.

"Maybe he did," she told me, sounding uncertain about the words that she was saying.

I turned to look at her. "No way, he probably does not even know that vampires are real."

Sam looked thoughtful and nodded her head in agreement with me, and we were silent in our own thoughts. Could he be telling the truth? No doubt Sam was wondering the same thing.

"Maybe we should watch him and try to find out if he really knows anything," Sam suggested.

When the bell rang, we filed into the hall full of students and headed to our last classes of the day. Mine was actually cheerleading , and since it was a game day, we were allowed to sit and do whatever we wanted. I sat with Hannah and Taylor, and we talked about our earlier classes until the captain gathered us all to go over what we would be doing during the game's half-time show that night.

When school finally ended, Taylor and I gathered our bags and walked out to the school parking lot. We decided to get Sam and go have dinner with Hannah before we had to be at the gym for the game that night.

In the parking lot , Sam was already waiting for us next to my car. "Hey, I am going to ride with one of you. Kyle asked if he could take my car since he rode with Taylor this morning," she said.

"I will drive us. We are going to meet Hannah before the game and have dinner. And you are going with us," Taylor answered her.

Sam agreed, and Taylor sent a text to Hannah telling her to meet us. Since she had left to run an errand for her mother before she could meet us, the three of us got into Taylor's car. On the drive to the mall, I finally took out my cell phone and started checking for messages. There were several messages from Taylor and Sam asking where I was at. There was no message from headquarters changing my orders.

It was all so odd.

I guessed that I would figure it out later because there possibly could have been an error with the cell phone service. It all struck me as totally random and just pure rotten luck. There was no point in dwelling on it at the moment though. As we parked in the mall parking lot, I put my phone away and decided to focus on having fun with the girls before the game. I knew that we had no hunting after the game, so I planned to catch up on sleep afterwards.

I honestly could say that even though my friends and I hunted vampires , we were just like most other teenage girls ; shopping was a weakness of ours. Just like the steaming shower this morning, shopping is extremely therapeutic after a hunt gone wrong. It just clears your mind and puts you in a happy spot that you never want to leave . As we walked around the mall, we went into nearly every store. But while we chatted and had fun , it felt as if we were being watched.

"Are you girls ready to eat yet?" Hannah asked the three of us after we walked out of a store. "We do not have very long before we have to head back to school."

"I'm sure Taylor is ." I glanced at Taylor with a smirk on my face. "She is always hungry."

Taylor snorted at me indignantly while the rest of us laughed at her expense . "Let's go eat," she said.

We walked through the mall to the food court, and since none of us could settle on the same thing, we all went our separate ways and grabbed our selections . We met in the middle so that we could eat together. When we finished eating, it was time for us to head back to school for the basketball game. As we left the mall, Hannah and Sam rode in Hannah's car since she had come to the mall alone . Taylor and I left in her car.

"You have been so quiet today," she said. "Not really. Just trying to figure out what happened last night," I sighed while I watched the road ahead of us. "I just don't know what to think about what happened . There are all of these what ifs going through my head."

"I figured," Taylor agreed. "And I am sure there is a simple answer to everything."

"I am sure there were cell phone reception problems causing me not to get the message, and the new guy is full of it and has no idea what he is talking about," I told her even if I didn't believe a word of what I was saying. It just all made no sense, so denial was the perfect alternative to logic. "He didn't show up and save me."

She nodded in agreement, and we were both quiet as we pulled into the school parking lot. We parked next to Hannah and Sam and got out of the car. The school parking lot was starting to fill up as we walked across to the gym.

"I just hope I get to sleep all weekend," I muttered to Sam as we walked.

"I second that."

In the gym, Sam left us to sit in the stands. The rest of us went to the girl's locker room to get ready. Most think that my personality does not fit that of a cheerleader, and I honestly have to agree. I am not peppy, and I admittedly have a dark personality . I like it though because it takes my mind off of the horrors of the world. For a few hours, I am able to put the fact that there are terrible things out in the night in the back of my mind and just act like a regular teenage girl.

During the third quarter break , I approached my mom who was sitting in the stands. She had been chatting with Taylor's mother during the game.

"You look exhausted, Kate," Taylor's mom said as I sat down.

"I am," I agreed. They were mothers and had this weird sixth sense about being able to tell such things, so there was no use in denying it.

"I don't think I am going to allow her out of bed in the morning until I think she has had enough sleep," my mom told Kate.

Glancing around I could see that the gym was packed. Taylor and Hannah were talking to Sam at her seat. There were a lot of familiar faces and classmates present . I looked to the visitor's side of the gym, and up in the top row , there sat the new guy. He was staring in my direction. I hoped that he was not looking at me and that it was just my imagination.

"Elizabeth, you should talk to the old man about keeping the kids out so late," Kate said to my mother, shaking me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, I plan on it," she said to Kate which did not surprise me. "There are more squads in the city now, so I don't understand why he has them out every night. It wasn't like that when we were their age."

Kate paused . "I have not been active in years. Is there more activity now days?"

My mom just made eye contact with Kate and gave her a short nod. I had the feeling that she wasn't expecting me to be paying attention. I started to wonder what could be causing the rise in activity that Kate asked my mother about.

I looked back to the floor and saw that all of the cheerleaders were being called back down to the sidelines. When I got back down, I reached into my bag and checked my phone. There was a single message.

No mission tonight.

I put my phone back into my bag relieved that I could either attend one of the parties that I was invited to or go home and sleep. Taylor and Hannah were actually talking about heading to one of the basketball players' houses for a party. I probably would head home and sleep.

My mom would be happy with my decision.

Gathering my belongings after the game I turned to Taylor . "I think I am just going to head on home tonight."

"Aw, but this party is supposed to be awesome," she pouted at me. "It won't be as fun without you."

I couldn't help but to laugh at her ridiculousness . "I think the fun will go on without me," I told her.

"Yeah , you're probably right," she agreed. "You do party like an old lady."

"Whatever! You just wish you could be as awesome at parties as all of this," I said to her as I motioned to myself .

We started to giggle and then noticed that we were getting odd looks from the people around us. This made us giggle even harder than we were before.

"Seriously," I told her sobering, "I am really tired, and I think my mom would like me to get home before eleven for once."

"Yeah, my mom probably would too," she agreed . "But it is my dad's weekend, and he probably isn't even home."

I nodded . "Well , I am going to head out. Is Sam going with you?"

"Yeah," Taylor said, and we gave each other a quick hug. "Be safe."

"You too," I replied and turned to look for my mom.

Most of the spectators had emptied out of the gym, and I did not see my mother anywhere . I picked up my bag and started to head out to the parking lot.

Fighting my way through the people that remained, I exited the gym and started to navigate through the cars and people. I finally spotted my mother at the edge of the parking lot talking to a man around her age that was probably half a foot taller than she is with dark hair. I had never seen the man before. I started to walk toward them , and then I stopped about thirty feet away because my mom was not just talking to the man; she was arguing with him. Curious , I started to walk up as quietly as I could .

"You shouldn't try to eavesdrop on people," a voice said behind me. Startled , I turned around to face the new guy.

"I'm not," I hissed . "That is my mom, and I was trying to find her."

"Oh , by sneaking up on her," he replied, raising a naturally well shaped eyebrow in obvious disbelief .

"No, I was just going to tell her I was heading home."

"Hey Riley," my mom interrupted my conversation with Nick . "Are you looking for me?"

I turned to see my mom walking up to us, but the man she'd been arguing with was nowhere to be found.

"Yeah, I was about to let you know that I was going to head home ." I smiled at her . "Nothing going on tonight , and I am ready to sleep."

"Sounds good," she said. "Who is this?" She motioned toward Nick.

"Some new kid from school," I said with a glance at Nick, "that doesn't know how to leave girls alone. I am pretty sure he is stalking me ." I looked Nick in the eyes and smirked.

My mom ignored me and turned to Nick. "I am sorry for Riley's attitude . I'm Elizabeth Spencer." She reached her hand out to Nick .

"Hello , Mrs. Spencer . It's nice to meet you. My name is Nicholas Parker." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him .

"Everyone calls me Elizabeth," she said . "It's nice to meet you too, but it is time for my daughter and me to head home ."

After exchanging goodbyes with Nick, my mother and I walked to our cars and agreed to meet at home. I got into my car and followed my mother out of the parking lot. The drive home was a short one with barely any traffic for ten at night.

"You will never beat me," my mom said as I got out of my car.

I couldn't help but to laugh. "I had no idea we were in a race. If I had beaten you home speeding, then I am sure I would be in trouble."

"Yeah , probably," she said after pretending to think about it.

I just shook my head and followed her into the house. I sat down at the kitchen bar while my mom started to dig through the refrigerator .

"You want something to eat?" she asked while she moved things around.

"Yeah, I'm starving," I told her, and to confirm my hunger, my stomach growled audibly . "Oops, I guess I am really hungry."

She laughed at me while she started to heat up left over pizza and Chinese food in our microwave. While she warmed up food, my mind started to wander. This time last night, I was nearly killed. I considered telling my mom everything that happened , but I figured it was best not to freak her out with my story. It was all extremely confusing, and then there was the new guy who showed up at school today for the first time and claimed that he was there last night and saved my life. I couldn't help but be unsure of whether or not he was being truthful. He hadn't indicated that he knew anything about the existence of vampires. I was truly overwhelmed by the things that had happened in the last twenty -four hours. And then there was my mom arguing with that strange man.

"Hey, who was that guy you were talking to out in the parking lot tonight?"

She looked surprised that I asked and covered it up quickly. "Oh, him ? Just somebody I used to know."

I just nodded and let it slide even though I had watched her argue with him. She probably did not realize that I had seen the argument. I figured that she had a good reason for not telling me.

She slid a plate in front of me. "Thank you," I told her as I started to dig into the Chinese food. As we ate, we talked about our days. When I started to yawn , she sent me to bed.

# Chapter 4

Luckily, there were no missions for my team, so I spent the weekend recuperating . Arriving at school on Monday, I felt refreshed and ready to start the school week. Taylor and Kyle met me in the school parking lot when I arrived.

"Hey," I told them as I got out of my car.

"What's up?" Taylor said.

"Actually I am ready for school for once and not sleep deprived."

"Oh, not me," Taylor giggled.

"Did you have too much fun this weekend?" I asked.

Kyle shook his head . "I'm pretty sure she made appearances at ten different parties."

I laughed . "Going for a party attendance record?"

"Nope, but I missed you." She smiled.

"Sorry I needed the rest." I glanced around. "Where is everyone else?"

"Sam is riding with Ben, and Lucas is going to be late," Taylor stated, raising an eyebrow at me.

I immediately caught on to what Taylor was implying. "Sam and Ben, huh?" I'd always figured that it was just a matter of time before they started seeing each other. "When did this happen ?"

Taylor giggled, "Well you see when a girl and a boy meet, and they well -"

Kyle interrupted, "Will you two stop before you get started ? I don't want to hear you two gossiping about my cousin and Ben . I am getting sick just thinking about it." Kyle visibly winced, and we couldn't help but laugh at his obvious discomfort.

Taylor and I started to make jokes about what they could be doing. Just as we were sobering up from our giggle fest, Sam and Ben walked up. Taylor and I looked at each other and started laughing again. Kyle's annoyance was just too much fun. He thinks of Sam like a sister and wanted to protect her from any guy even if it was just Ben.

"Hey guys , what's up?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. You tell us," Taylor said, and we started laughing again.

Kyle sighed rolling his eyes. "You don't want to know. Certain young ladies are acting like twelve year old boys."

Sam and Ben just looked confused.

While I walked to class, I thought about Sam and Ben dating. I knew I shouldn't be surprised that Sam and Ben were a couple. It was bound to happen at some point, I believed. And as much as I did not want to date and then marry one of my teammates, I had to be honest with myself; it might happen. It was truthfully easier than meeting someone from another team or introducing an outsider to the horrors of what was out in the world.

I cringed thinking about it. Our whole team was nearly paired off. Kyle and Taylor had secretly had a thing forever. Even though the two of them denied everything, we all knew about it. Now Sam and Ben were an item . That just left Lucas and me.

Thinking about Lucas and me in a relationship?

No way. I shuddered at the thought and shook my head to clear it .

Never would I be able to see Lucas that way. It was not like he wasn't attractive, because he truly was . He was just more like what an annoying older brother would be like. The guy seriously used to pull my hair and try to cut it when we were kids. In fact, he still pulls my hair. Besides I think Lucas has a thing for Hannah; he is way nicer to her than the rest of us girls.

As I sat down , I glanced back to see Nick already slouched in his seat. He looked up at me and nodded in greeting . I gave him a nod back, deciding to be polite, and started to pull out my notes and book for class. When the bell rang, the stragglers hurried to their seats and Ms. Johnson came into the classroom. Halfway through class, my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a text message from headquarters.

Meeting at 4:00 p.m.

I looked toward Kyle and saw him putting his phone away. I wondered what the meeting could be about. Would it be about a mission since it had been a few days or about the confusion and miscommunication from a few days before?

After history class ended, the rest of my classes seemed to pass by in a blur . I felt ready to get this meeting over with. I looked around the parking lot and saw the rest of my team getting into their respective cars or rides. We waved at each other as we all started to head in the direction of headquarters.

Headquarters is located in the downtown area of the city and appeared to be a regular office building that identified itself as an investment firm. I pulled into the adjacent parking garage and saw that the only ones that had arrived were Taylor, Lucas, and Kyle. I parked in the spot next to them, and we all gathered around the back of my car. We had to wait for Sam and Ben because my grandfather would not see us until we were all together. I didn't understand why he was that way, but according to my mother, that was just how it has always had been done with the teams.

"I swear Ben drives like a grandpa," Lucas complained while we waited.

I looked at my phone and saw that we had twenty minutes . "They still have time," I told him.

He ran his hand through his curly black hair and rubbed his hands over his face . "I know," he groaned . "Waiting just drives me crazy."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Grow up." I looked at Taylor and nodded in agreement . Lucas had trouble waiting in any situation, which always annoyed us girls, and more often than not , got him into trouble .

Kyle and Lucas started talking about some sporting event that had been on TV the night before. Taylor and I sat on the back of my car and talked.

"Are you still worried about the other night?" she asked. Taylor may have seemed like a silly teenage girl most of the time, but she was one of the most considerate people I knew. She had always been there for me and was someone that I could trust with anything.

"I don't know," I told her, and it was the truth. I was trying to believe it was because of faulty cell phone signals.

She gave me a sympathetic look. "You're alive, and it was probably just a cell phone error or something."

"Probably," I told her as I watched Sam and Ben pull into the parking garage. After they parked, we all greeted each other and headed inside the building.

The offices of the headquarters were just like any other offices that one would visit seeking investment advice. At least I thought so anyway ; it was not like I had ever been in one before. As we walked the hallways , we actually ran into several of our parents and relatives. Even my own mother who was heading down to the basement stopped to speak to us. In addition to family , we also ran into other teams that actually patrol and go on hunts in other parts of the city. I would guess that a hundred or maybe more people are involved in the organization within our city alone.

When we reached the top floor, we were greeted by the floor receptionist and a couple of security guards that were stationed on the floor.

"Mr. Spencer is waiting for your team in conference room B," Amanda , the receptionist , told us.

"Thank you," Ben said to her, and we walked down the hallway on the left of the reception desk.

"This always feels like a trip to the principal's office ," Taylor said on our trip down the hall.

"Yep, it does," Sam said.

We all looked at Sam incredulously because she had never been to the principal's office, unlike the rest of us.

"What?" Sam asked at our looks. "I can imagine what it must be like."

"Sure you can," Lucas said and sympathetically gave her a pat on the back while Ben knocked on the door to the conference room .

Phillip Thompson, our trainer, opened the door for us and waved us inside. Phillip had been with us throughout our training since we were young children. He no longer went out in the field because of an accident during a hunt that he had many years ago . It caused him to walk with a limp and left him unable to run. He is also around five years older than my mother and is tall with dark greying hair and brown eyes that still twinkled even though he had seen all kinds of horrible things.

Inside the conference room, there was a long table with chairs on both sides . At the head of the table , my grandfather was standing, waiting for everyone to come in. Someone else was sitting adjacent to my grandfather's seat with his back turned to us. As I walked around the table to a chair , I realized that it was Nick sitting at the table.

What is he doing here? I asked myself, choosing not to say anything out loud and taking a seat across from Nick and adjacent to my grandfather's other side. I gave Nick a questioning look.

He smirked in return. It was totally arrogant and passed the whole message of I told you so to me. When everyone was finally seated , we all turned our attention to the head of the table.

My grandfather looked around at the questioning looks on our faces . "Okay, everyone, we will get started. I can see you probably have some questions, but I assure you that they will all be answered shortly."

"As you all know , you kids are one of the best teams we have had in years, and while that greatly benefits the cause of the organization, we think that your team could be even better. We recently had Nicholas move here from another area, and I think that he would be a welcome addition to your team."

My self-control was not always the best, but around my strict grandfather , I always kept my mouth shut. "You're kidding, right? I think our team is perfect the way it is ." I could not control my outburst. "No offense," I said to Nick, not meaning the words I said one bit. Nick mocked looking hurt.

My grandfather was not amused. "I assure you, Alexandra , I am not kidding," he said using my first name.

I chose to shut my mouth because Joseph Spencer was not a person to question. He was also not a terribly fatherly person and not much of a grandfather. He was cold and hard with eyes the color of steel and hair that was so black that it had to be dyed. I always wondered how it felt to be my mother and grow up with such a man as a father. Watching him and my mother always made me thankful that I didn't have a father. Especially one like him.

My grandfather started to speak again, but instead of listening, I drowned him out and let my eyes wander around the room. As I zoned out I wondered what it would be like if I were not part of my family, and didn't know that such things as vampires and werewolves even existed. I liked to think that I would be normal.

If I didn't hunt vampires, I would be able to worry more about what to wear to prom or the upcoming Homecoming dance instead of what technique is best to decapitate a vampire with. I refused to think about fighting ; I did think about needing a dress for the dance.

When we were at the mall on Friday, I kind of glanced around at them , and there were a few that caught my eye. Maybe if this meeting is short and we don't have a training session after, I would drag Taylor and Sam to go shop for dresses.

"Those unique abilities and qualities are why I think that Nicholas here will be a great addition to your team," my grandfather said , catching my attention.

What is so remarkable about him? I thought and looked across the table at him. Did being an arrogant jerk work as vampire repellent ? He was looking at my grandfather again , but instead of looking arrogant about my grandfather's statements , he actually looked kind of nervous.

"So he is a half-breed?" Sam asked. "His father was one of the born vampires, and his mother was a member of the organization?"

"What?" I asked finally realizing what was being said. "How is that even possible?"

"As you have been taught, there are two different types of vampires," my grandfather stated. "And , as you should be aware , some are made the way they are and of course others are born vampires ."

"Yes, we know this," I told him, "but having a child with a human ? That is just absurd, especially a hunter."

"There are a few known cases of a child being born between a human and vampire," Sam said.

We all turned to look at her. "How do you know?" Lucas asked.

"I read it in one of the books in the archives when I was younger."

"Well , why do you expect us to work with him? We were taught that all vampires are evil , and so the offspring of one must be as well," I told him, "half human or not."

"Do not worry about our choice," my grandfather said to me . "There have been times in the past where we have worked with half-breeds and even born vampires. I want you guys to train this evening with Phillip and Nicholas' trainer John , and tomorrow you will check out the area around the fair for vampires as a team."

"Yes sir," I said and got up to leave so fast that I made it all the way to an elevator before the others caught up with me.

I was torn about having Nick on our team. It went against everything that we had ever been taught, and it didn't help that he was an arrogant ass.

During the ride down to the second basement floor, I considered the possibility that just maybe Nick was not wrong and that he did save my life the previous Thursday night. When the elevator dinged and I got off , I turned right down the hallway and entered the women's locker room that my team always uses.

I changed from my school clothes into workout attire of black yoga pants, a red tank top, and black sneakers from my locker. By the time I was dressed, Sam and Taylor had come into the locker room.

"They said for us to go to the gym and spar with each other," Sam informed me .

"Ok," I answered and turned to them. "Do you guys think that Nick did actually save me on Thursday night?"

"Truthfully, because of what we now know about him, he probably did," Taylor said and looked over at Sam, who had a faraway look on her face. "Hey , are you ok?"

I leaned over and snapped my fingers in front of Sam's face to get her attention after she didn't answer Taylor.

"Sorry, I was just thinking," she said shaking her head.

"About?" I asked Sam.

"I don't know, about everything that has happened recently."

Taylor and I knew Sam well enough to know that she did not want to talk about whatever it was that was on her mind until she had processed everything and had an idea in place. All three of us let the current topic of conversation go. When they were finished getting dressed, we left the locker room and turned left down the hallway and past the elevators to the gym.

On the way to the gym, we ran into a few others from other teams. There were six total teams inside the city in charge of hunting in different areas. There were even teams in some of the large suburbs surrounding the city. We nodded greetings and said hello to some because we had known each other for years. We had even trained and hunted together from time to time.

When we made it to the gym, we found that all of the boys had already arrived and were waiting for us.

"What are we doing?" Taylor asked as we entered the gym.

"When Phillip and the other guy get here , we are supposed to spar with each other," Kyle answered . I walked over to the training weapons rack and started looking over the different wooden swords available to choose from . "Taylor and Sam, when we are done do you guys want to go shopping?" I asked them.

"Let me see how I feel when we are done here today," Taylor said while stretching on the floor.

"I can't . I have to meet my parents for family dinner night," Sam said quietly from her position sitting on the floor by the wall.

"Okay," I told them, "we will go another day after school."

I smiled to myself about Sam's response because I think it is wonderful that her family always has a night where her parents, her younger brother , and she make time together. I was sure it was way better than Taylor's parents bickering or the takeout leftover nights my mother and I are so fond of. I looked over at the guys and wondered if their families had times like Sam's family does. I did know what their living situations were all like, but it was just not something that the guys had ever talked about with me before. I glanced over at Nick who was talking to the other guys about different weapons that they all used or had used in the past, and I wondered if he had a family. Not that I cared. I was just curious.

The door to the gym opened, interrupting my thoughts about my teammates and their lives away from hunting. Looking up I saw Phillip and another guy that was a bit shorter than Phillip with nearly black hair and eyes so green I would think that they might glow in the dark. If he didn't look my mom's age with his finely chiseled features, I would think that he was handsome, alright exceedingly handsome. But he was too old to think such things about. I assumed that he was John, Nick's trainer that my grandfather had mentioned.

I looked more closely at him and recognized him as the man my mother was arguing with on Friday night. I wondered how I could find out why my mother seemed so angry with him that night. He seemed to sense me staring at him, so he turned his head toward me and proceeded to scrutinize my appearance .

We were in the middle of an undeclared staring contest when Phillip interrupted us. "Team , this is John Rossum. He is Nick's trainer and was actually a part of this branch and on a team with some of your parents years ago when he was active." That confirmed what my mother had said about him being an old friend. "John, this is Lucas Monroe, Kyle Franklin, Samantha Franklin, Benjamin Moore, Taylor Richardson ," he said pointing to everyone in turn, "and Alexandra Spencer, but she goes by Riley ."

John nodded at this knowledge and for the first time spoke . "It is nice to meet you all," he said in a quiet , deeply smooth voice.

"Oh , and if there is any trouble out of these kids," Phillip added, "I can promise that Riley is probably at the center of it."

"Whatever," I muttered in response.

For a few moments, we all stood in silence until finally Phillip spoke . "Okay, everyone, today we are going to spar in pairs and then everyone will try to get a workout in."

We all nodded but looked at him questioningly since there was an odd amount of us . "Who are we going to be partnering with?" I asked.

"Alright , Lucas and Sam, Taylor and Ben, Riley with Nick, and then I will spar with Kyle," Phillip told us.

I groaned in annoyance as we all went to different mats around the gym. I slowly made my way to one of the mats that had not been taken already. Nick and his teacher followed me to the mat and waited, I assumed , for me to be ready.

"Do you want to fight with weapons or hand-to-hand?" Nick asked breaking my staring contest with the mat.

"Weapons," I answered and turned to the nearest rack with Nick on my heels. At the rack, I chose one of the wooden swords that I had used many times during spars. I looked at Nick and saw that he had picked up a similar weapon and walked back to the center of the mat. While vampires rarely ever fought with weapons, we still used weapons to hunt with, and sparring with them kept us prepared for hunts.

Nick was staring at me. "Okay now, let's get started," he said. I frowned at him and slowly walked to the center of the mat . "You are not scared are you?" he taunted when I finally reached him.

That was it . I decided I was not going to respond to his arrogance with words ; I was going to use my weapon.

"Not a chance," I said and raised my wooden sword.

I brought my sword down at him, but he was ready and blocked my blow. I decided that if I was going to take him down that I had to move quickly. I slashed at him from the left and right repeatedly as quickly as I was able to, but he managed to block everything that I threw at him. I slashed at him from the right one last time, and as he blocked it , I kicked him with my right leg in the side and managed to throw him off balance. He stumbled, and I came back with my sword from the left, knocking his weapon from his hands .

"Alright you got me," he smirked and threw his hands up. I started to lower my sword, but before I realized it , he had grabbed my sword and twisted me around in one motion, planting me with my back to his front and my sword to my own throat.

"Dammit," I said and tried to move, but he had me locked in place. "Maybe not, I win," he laughed.

"Nope," I informed him and started to move around as much as I was able to. Though he did have me held about six inches from the ground, I wiggled around and put all of my weight on his foot. This distracted him, and I was able to get free. I turned and kneed him in his stomach. His stomach was harder than I imagined it to be, and when he grunted in pain I shoved him to the ground.

"I guess you didn't win after all ." I looked around the room and saw that we had an audience with the rest of the team watching us fight. "Spars over," I said and walked out of the room.

I walked down the hall to the weight room. Inside, I put on a pair of discarded boxing gloves from off of the floor and started beating on the nearest punching bag.

"Ugh." All I could hear was the sound of my heavy breathing as I tried to bust open the punching bag with just my fists. I heard the door open, and I paused to look over at Taylor walking in.

"Hey," I said to her catching my breath, "how is your day?"

She just rolled her eyes and walked over to the other side of my punching bag to spot. I started to punch on the bag again. As I concentrated on my workout, I found it hard to keep my mind from thinking of everything that had happened recently from the attack on Thursday, the arrogance of the new guy, and now the fact that we were just told he was a half-human and half-vampire and on our team.

"I mean seriously," I paused my abuse to the punching bag as I looked over at Taylor who was using all of her weight to hold the punching bag that I had been beating with all of my strength, "where do they get off allowing that....that Thing into the organization."

"Well, I think ," Taylor started to tell me, but I wouldn't hear of it.

"It is crazy. He is nothing but a beast and will try to kill us all," I interrupted her and punched the bag again harder. "They must think we are all weak for them to be doing this," I ranted on . "I don't think the founders of the organization would have stood for such blasphemy. What do you think?"

I finally took a moment to look over at Taylor, but she was not answering me and she seemed to be frozen in shock staring behind me. I turned to look to see what had gotten her attention.

I turned around, and the aforementioned beast himself was standing there. He wasn't saying anything but sending me a glare that would probably freeze hell if possible. I honestly did not care if he heard what I had been saying because it was all the truth.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked him . "It is rude to listen to people's private conversations," I told him just as coldly as he was looking at me.

Taylor took the moment to flee. Even though she was my best friend , it did not surprise me. She never had been one for confrontation of any kind, well , other than fighting vampires out on the field.

He looked at me and snorted. "I don't consider it a private conversation when most of the building can hear you," Nick sneered at me.

"Well excuse me for just being honest," I retorted at him.

He smirked at me and turned to leave. "You might want to consider what you say ; your life may be in my hands again one day."

He left the room, and I indignantly screamed and yelled and hit the punching bag with all of my might. After I took my frustration out on the punching bag, I stopped and tried to catch my breath. I tried not to think about what had just occurred, but I couldn't help but to think about him. I would be lying if I were to say that I did not find him attractive despite what he is. It was a shame really.

After I gained my composure, I turned to leave and noticed John, Nick's teacher, waiting by the door.

"Excuse me," I said as I started to leave the room.

"He isn't so bad once you get to know him." He stopped me "Nick is just a little abrasive but otherwise a great fighter and more loyal to the cause than any other member of the organization."

I nodded at his words , thinking them over. He had the chance to kill you already, I thought to myself . I started to leave the room, but his last words caught my attention. "I am sure Elizabeth can give you some insight into this situation."

I started to turn around and ask what he meant about my mother knowing something about it , but he had already left. Asking my mother later would be on the top of my to-do list. For now though, I decided that the best thing for me to do was to shower and head home. A shower seemed to be what I needed to wash the day off, and hopefully I could sleep and wake up tomorrow and just maybe Nick would no longer be around.

# Chapter 5

Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep

"Ugh," I groaned and reached over and shut the alarm clock off. It was already 7:00 A.M. I was going to have to rush to get to school on time. Getting out of the bed , I walked immediately to my closet and found a pair of skinny jeans and a green blouse to wear. Then I applied my normal makeup including eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss. After I ran the brush through my hair, I looked around my room for my favorite sparkly flats. After I found the shoes and put them on, I grabbed my things for school and cheerleading practice and made my way down the stairs.

Down stairs I found warm coffee and a plate with a couple of strawberry pop tarts on it. There was also a note next to the plate:

Sweetie, I had to go in early. Hopefully I will see you tonight and don't forget to have a good day at school.

Love, Mom

P.S. Be nice to everybody, even your new teammate .

I smiled at the note and then rolled my eyes at the last part. I briefly wondered who had been talking to my mother. After quickly discarding the note, I sat down and savored the goodness of my coffee and the sweet taste of the pop tarts before leaving for school.

The whole school day passed by in a blur, and while I was thankful it went by fast, I was quite surprised by Nick's whole attitude toward my outburst the day before. Normally I would have expected attitude and maybe even revenge of some kind, but he was actually polite and acted like the incident had never happened. I actually kept waiting for him to do something like embarrass me or worse even , kill me. But nothing ever happened.

After cheerleading practice while the girls and I were walking out to our cars, all three of our phones simultaneously alerted that we had text messages. I pulled out my phone to see that the message was from headquarters.

Green Ridge Park 8:00 p.m.

I looked over at Taylor and Sam whose phones were now out as well and nodded. Luckily Hannah and some of the other cheerleaders had already walked off and weren't there to see the three of us get the same message.

"I guess I will see you guys at 8:00 at Green Ridge Park," I said to them , confirming what my message said and started to open my car.

"Yep," Taylor replied, "which of us do you think will get the specifics?"

"Not me," Sam said. I shook my head.

"Well see you guys later," Taylor said as we all got into our cars to leave.

I pulled out of the school parking lot and drove toward home so that I could eat dinner and get ready to meet my teammates. It was only 5:20 , so I had extra time that I could use to get ahead on my homework. My mind was not usually on homework, but I figured I better get ahead on my school work before the mission distracted me.

Pulling up to the dark house, I could see that my mom was not home yet. Well, I guessed that meant that I would get to pick dinner for the night. I parked and climbed out of the car with my bags from school and walked to the front porch. When I reached the front door, I took my time and checked the mailbox. After stuffing the mail under my arm, I placed my key into the lock and opened up the large red front door.

Because I knew about all kinds of things that go bump in the night, I automatically flipped on the hall light and the living room light as I walked past the switches. It is a habit that my mother and I both have. We leave most of the lights on in the house until we go to sleep. Only occasionally does either of us watch TV in the dark, and then it usually is a scary movie. We are just kind of odd like that.

I walked down the hallway past the stairs to the kitchen and left my school bags on the floor by the kitchen bar. And because dinner was my choice , I called to order a pizza. Since the guy was familiar with me, he just placed the order for my normal large pepperoni with breadsticks. If it were up to me , we would probably eat pizza every day. My mom disagrees and thinks that even if we eat out every day we still need some variety to our meals.

He told me that my pizza would be here in thirty minutes, so I decided I'd better get started on my homework. I hopped up onto one of the stools at the bar and reached down for my backpack to get out my Geometry work. With my text book out in front of me, I tried to start on my homework but my mind kept going other places. There were so many questions running through my mind, and because I had quiet time, they wouldn't leave me alone.

Part of me wondered if I were set up somehow when I was attacked. And if I were , how did Nick know where to find me at? Is he part of it? Does he know?

Ring Ring

The doorbell grabbed my attention, and I was relieved by the distraction it provided. As I walked down the hall to the front door, I made up my mind that I was going to find out why I was sent on a separate mission. And if Nick knew anything I was going to find that what he knew, I decided as I opened the front door.

Expecting Scott , the pizza guy, I was surprised to find Nick at my door.

Taking in his dark blue jeans and dark grey V-neck that fit him just right. I swallowed. "Can I help you?" I asked as I tried to hide my surprise, because as much as I didn't like him, I had to admit that he was very good looking.

"Hi," he greeted me and paused and looked thoughtful; I raised an eyebrow because he actually looked nervous about what he was going to say . "I was wondering if we could talk. I think we got off on the wrong foot."

I was surprised by this turn of events . I figured after my statements during training at headquarters the day before that he would be plotting how to get back at me.

"Sure," I said. I figured that it would not hurt to hear him out, and this made it easier for me to find out if he knew anything . "Come on in," I told him and stepped out of the doorway , allowing him to come inside the house.

I closed the door and just as we started to walk down the hall , the doorbell rang.

"Give me a second," I said to Nick and turned back to the front door. I opened the front door and saw that it was Scott. "Hey," I told him. "Let me run to the kitchen and get my wallet real quick."

"Here, I got it," Nick interrupted and pulled out his wallet from his back pants pocket. "How much?" he asked the delivery guy.

"Fifteen dollars even."

"Here you go," Nick said pulling out a twenty dollar bill. "Keep the change."

"Thanks," Scott said and handed me the pizza.

"See you next time Scott," I told him .

After I shut the door, I turned toward Nick who was smirking at me. "What ?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he replied and then started laughing . "Do you know all of the food delivery boys by name?"

I thought about it a second and started to name all of the delivery people I know in my head to myself: Scott was the pizza delivery driver, Hal delivers for the Chinese food place, and Serena delivers for the grocery store . "Well, maybe most of them. My mom can't cook, so we have to eat somehow."

"When you put it that way, I totally understand," he said finally laughing.

"It's not funny," I said before laughing with him . "Would you like to have some pizza?" I asked after we calmed down and walked into the kitchen.

"Sure."

"By the way," I stopped, "thanks for paying for the pizza."

"No problem," he said as he started to follow me.

In the kitchen, I placed the pizza down onto the bar and went over to the cabinet and grabbed us each a plate. Back over at the breakfast bar, I handed him a plate and sat in my own seat and shoved my geometry work aside.

Offering him the pizza box, I decided not to beat around the bush . "Well, what brings you here?" I asked as he took a slice of pizza and then watched him for his response.

"I just felt like we started off on the wrong foot, and since we are going to be on the same team, we should be able to work together."

"Okay, that's true, but I can't help but to think that you might be a danger to us. I mean after all," I trailed off not knowing exactly how to word what I was trying to say.

"Because I have a father that is a vampire?" he asked before taking a bite of the pizza.

"Yes , that . I was just trying to be polite about your parentage. From what I have always been taught , vampires can only survive on blood. So forgive me if I am under the impression that you might rip out all of our throats."

He stared out of the kitchen window for a minute . "I eat regular food," he told me finally . "I can drink blood if I have to. It makes me stronger, but I don't have to have it to live."

"I see. There is one thing that I am curious about," I said chewing on my bottom lip, unsure of how to ask him the question on the tip of my tongue.

When I didn't ask him the question immediately, he nodded for me to continue, "Yes?"

"Do you have fangs?" I blurted out almost afraid of the answer that I might get.

"Yes," he answered slowly, "I do, but they only come out when I take blood if I choose to and sometimes when I am fighting. Anything else?"

I shook my head . "No , but if I think of anything else I will be sure to ask."

I took a bite of my pizza and stared out of the window while I chewed my food. We ate in silence for a few minutes, and I found it oddly comfortable around Nick. Before I knew it, we were talking about our childhoods and lives. We were actually laughing and having a good time together. Besides being half vampire and half human and being a vampire hunter, I found out that he has a pretty normal life. Like me he had lived with his mother until she passed away recently from an illness and had been trained by John since he was young.

"I was actually told that your trainer was from here . From what I understand, he was on the same team as my mother when they were young," I told to him.

"Yeah, that is what I was told before we came here," he agreed.

"Oddly though, he told me that if I wanted perspective about working with someone who is like you that I can always ask my mother," I told him about my talk with John . "I really don't know what he could mean by that," I finished.

I turned to look at Nick, and for a split second I could see his eyes widen a fraction, but he composed himself quickly . "I have no idea what he means by that," he told me.

I considered questioning him more, but I was interrupted by the door to the garage opening in the kitchen.

"Hey, I am home. I hope you got dinner," my mother said as she entered but stopped short when she saw Nick sitting in the kitchen with me.

"I got pizza," I gave her a wicked smile.

"Of course you did," she sighed, not even surprised by my choice for dinner. She turned to Nick . "If I let her choose our dinner every day , we would end up turning into giant pizzas."

Nick laughed, "It sounds like it."

"It is nice to see you again," mom said and held out a hand to Nick . "Nick, right? I hope Riley is playing nice now."

"Yes ma'am," Nick replied, shaking her hand.

"Well, let me tell you this," she said, and I could tell whatever she had to say wouldn't be good for me anyway . "Whatever you do, don't let Riley bully you. She has this awful habit of trying to get her way and while I do not tolerate it, I guess it is kind of my fault for spoiling her since she is my only child."

"Humph, I am not spoiled," I said making a point of looking the other way and ducking when she reached over and tried to ruffle my hair.

"I will keep that in mind, ma'am," Nick said, and I realized how polite he is to adults all of the time.

"Don't call me ma'am ; it makes me feel old," she said. By this point I was totally mortified. It was not like I liked Nick or anything but having my mother call me a bully and essentially saying that I was spoiled was not good at all. I looked around at the clock on the oven and saw my way out of the awkward situation my mom had created.

"Oh, what do you know ? It is seven o'clock," I interrupted the conversation before it could go any further . "Nick and I better be heading out for our mission."

Nick seemed to agree, and nodded, "Yeah, we should head out."

I started to pick up my bag and tried to make a break for the kitchen door when I was stopped.

"Seriously, Riley , are you going to go out hunting vampires in that skirt?" Mom asked me.

"If I have to, to get away from you right now," I muttered . "Oh right," I said aloud looking down at my clothes that I had worn to school . "I will be right back, let me go change."

Running up the stairs , I hoped that while alone with Nick that my mom would eat her pizza and quit talking about me. What was I thinking? Of course, she wouldn't; she is my mom and loves to talk about me. I shook my head to myself and decided that I better change clothes quickly .

I ran into my room and quickly started finding clothes to change into for our hunting mission. I changed into a black t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. Yes, it is cliché but if you don't want to be seen, it is best to dress in dark clothes. I also pulled on a pair of black sneakers and my black and grey pea coat because in my mind I just could not stand the thought of wearing all black. When I was finished getting dressed, I turned off the light and shut the door as I left the room. When I got back down stairs I saw Nick waiting by the front door, and thankfully my mom was nowhere to be seen.

"Ready?" I asked as I approached him.

He nodded to me, and I motioned to the door as I grabbed my keys from the table beside the front door.

"Mom , we're leaving," I yelled out as I stepped out the door into the crisp fall evening and pulled my coat tightly around me. .

"Okay , be careful both of you," she said and poked her head out of the kitchen doorway down the hall.

"We will," I told her as I pulled Nick by the arm outside with me.

Outside I started to walk to my car and noticed that there was not another car in the driveway. "How did you get here?"

"I walked," he responded. Of course he did was the first thought in my head . "Get in, so we can meet everyone on time."

"If you hadn't taken so long getting ready," was his response as he walked around my car to the passenger door.

"Yeah, yeah," I said getting into the car where I grabbed my phone and saw that there was a text message from Taylor.

Do you want to ride together tonight?

I messaged her back that Nick was with me and that we would see her there. I then put the phone away and started the car. I looked over and saw that Nick was ready to go and took off for the park.

Green Ridge Park was only about a ten minute drive from my house. During the drive we were both quiet, and I liked this and appreciated it. It was easier to get my mind ready for a fight with the silence than it was with the mindless chit chat that my other teammates usually provided.

Pulling into the parking lot, I saw that there were quite a few cars. In the past we had killed several dozen vampires here. They keep coming back because there are many trails for running and walking and a lot of dark places to hide to catch people unaware, making them easy to be picked off by the vampires.

"There they are," I broke the silence as I spotted the two familiar cars of Taylor and Kyle.

I could see Nick nod out of the corner of my eye in agreement. I parked in an empty parking space next to Kyle's car and shut off the car's engine. "Let's do this," Nick said as he unbuckled his seat belt and then opened the car door.

"Hey," Taylor greeted us first while giving me a questioning look. I just tried to give her my best I'll-tell-you -later look . "So who has our orders," I asked.

Kyle stepped forward. "My message said that the attacks have been occurring around the park's northwest trail and that Taylor is to run the trail as bait while the rest of us follow behind at a distance until the vampires make an appearance. And then we will attack them. From what we have learned from recent attacks and sightings, they have been occurring near the 1 and 2 mile markers."

"Any idea on how many there are out there?" Ben questioned.

All of us either shrugged or shook our heads.

"Okay then, ready?" Kyle asked.

"Yep, let's do this," Taylor said, and because I knew that she hated to play bait , I could hear annoyance in her voice . "You guys get ready, wait two minutes and follow."

Taylor started to jog up to the trail, and the rest of us started to get prepared for the hunt. I walked back over to my car and opened the trunk. I lifted up the carpet that covered the bottom of the trunk and the spare tire compartment and picked up my katana and slid it out of the sheath. Everyone else did the same. Ben pulled out a katana similar to my own. Kyle and Lucas both had wooden stakes in their belts and large hunting knives. Sam had her gun filled with wooden tipped bullets that was fitted with a silencer. We wouldn't want anyone hearing gun shots by chance in a park. I glanced over at Nick and saw that he had gotten a sword from somewhere. I sent Nick a questioning look.

"Lucas brought it to me," he said, knowing what I was asking him. I nodded in return.

"Okay , let's head out," Kyle told us , looking towards the trail.

We all started walking down the trail. I walked at the front of the group following beside Nick , who I was guessing could sense the vampires since he is half vampire.

"Can you sense any of them yet?" I asked quietly.

"I am sensing vampires in the area, but I cannot tell for sure how many there are," he replied.

I nodded, and we continued walking. Then without saying a word , Nick broke out in a run. Without skipping a beat, the rest of us started to chase after him. I was guessing that the vampires had made their appearance. Nick was a lot faster than we were , and truthfully while I was the fastest on the team before he joined us , I could not catch up to him.

We ran about a half a mile further up the trail before we finally caught up with Nick . He and Taylor were engaged in fighting a group of five vampires that were trying to surround them. There was a sixth , but I could see that either Nick or Taylor had already taken care of him.

"Hey guys," I yelled getting the vampires' attention . "Why don't we even up the odds here a little bit?"

Half of the vampires turned their attention to our group that just ran up. This gave Nick the chance to engage the one closest to him in a fight. He took no time in actually killing the vampire by staking him with a stake that I didn't even realize he had in his hand. He then picked up his sword from the ground and dispatched a second in just a few seconds time. I was nearly frozen in place for a moment watching him move. He knew how to fight, and he fought well and looked good doing it. I almost screamed at myself ; I couldn't be distracted by such things.

After getting distracted by watching Nick killing the two vampires back to back, I had to act fast as a third vampire attacked me. I slashed toward him with my blade, but because of the vampire's quick speed , he dodged my blow. The vampire recovered quickly and grabbed a small broken branch and swung it back at me. I blocked the branch with the blunt edge of my sword's blade. Jumping back, I swung my weapon back at him, breaking his branch in two and quickly swung again , this time taking the head right off of the vampire.

Kyle had just finished off the fourth vampire. The final vampire was facing off with Ben and Sam. The vampire was about to go for Sam, but she raised her gun and pulled the trigger , taking care of the vampire with a wooden bullet to the heart.

After the last vampire was killed, the team gathered to make sure there were no injuries.

Turning to Taylor I wanted to make sure that she was okay since she was the bait of the night. "You okay?" I asked concerned, knowing how stressful being vampire bait could be.

"Oh yeah," she replied, "I am good . They popped out at me while I was running , and then out of nowhere Nick was there fighting them."

"Impressive," I told her nonchalantly, acting like it was nothing when it was actually kind of cool.

"Alright," Kyle said interrupting our powwow we had going on . "Since everyone is okay , let's get out of here."

We all voiced our agreement and started the walk back to the parking lot about a mile away from where we had fought the group of vampires.

"So," Taylor whispered to me from our place in the back of the group.

"Yes?" I asked. I knew what was coming, and I was surprised that she had managed to wait five minutes into our walk back to the park to start the conversation.

"Why are you and Nick hanging out?" she questioned, pretending to be innocent in her questioning . "Last thing I heard had you two plotting each other's bloody deaths."

Nick was way ahead of us at the front of the group talking to Lucas and Kyle.

"He came by my house tonight," I explained, "and we had a talk and decided to call a truce, since we are on the same team."

"Well that is awesome," she whispered . "I think he will be great on our team after seeing him in action tonight"

I gave her a non-committal nod and started to think about what she said and truthfully couldn't help but agree with her. I was pleasantly surprised by how well he fought against the vampires. Maybe having him on our team would make our lives safer.

# Chapter 6

For the next few weeks, it seemed like Nick had made a place on our team and we had all gotten into a routine. We attended school, social functions, we trained, and we hunted. There was no fighting between Nick and me. Nick was just another member of the team. Even his trainer, John , was at our training sessions . I had tried to figure out what the argument that night between him and my mom was about, but neither one gave any clues or mentioned that night.

It was a Saturday , and since homecoming was two weeks away, the girls and I were checking out a local dress shop in search of dresses to wear to the dance and festivities.

"Sam, I think this dress would be perfect for you," Taylor said , holding out a short red dress towards Sam.

"Taylor," Sam moaned . "No way, that dress is way too short."

Poor Sam ; the girl was hit with an extra dose of modesty when she was born and refused to wear anything that shows any bit of unnecessary skin. The dress Taylor picked out was beautiful , but our friend wouldn't be caught dead in it . So, I couldn't resist seeing if she turned red when I agreed with Taylor. Taylor lived by the philosophy of the shorter the better when it came to fashion.

"You know, Sam," I said, "it really isn't that short."

Hannah , who was also with us, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, with your height that dress would look great on you."

"But guys," Sam started to say turning red in the face.

"Oh come on," Taylor interrupted, "you can even pick out dresses for the rest of us."

"Or, you know , make some suggestions," I cut in.

This seemed fair to me because honestly I was tired of looking at dresses. They were all running together and all looked worth wearing to me at this point in our shopping trip. I just wanted to go home already. We had a late hunt the night before, and my bed was calling my name.

"I guess I will try the red one on." She nodded to herself looking at the dresses we had each tried on . "Taylor that pink one looked best . Hannah, the long green one, and Riley , that white is the one that works with your dark hair and green eyes."

"Works for me," I said. "Right , Taylor?" I gave her a look telling her to agree, even though I knew that she did not like the color pink at all.

"Yep," Taylor finally agreed, giving me the evil eye.

"Alright then guys , let's buy these because my bed is calling me back to my home."

After we purchased our dresses , we said our goodbyes and I started walking the two blocks to my car from the dress shop. It was already dark out, and I was feeling tired from all of the constant missions and training sessions mixed in with school. I was so thankful that we did not have a mission and that I could sleep when I got home.

When I finally got home, I walked right into John Rossum coming out of the front door. This was an unexpected surprise.

"Hello," I greeted him even though I actually wanted to ask him why he was at my house.

"Hello," he replied back.

We stood in silence and stared at each other for a few seconds, but of course it was an awkward silence that seemed to drag on forever.

So , I decided not to beat around the bush . "What are you doing at my house?" I hoped I got a good response that would possibly give me insight onto the scene I witnessed a few weeks ago.

He did not look phased by the question. I actually think he expected it . "Just catching up with an old teammate."

"Oh," I replied. I have no idea why I didn't think of him having that reason. He and my mother had both mentioned that they were teammates at one point when they were active.

"Yes," he went on, "I suspect you will visit your old teammates when you are older as well."

"Right," I agreed though I couldn't help but to feel like I had just been told to mind my own business.

"I will be going now," he said . "Have a good night off."

He started to walk away, and I pathetically mumbled a "Thank you, goodbye," as he walked off to the expensive black sports car that I had failed to notice was parked on the road across the street from the house.

Entering the house , I called out, "Mom, I'm home."

"In here ." She surprised me poking her head out of the living room, "how was your shopping?"

"It was fine ." I held up my shopping bags . "Got a dress and everything. But the real question is why was the new trainer guy here?"

"Oh , just talking about old times."

"Right," I said looking disgusted by the faraway look in her eyes that suggested more than that . "You totally have a thing for that guy."

"Riley, this is not elementary school ." She squinted at me . "He is just an old friend I have not seen in years. We were just catching up."

"Okay," I relented , holding my hands up in defense.

"Show me your dress."

"This is it," I said , unzipping the garment bag and showing her the white short halter dress that Sam had chosen for me.

"Oh , that is a beautiful dress . It will look fantastic on you," she said . "Are you hungry?"

"No, we ate earlier. I think I am going to head up to bed and crash early tonight."

"On a Saturday night?" she asked trying to check my forehead to see if I had a fever . "Get some rest."

"Oh , I will . Goodnight ."

I left the living room and walked up the stairs to my room . Once inside, I took my dress out of the bag , hung it in my closet, and then changed into a set of pajamas. Pulling out my phone , I climbed into my bed and placed the phone on my night stand. Seemingly right on cue, my phone buzzed alerting me to a new message. Picking the phone back up, I saw that the message was from Nick . I rolled my eyes at his timing. Since our truce, we had started an odd friendship. We truly just texted a lot and did not talk about it . No one else actually knew we were friends.

The message he sent was a simple one:

Hey.

Hi, did you know your teacher was at my house today ?

No, I didn't know that. He just teaches me how to fight and about stuff. I don't know what he does the rest of the time.

I frowned at this.

I know, I just thought it was weird .

You think everything is weird.

"Humph," I caught myself saying out loud as I read his last message.

I do not think everything is weird. Just you.

Oh I know, you let me know. All of the time.

Nah, only sometimes .

Whatever you say.

What a jerk . If he picked on me while being his friend , I only could wonder what kind of hell I would receive if we were still enemies.

Well I am going to go to sleep, my pillow is calling my name, and it would be extremely rude not to oblige and get some sleep .

Well goodnight. You should totally get that rest if you think a pillow is talking to you.

"Ass," I said out loud, shaking my head.

Night back, ass.

With that, I put my phone back onto the table and switched off my bedside lamp and tried to get as comfortable as I could in my bed.

Closing my eyes , I was asleep almost immediately.

The next thing I knew , I was being shaken awake by my mom frantically shouting my name. Adjusting my eyes to the bright light in my room , I turned toward my mom and saw a panicked look on her face.

"Mom," I said in a hoarse voice, still trying to wake up . "What's going on?"

"It's Sam," she said quickly. "No one can find her. Her mom just called, and she didn't make it home last night."

I sat up immediately and tried to form words, but I didn't know what to say.

"Her parents, your grandfather, and some others are waiting at her house," she told me. "They are waiting for you, Hannah , and the rest of your team to get there. They would like to know when you saw her last."

"Okay," I agreed . "Let me get dressed, and I will go."

"Okay," she said . "I will wait for you downstairs."

I quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a school t-shirt and threw on a pair of sneakers without even bothering with socks. I grabbed my phone and started to run down the stairs. On the way down I tried to call Sam's cell phone several times , but every time I did it went straight to the voicemail .

At the front door, my mom was fully dressed, waiting for me.

"Let's go," she said , holding her car keys and belongings while leading me out the door.

In the driveway, I got into the passenger seat of my mother's car and quickly buckled up while she did the same and started the car.

"I hope she is okay," I whispered.

"I am sure she sneaked out, or it will be something simple," my mom said trying to ease my fears.

What my mom said didn't ease my fear at all because part of our training was to let another teammate or someone else know where we were at all times. Looking at the time on the car dashboard also let me know that something was wrong; the team was rarely ever out past three in the morning, and it was now five.

"The last time I saw her, we were leaving the dress shop," I told her, "and I haven't spoken to her or any of the other girls since."

"Well, I am sure there is just some confusion," my mom said , even though I could tell there was a bit of doubt in her voice.

"I hope so."

We spent the rest of the drive in silence, and I tried to think positively that she would be there when we arrived and that everything would be ok. It was all just a colossal misunderstanding.

We parked in front of Sam's house, and I could see several familiar cars in front of the house and in the driveway. Getting out of the car, I walked over to my mom's door and waited for her to get out while I nervously wrapped my arms around myself. I couldn't help but to feel like a small child and accepted it when my mom grabbed my hand, giving it a small squeeze as she walked me to the front door of the house. Without even knocking my mother entered the house , and we walked into the living where everyone was gathered around having an informal meeting.

We were the last to arrive, and when we walked in, I let go of my mother's hand and joined my teammates where they were seated. I sat next to Taylor, whose eyes were red ringed from crying . Ben, who had recently started dating Sam , didn't look much better than Taylor did. Kyle looked worried and kept looking over at his aunt and uncle and parents who were talking to my grandfather, John, my mother , and Taylor's dad. Looking at my last two teammates , their expressions were the opposite of the other's Lucas looked like he hadn't fully grasped the situation and kept his face emotionless.

"It will be ok," I whispered to Taylor . "She will walk through that door and tell us some crazy story about falling asleep in her car somewhere silly."

"Yeah," Taylor replied attempting a small smile. "I hope so."

I stared at the floor for what seemed like forever, waiting for something to happen. The front door opened, and we all turned our attention to it, hoping Sam would walk through. Instead of Sam , it was Officer Lucy Spencer, my mother's younger sister whose only activity in the organization was to run interference with the police department. While she no longer actively participated in hunting or any kind of training, she does help if something serious is going on with the organization. Like a member coming up missing.

She came into the living room and gave me a small, sympathetic smile before walking over to the group of adults talking in the center of the room. I got up to see if I could hear what she had to say and walked over to the group. I stayed to the back out of my grandfather's sight.

"Any word on where she is?" Susan, Sam's mother, asked Lucy.

"No, not yet , but we have found her car abandoned near Green Ridge Park," Lucy replied . "I wanted to let you guys know first and get a key, so I don't have to break in and potentially disturb anything."

Susan nodded but did not look relieved at all . She left the room to retrieve a car key.

Lucy looked around . "Does anyone want to go with me to check her car?"

I was the first one to speak up. "I do."

The adults just looked at me, and I quickly explained myself . "Sam is on my team , so maybe I will be able to notice if anything is out of place that you guys might overlook ."

My grandfather looked deep in thought for a moment before he frowned , looking straight at me and finally nodding . "Alright, Lucy , take Mike with you and Elizabeth . John, Nicholas, and Alexandra will follow as a separate group."

Nobody objected or questioned the orders my Grandfather gave. I could also tell that Mike, Sam's dad, was relieved to be doing something , even if it was visiting his daughter's abandoned car. Susan returned with the keys momentarily and was informed about what the plan was . Then my grandmother walked in from the kitchen and lead Susan away, suggesting that they have a cup of tea to soothe her nerves. My grandmother put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed as she walked passed me. Everyone was ready to leave quickly. As we started to file out of the door, my grandfather stopped me as I walked past him.

"Alexandra , you tell them everything you might think is important on the way to Samantha's car," he told me , and I nodded in agreement.

Out at the cars, Mike followed Lucy to her squad car while the rest of us walked over to my mother's car. I sat in the backseat behind the driver seat while my mom drove, and John sat in the front passenger seat, with Nick sitting on the other side of the backseat.

When we pulled away , my mother was the first to speak . "Riley does not actually know anything. We talked about it on the way to Susan and Mike's house tonight ."

"Okay," John said, "when was the last time you did see Sam, Riley?"

"Getting into her car while I was leaving the dress shop on Miles St. earlier," I told him.

He thought about it for a moment . "Do you recall what time that was?"

"Right before I ran into you leaving my house last night."

That ended his questioning, and I only hoped that I got my point across that I honestly had no idea what could have happened to Sam. After driving a few more minutes, we pulled into the park right behind Lucy and Mike and parked next to Sam's empty car. We all got out of the cars, and Lucy asked Mike to unlock Sam's car. After he unlocked the car , they moved back, and I started to look around inside of it from the passenger door. On first glance, everything looked the way it always did but when I looked at her steering wheel, I found a note taped to it . Her keys were still in the ignition.

Grabbing the note and her keys, I climbed back out of the car, handed her dad the keys, and started to read the note.

You came back, so we took the girl. She will make a lovely addition to the family.

-VR

"Here is a note from someone with the initials VR, and they took the girl it says because someone came back," I told them . "I think they got the wrong girl, right?"

John grabbed the note from my hand and quickly read it . He showed it to my mom and then to Lucy and Mike. The adults huddled together and had a conversation in hushed tones that I couldn't make out. Nick and I gave each other the same confused looks because neither of us had any idea what the note meant.

John was the first one to speak . "We will find her and fix this . They will not hurt her."

"Do you guys want to share with us?" I asked them and motioned to myself and Nick . "She is our teammate and my friend. I want to know what is going on."

"Riley , let us handle it from here," my mom said.

"But," I started to say.

"Listen to your mother," John interrupted.

"Excuse me?" I questioned. "Sam is our teammate . We have a right to know what is going on."

"Don't worry about it , Riley," my mother said harshly . "The adults will handle it from here , and Sam will be okay."

I didn't know what to say because my mother had never spoken to me like that before, so I shut my mouth .

"Alright, we need to go back and tell father what we know, and then figure out how to handle this," my mother said to the other adults.

"Right," Lucy agreed.

At this point, I felt put out like a defiant teenager and turned my attention to the woods nearby . I stared as the sun started to peek out from above the trees. I felt terrible for feeling like throwing a fit while my best friend was missing, but they were hiding something from us, and there was no way to help if they didn't tell us what they knew .

"Nicholas," my mom said, catching my attention. "Drive Riley home and stay there until I get back."

"Yes, Ms. Spencer," he agreed, taking her car keys when she offered them.

"If you get tired , you can stay in the guest room," my mom told him . "Make sure she does not leave the house."

Nick agreed with her conditions and ushered me toward the car. I sat in the passenger seat and started to buckle up when my mom opened up the door and knelt down beside me.

"Riley, I love you," she said and hugged me . "We are just trying to protect you."

"From what?" I asked.

"From whoever has Sam, all of you kids have to be protected."

I nodded and pulled back as she stood up and closed the car door. Nick had already started the car and pulled away after she stepped back from the car. "You can just drop me off and leave," I told him. "She is just being overprotective for whatever reason right now, and it will be okay if you just go."

"Nope," he replied . "Did you see the way she yelled at you? I am not risking her anger or the wrath of my teacher for not following orders."

"Okay," I conceded. My mom totally would rip him a new one if he didn't listen to her . "What do you think was meant by that note?" I asked him after a few minutes.

Nick looked thoughtful as he watched the road . "I really don't know , but I am sure they can take care of it . Just think about it ; they have been doing this a lot longer than the rest of us."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Aren't I always right?"

"No, not even close to ever being right ." We both actually laughed and smiled for the first time all night.

When we finally arrived home, I lead the way to the front door. Inside I placed my mother's keys on their usual hook in the kitchen so that she didn't freak out when she couldn't find them later.

"Would you like anything to eat?" I asked . "We either have some left over pizza or Chinese food."

He shook his head . "No thanks, I'm good."

I glanced over at the clock on the stove and saw that it was nearly seven a.m . "I didn't realize it was this late, or early , I guess."

"I know," he said and yawned, showing just how tired he actually was .

"I guess you're tired, huh?"

"I'll be fine."

"Whatever . Why don't you go to the guestroom and rest , and I will go get in my bed and see if I can get some more sleep ?" I asked him . "Ok?"

He thought about it for a moment . "Okay, but promise you won't run off and try to do something that you shouldn't."

"I promise," I told him. "I will go get in bed and not get up without letting you know."

He looked skeptical . "Swear?"

"Pinky swear," I said and held out my pinky in response.

He declined with a roll of his eyes, and I lead him out of the kitchen and up the stairs . I pointed to the door at the top of the stairs and told him that it was a bathroom and that the door across from it is the guest room. I also pointed out that the next door is my own bedroom door and that the one across from it is my mom's room.

"My mom has the cleaning lady clean that room once a week , so the sheets and everything should be ok," I told him , opening the door to show him the room.

"There's the bed," I said motioning to it, "I'll be in my room. If you need anything , let me know."

I turned to leave and found that Nick was standing right in front of me. Nick was a bit over six feet tall, and because of my short height I had to look up at his face. Instead of telling him to get out of my way like I had planned, our eyes locked and the weirdest feeling came over me ; it was such a mix of different things. I was feeling a mixture of disgust, hate, a strong like , and what I guessed was lust. Disgust and hate I could deal with. But I felt as if the like and the lust were going to take over , and I wasn't ready to deal with those feelings and what may come with them.

It looked like Nick was in the middle of an internal battle of his own.

Taking a deep breath , I quickly looked away and stepped around him and practically ran out of the door. I shut it behind me, leaving what I am sure was a confused Nick , and mumbled, "Get some rest," through the door .

Inside of my own bedroom, I quickly changed back into my night clothes and crawled into bed even though I was sure I would not be able to sleep because Sam was still missing and because of the weird feelings I was starting to have for Nick.

Closing my eyes , I hoped for sleep to come , and after tossing and turning, I did find sleep for a while.

# Chapter 7

The next time I opened my eyes, the smell of sausage and eggs cooking reached my nose . Surprised, I glanced at the clock and saw that it was eleven in the morning. Climbing out of bed, I pulled on my robe that was lying on the back of my desk chair and decided to go check out the food that had caused me to wake up.

In the kitchen, I was surprised by the scene in front of me. John was at the stove cooking breakfast, but what actually caught my attention was Nick seated at the bar wearing just his jeans. I knew that he looked hot with his clothes on, but his bare back wasn't too lean or too muscled and looked just right. What surprised me the most was the tattoo on his left shoulder blade? It was an intricate cross of some kind with a date underneath it. It was hot and definitely added to the whole dark persona thing he had going for him. I must have stared too long because my mom cleared her throat to get my attention. I looked over at my mom who was also sitting at the bar looking at stuff on her laptop , giving me a look that told me that I had been caught staring. I decided that I must be in an alternate universe or having a particularly strange dream. So , I decided to leave the kitchen and then go back in to see if everything would fix itself , or hopefully I would just wake up. Wishful thinking on my part .

When I turned around, my mom started laughing . "Sweetheart , you are not in an alternate universe or dreaming. Come sit down and wait for food."

I turned back around and went to sit on the bar stool in between her and Nick.

"Alternate universe?" Nick questioned with a smirk on his handsome face.

"Shut up," I told him .

My mom just started to laugh. "When she was three, she snuck around one night and watched some science fiction horror movie about these people who ended up in some kind of alternate universe . For years after that, if she thought something wasn't right , she would leave a room and try to go back in to see if it would fix itself."

"She still does that huh?" Nick asked.

"I don't still do that," I said indignantly . "I am just dead tired this morning , and I got sick because you're prancing around my kitchen with no shirt on. I was just trying to get out before I vomited on something ."

"Right," Nick said sarcastically . "You just keep telling yourself that."

I looked over at my mom for help, but she just looked like she was about to burst from holding in her laughter.

"Whatever," I mumbled and folded my arms over my chest and pouted.

"Nick, you should stop picking on her. You have no room to talk since you had an imaginary friend until you were eight ," the voice of John came to my defense.

I smirked in victory . "Aww that is so sweet, a boy and his friend."

"Shut up," Nick mumbled, taking his turn to pout.

"So," I changed the subject, "any word on Sam yet?"

"We are working on it," my mom replied, "and that is all you need to know right now."

"Okay," I said because I knew there was no use in arguing with her. She would win any argument I tried to start before it could even get started. I guessed that our team would try to find out something on our own.

"The stove works?" I asked turning my attention to John . "I'm surprised . The only time I have ever seen it on there was smoke , and then this one time there was even flames."

"I believe that was probably just user error," John told me while glancing at my mom who looked slightly embarrassed.

Mom decided to take the conversation away from her cooking skills by asking Nick and me how we were doing in school. By the time she was satisfied with our answers, John started placing plates in front of us on the bar . When he was done he sat on the end next to my mother, and we all began to eat the breakfast that he had cooked for us.

It had been a while since I had eaten a home cooked meal, and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted. John had made us eggs, sausage , and even pancakes, all things I had only ever had before in a restaurant or at my grandmother's house.

"This is good," I told him in between bites . "Thanks for cooking."

I honestly could say that John looked impressed that I provided him with a compliment and a thank you.

My mom noticed his perplexed look . "I did raise my daughter to be polite," she told him before taking another bite herself.

"Thank you , and you're welcome for the food," he replied to me.

"Thanks," Nick piped in as well from beside me.

"We have some things to do today," my mom said, "and I want you two to stay out of trouble while we are out. So what are you going to do here at home all day?"

I thought about my answer because I could not tell my mom that I planned on going to find out for myself what happened to Sam instead of sitting at home. So, I gave her the sure fire, mom -accepted response, "I have a bunch of school work to do . I figured I would ask Nick if he wanted to work on our school work together."

"That sounds good to me," my mom said smiling . "Are you going to hang around then , Nick?"

"Sure, I just need to go back home and get my school work after breakfast," he responded, giving me a confused look.

My mom nodded at his response, and we all ate the rest of our meal in silence. When we were finally finished eating, my mom cleaned up in the kitchen with John's help while Nick left to get his things. While he was gone I went into my bedroom and put fresh clothes on for the day, so that I could be ready if we were called to go help find Sam . I chose a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt that I had gotten at a dance camp the summer before. After putting on shoes and socks, I headed down the stairs to find that Nick was already back and that my mother and John were getting ready to leave.

"Alright," my mom told us, "stay here, and if anything important goes on I will call."

"Okay," I agreed . "I will keep my phone on me, so give me a call," I told her while waving my cell phone around for her to see.

"Bye," she said , giving me a kiss on the forehead, and then she followed John out the door.

As soon as the door closed and I could hear the car start outside, I turned to Nick . "I am totally not going to do any school work, and since it is not dark yet I can't go try and find out what is going on. So I am going to go watch TV, and you can either watch too or do your homework." I turned away from him and walked into the living room.

He followed behind me into the living room . "You are going to sneak out later , aren't you?"

"Yes," I admitted . "I have to. I don't like not knowing what is going on, and I think that we could really help."

He looked thoughtful . "It will be dangerous."

"Most likely," I agreed, "but I can't just sit here and do nothing. Can you?"

He didn't agree or disagree with me but instead sat down on the couch and started flipping through the channels on the TV. After giving up trying to figure out what his silence meant, I sat down on the couch as well and just watched the TV as he changed the channels . There was not anything in particular that I cared about watching, so I just decided to let him find something. He finally settled on some science fiction movie that I had already watched months before.

We started another movie after it was finished, and we just sat and watched for a while longer . Somehow, we had drifted closer and closer together until we were sitting side by side barely touching. I tried to act like I didn't even notice, but when I turned to glance at him he was staring at me. And the same as before , I could not help but to be drawn in , and somehow I felt things that I had only read about in books or seen in movies. Glancing at his lips , I wondered what it would be like to kiss them, even though in a deep dark place at the back of my mind I knew that this was Nick , my annoying new teammate , and that I should not be thinking about kissing him. And by some unknown force we started to move closer and closer together, and our lips were almost touching.

And just before our lips could connect , the front door opened, and thankfully that same magnet that was drawing us together repelled us to opposite sides of the couch .

"Hey," my mother said , walking into the living room.

"Hi, mom," I replied back while Nick just nodded.

"What have you guys been up to?" she asked looking at the two of us . I knew that we must be looking rather awkward because we were looking everywhere other than at each other and I was practically sitting on the arm of the couch.

"Just watching TV," Nick told her.

"Okay , well John is going to make us dinner, and I will call you both when it is done," she said , appearing not to notice the tension in the room.

As soon as my mom left the room, I quickly excused myself to my bedroom , saying I had something to do before dinner. Inside of my bedroom , I paced as I thought about what would have happened if my mother and John had not come in the front door when they did. Part of me was extremely disappointed, and the other part of me was relieved. Growing frustrated thinking about what might have happened , I went into the kitchen and waited for dinner so that I could ask my mother if they had learned anything about Sam.

I sat next to my mother at the bar and observed John as he cooked our dinner. Just like when he worked with our team in training , he did everything so naturally and with such ease that it was hard to not be jealous. It was sort of the way that Nick did everything.

I thought about it a minute and realized that all of the times I was around him I would get the same sense that I had been getting around Nick. No, not that I want to kiss you feeling, but the feeling that my friends always thought was weird when I could tell a vampire was nearby and they couldn't.

Then it dawned on me : John is like Nick ; he is half vampire too.

I felt like slapping myself. Why didn't I pick up on this before? Probably because there was always something going on and I didn't have time to focus on him. It also explained what he said to me that night about my mom working with someone like Nick. He was talking about himself.

"You're half vampire," I blurted out without thinking .

That stopped everyone in the kitchen from what they were doing. Nick had a look that clearly said, so you finally figured it out . John had a perfectly straight face while my mom didn't look particularly thrilled that I had noticed.

But instead of anyone denying anything, John just nodded and asked, "How did you figure it out?"

"Well," I said collecting my thoughts, "sitting here observing you cook and move around the kitchen put everything together for me. But it was mostly the comment that you made to me that day about my mom working with people like Nick . Plus I get the vibe from you."

"Vibe?" he asked . My mom had leaned forward on her stool and Nick arched a questioning eyebrow waiting for my response.

"Yeah," I continued, "I have been actively going out and hunting vampires since I was thirteen, and I always sort of get this feeling when I am close to them . Just now I realized that I was getting it from you and not just him," I finished, nodding in Nick's direction.

"Interesting," John said.

"Okay," my mom said , looking a bit concerned and perplexed . "When will food be ready?" she asked , changing the subject.

John went back to cooking the food and said it will be ready any minute. My mom told us to set the dining room table and we got up to do as we were told. I showed him to the dining room, and we started putting the plates on the table.

"You know," I told him, "I don't think we have actually ever eaten in here. We have lived in this house since I was five, and we have only ever used this table for my school projects and the odd craft project that my mom decided to do with me when I was a kid."

"You guys live like a couple of college guys," he laughed.

"No, we don't," I said laughing . "Okay, maybe we do, but I told her no when she wanted to put in the beer pong table. I'm still too young for that ." We continued laughing, and when my mom walked in we laughed even harder, causing her to roll her eyes at us as she brought food in.

We spent the next hour eating dinner and talking. Afterwards, Nick and I cleaned the dining table and kitchen. When we were finally done, my mother and I walked them to the door to see them out.

After my mom closed the door, she immediately faced me . "So what in the world happened earlier?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, wanting her to clarify what she was asking before I volunteered anything .

"You and Nicholas on the couch," she said, looking at me expectantly for an answer.

"We were just watching TV," I told her, and she looked doubtful . "I think I am going to go up to my room now and call Taylor to see how she is doing," I told her , looking for an escape.

"Okay," she sighed as I started to walk up the stairs . "Night."

I stopped midway up the stairs and turned and looked down at her . "Are you sure there isn't anything you can tell me about Sam?"

"No sweetie , once something is definite I will let you know."

"Okay," I said and turned back up the stairs.

Inside of my room I immediately picked up my cell phone, dialed Taylor's number, and waited just two rings before she answered.

"Hey ."

"Hey, how are you doing?"

"As well as I can be . My parents talked to your grandfather today, but they aren't saying anything."

"Yeah, my mom was gone all day doing something with them, and they won't let me know anything either."

"I wish there was something we could do."

"I know, me too."

I thought about the note and wondered if maybe we could actually go question some of the vampires.

"Taylor , what if we go hunting some of the vampires and question them ?"

"Yeah, we could do that but wouldn't that be dangerous ?"

"Maybe, but it can't be any more dangerous than hunting them like we always do."

"That's true . We should talk to the guys."

"Okay, let's talk to them tomorrow, and if nothing comes up we will go out tomorrow night and find something out."

"Sounds good . I think I am going to try and get some sleep. I haven't been able to get much rest."

"Me either . Goodnight . I will talk to you tomorrow."

I hung up the phone and leaned back onto my pillows and wondered if we would be able to pull this off. We had never actually tried to get information from the vampires we hunted, and I was not sure how this would go. All we could do is try to get the information we needed.

I started to close my eyes and considered sleeping, but I was sure sleep wouldn't come easy. So I climbed out of bed and carried my laptop over to my bed. While the computer booted up , I decided that I would do normal teenage girl stuff and distract myself online.

Truthfully looking at clothes and social networking sites only lasted me about thirty seconds because it was so hard to do mindless stuff when one of your best friends was missing. I closed the laptop and set it aside when my phone buzzed with a message. It was from Nick .

Hey .

Hey.

How are you doing?

I am good, just plotting stuff.

Please don't do anything crazy.

I am not . Taylor and I talked, and we want to gather the team and go hunting tomorrow night to try to find something out on our own.

Are you sure about this?

Yes, are you in?

I guess someone has to make sure you don't try something crazy.

I won't . We are just trying to get information.

If you say so, I will help.

Thank you.

Anytime.

I placed my phone on my nightstand and tried to get comfortable. There was not much I could do for Sam, so I figured I might as well rest and be prepared to help when it came time to do something.

Startled awake by my alarm, I was shocked that it was morning . I went to the bathroom and turned the shower on as high as possible. The shower did its intended job, and I felt alert and ready to start the day. I hoped that today we would get some news about Sam. And if we didn't get any information , the team and I would figure out how to find her on our own tonight.

Stepping out of the shower, I dried off with a towel and then walked into my closet. I dressed as quickly as possible in a pair of jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt since it was fall and the weather had been getting cooler. Walking down the stairs after doing my hair and makeup , the house was quiet . My mother had already left , but she did leave me a hot coffee and a note on the bar where I always sit.

Riley,

I had to go in early. We are working on this so if anyone asks why Sam is not in school today, just tell them that she is sick.

Love, Mom

With a sigh and shake of the head, I crumpled the note up and tossed it into the kitchen trash bin. I understood why they wanted us to say that she was just sick, but it still felt wrong. Grabbing a travel mug for my coffee , I quickly filled it with coffee and gathered my school bag to leave the house.

The drive to school passed by quickly, and I pulled into the lot but did not see any of my teammates or their cars at school yet. The parking lot was not too full, so I parked in an area where there were hardly any cars to wait for them to arrive.

Tap, Tap

Taylor and Kyle were at my car window trying to get my attention. I nodded at them and shut my car off and got out of the car.

"Hey , guys," I greeted them , shutting the door of my car.

Taylor nodded . "Have you heard anything else?"

"No, my mom will not tell me anything."

Taylor sighed and stared out at the field next to the school . "We have to figure this out on our own then."

"We just need to talk to the rest of the guys," Kyle agreed.

Taylor and I nodded , and Ben and Lucas pulled up and got out of the car to join our circle.

"Find out anything?" Lucas asked.

"No, but we want to go out tonight and start getting our own answers," I told them.

"Okay , let's do it," Ben replied while Lucas nodded his head in agreement.

We made our plans and decided on how we were going to get out of our respective homes, then sorted out when and where we would meet. Nick walked up halfway through and gave us input and agreed with our plans.

"I will see if I can get on my mother's computer this evening and check to see if there's any information on it I can get to," I informed them.

"Be careful," Taylor said. "You know your mom is crazy about what is on that computer."

"Yeah," I agreed, "but she has to go to sleep sometime."

We talked for a few minutes about our plans before it was time for us to go to class . Walking into the school Nick, Kyle and I went to our history class. In class Kyle actually moved seats and sat in an empty seat behind Hannah next to Nick.

When class started , I grew bored listening to the teacher's monotone lecture and zoned out . My attention drifted to different areas around the room and settled on the window of the classroom door. Before I realized what was happening, I started screaming. At the window, Sam was standing drenched in blood and covered in bite marks. She looked so scared and sad, and I could not quit screaming because I was frozen in my seat and could not stand to help her.

"Riley wake up ." Someone was shaking me.

"No, Sam," I yelled, "I am so sorry . I will help you !"

"Riley wake up ." I was being shaken even harder.

Slowly I opened my eyes to find Nick and Kyle on either side of my desk. I looked over at the window and saw that there was no bloody Sam standing there.

I looked around and realized that everyone in the class was staring at me . "Sorry," I mumbled.

"Miss Spencer, are you finished?" Ms. Johnson asked.

"Yes."

"Well then if you are done screaming and yelling in my class , I will continue," Ms. Johnson said very strictly . "Disturb class again and I will be sending you to the office."

After I nodded, she turned back to the board and continued the lesson. I decided to keep my attention from wandering around the class by doodling in my notebook. While I was no artist , it would keep me from falling back to sleep. In the middle of my doodling, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I looked up and made sure that Ms. Johnson was not paying attention to me before I fished it out of my pocket.

It was a message from Kyle.

Are you ok? What happened?

Just a nightmare . I'm fine now.

Okay.

Glancing over at Kyle, I gave him a nod to let him know that I was good, and I put my phone back in my pocket.

# Chapter 8

After school, the evening passed by slowly. I just hoped that my mom was actually asleep behind her shut bedroom door and not waiting for me to try anything. Walking out of my room, I crept across the hallway and listened for sounds coming from my mom's bedroom . Not hearing anything , I looked underneath her door. Her light was off, so I took that as a sign that she was asleep.

I sent Taylor a text message and let her know that I would meet the team at the end of my block in ten minutes. After getting dressed, I snuck down the stairs and out the backdoor . Outside I opened the trunk of my car to get my katana just in case I needed it for our information gathering trip. Closing the trunk quietly , I glanced up at the house to make sure that her light was still off.

The coast was clear, so I quickly started walking down the sidewalk. Luckily Taylor's car was waiting at the corner of my street. She had already picked up Lucas , so I climbed into the backseat.

"What about everyone else?" I asked them.

"They are meeting us at the park," Lucas explained .

I nodded in acknowledgement and Taylor drove off toward the park. When we pulled up to park, the other guys were already there waiting for us.

"You guys ready?" Kyle asked as we get out of the car.

"I am," I told him . "Should one us jog the trail as a decoy?"

"It would probably be our best bet," Lucas said.

"I'll do it," I volunteered.

We all started to get prepared for our hunting trip, and I handed my katana to Taylor to hang onto for me. Bidding them goodbye , I walked toward the most recent trail that we had heard people were being abducted from. Just as I was about to enter the trail , someone tapped me on my shoulder. I stopped and turned around to see Nick standing there looking unsure.

"Be careful," he finally said to me after a few seconds.

"I will," I told him , giving him a confused look and making eye contact with him.

One of our teammates cleared their throat, and the staring match we had going on ended . I turned back to jog down the path.

Even though it was already dark out, I could still see because thankfully there were light poles every ten to fifteen feet to keep the path lit for night runners. I started with a light jog because I didn't know how long I would be running before any vampires would come out or if there were any out at all. On my way, I passed a small group of joggers that nodded greetings to me.

Jogging another quarter of a mile, I reached a bench. Deciding to take a break , I stopped and pretended to be stretching. I had a feeling that something was about to happen because I could sense that a vampire was near.

I felt like I was being watched, so to keep with appearances I continued to stretch . As I finished , I turned around. Surprised, I found a female vampire standing a few feet behind me.

"Hi," I said to her , trying to act like I didn't know what she was . "Can I help you?"

"Oh yes," she told with a purr in her voice.

"Are you lost or something?" I asked, playing dumb.

She smiled at me and stepped even closer until she was only about a foot from me. I should have been afraid, but it was hard to be afraid of someone who was around my size and looked no older than me . Besides , I did have an advantage over her. She didn't know that I knew she was a vampire.

"No, I am exactly where I need to be."

"Okay , well it's nice to meet you," I told her . "I am going to finish my run now."

When she just stared at me and didn't do or say anything else , I started to turn away. Almost immediately she grabbed my arm.

"You aren't leaving yet," she said with a hiss.

"Seriously ?" I asked her and punched her in the throat.

She was taken by surprise when I hit her, and even though she was stronger than me , she still stumbled back a few steps.

"That was not very nice," she said and pounced at me.

Before she could attack me, she was tackled to the ground by Nick. He managed to hold her in place while the boys started to tie her up with a rope that they had brought with them. After she was secure , we sat her up so that we could question her.

"Look, we just have a few questions for you," I told her loudly.

In response, she just started thrashing and hissing. We had to kill her quickly or get her to talk to us . The ropes would not hold her for long if she kept on moving so violently.

I walked up to her and punched her in the face . "If you stop and cooperate, we will let you go free."

That got her attention . "You are hunters . You will not let me free," she said doubtfully.

"Usually we wouldn't even consider letting you live, and you already would be dead," Nick told her, "but we have some questions we need answered."

Looking at Nick , she paused for a minute . "You are one of us. Why are you working with these humans?"

"Just because my father was one of you," he spoke lowly to her, "does not mean that I am one of you. Besides, you aren't one of us anyway. You are just a low rank , made vampire."

The vampire's fangs came out, and she hissed at him. The rest of us were surprised by what Nick said. We all knew there were made vampires and born vampires, but we had no idea that one kind looked down upon the other .

"We want to know about a girl who was taken a few days ago," Nick told her, slowly pacing around her.

"I am sure she was just taken for food and is already dead."

My temper got the best of me and I sent my fist into her right cheek , sending her face to the left.

"Look , bitch, if you know something you better tell us ." I walked over and took the katana from Ben who was holding mine for me. She just looked at me, so I waved my weapon in her face . "Start talking or I will kill you now."

She just stared at me, so I brought my weapon up and started to bring it down on her.

"Okay, okay !" she screamed, stopping me.

"Okay, what do you know?"

"I just know that my Master is angry that someone is back in the city, so he kidnapped his daughter."

"Okay, so what are the plans for the girl?" Taylor piped in.

"If the girl's father does not come and surrender, the girl will either be fully turned into a vampire, or she will be killed."

"Has your boss figured out that he has the wrong girl?" I asked this time.

"Wrong girl?" the vampire asked.

I rolled my eyes at her. "The father of the girl your people have , has been here for years."

"What do you mean fully changed?" Nick cut in . He'd caught on to something that the rest of us hadn't . "Have they done something to her already?"

"From what I have been told," the vampire paused, "the girl already has vampire blood in her."

"Great, so we need to find the father of a girl that has vampire blood and give him to these people so that we can get Sam back ?" Lucas questioned the rest of us.

"Seriously , maybe we should find out where they are holding her and just go in and get her," I told the rest of the team.

Everyone, including our captive vampire , turned to look at me like I had lost my mind.

"Do you guys have any other ideas?"

Everyone shook their heads, and we all turned back to the vampire that was still tied up.

"Where are they holding her?" Kyle asked.

"My Master has a home in the city they are keeping her in."

We questioned the vampire longer, but she did not know the house that they were holding Sam in. We also learned that apparently this vampire's Master had a deal with some guy that he was to leave town, and he would leave his daughter alone. But since he returned to town , the Master's lackeys kidnapped the person they thought was the daughter until the guy contacts them.

It just sounded crazy to me and kind of like the vampires were in the mob or something. Now we had to either find out who they wanted or figure out how to get Sam away from them.

True to our word , we started to leave and let the vampire live. We left her tied up, and since she was a vampire, she would be out of the ropes the minute we walked off. As we started to walk back down the trail , I turned to give the vampire one last look to see if she was still tied up when she pounced at me. I couldn't believe she was trying to attack me with all of us around. But in the five seconds it took for me to form that thought, Nick was already there . He took her head clean off with his sword .

Now that the vampire was gone, we didn't have to worry about her anymore. It was now around midnight, and I figured we should get to our homes before one of us was busted for sneaking out . With the lockdown that we had been under by our parents and the organization , we could be in a lot of trouble.

"So what do we do next?" I asked the others as we got further down the path away from where we had killed the vampire.

"I don't think you guys will be doing anything else," John's voice was heard ahead of us.

We all looked as my mother and John walked out onto the path from the tree line.

"Wow," I said clearly not in control of my mouth . "Fancy meeting you guys here." If looks could kill , the look that my mother gave me would have killed me where I was standing. "Are you guys out for a jog like we are?"

"What in the hell are you thinking?" my mom yelled at me . "I told you that we would handle it, that we were handling it."

"Well , how can we trust that when you won't tell us anything?" I yelled back at her.

"We are telling you everything you need to know," she said , calming herself down.

"We have been told nothing," Taylor said . "We found out more tonight than we have been told since she was taken."

We all nodded in agreement with Taylor and Kyle spoke up . "We all have a right to know what is going on . Sam is our friend, teammate, and my cousin. We know that she was taken because some vampires thought she was someone else. What are you guys doing about it ?"

My mom and John looked at each other, and then John turned to Nick . "I thought I told you to make sure nothing like this happened. I gave you orders."

Nick looked at the ground. "I was helping my friends."

John nodded and sighed. "Look, I understand that, but this was stupid and dangerous. You guys could have put more than just Samantha in danger tonight."

"I think we need to get Sam from where they are holding her," I told my mom and John . "Or we need to figure out who they want and have them get Sam back for us."

"Do you guys know who they want?" my mom asked.

"No, but we are going to find out," Lucas told them.

"We are going to try and find out who it is they are looking for , but for now stay out of it," my mom said sternly . "Let us handle this. We are angry at you all for sneaking out. I know your parents are worried , but truthfully you guys did well on finding out this information."

"Then let's use it," I told her.

"We will start by finding out who they are looking for and where they are located," John said and glanced at my mother who was staring at the ground deep in thought.

I got the feeling that there was more going on here than what we were being told or had uncovered. If only everything would come out , I was sure that it all would turn out better. But they were not talking for whatever reasons they had.

"What if you guys can't get her out?" I asked . "Will you guys figure out who they want and make them go in?"

"No," my mom said quickly, taking us all by surprise.

"We will consider everything," John said . "Just let us get started with this information first. It wouldn't be right to make someone go into a vampire's nest ."

When we exited the trail, I started to get into Taylor's car when mom directed me to her car. "Oh no, young lady , you are going with me. You are not getting out of my sight because I am sure you were the ring leader of this little expedition ."

I pouted and got into the backseat of her car as she climbed in the driver side and John sat in the front passenger seat. John motioned to Nick, and he got into the other side of the backseat . We all buckled up, and my mother drove away from the park.

"What about my car?" Nick asked John.

"We will come get it later," John told him, leaving no room for complaint from Nick. Nick just nodded and sat back in the seat.

The feeling coming off of my mom was an icy one, and I was sure if I opened my mouth to say the wrong thing that I would end up locked inside of my room permanently. Instead of going straight home , my mom drove in the opposite direction and traveled a short distance to a complex of town homes. She stopped in front of one , and John said goodbye and gave Nick a look . He got out of the car with a nod to me.

My mother drove out of the complex parking lot without even letting me get into the front seat, and I knew I was about to get it.

"You just don't know how worried I was. I was sure they had taken you," she said, and I could see her eyes watering in the rearview mirror.

I sighed . It was hard to be mad at her for being overprotective when she was nearly crying . "I am sorry . It won't happen again . We just want to help because we haven't been told anything about Sam, and we are really scared for her."

My mom nodded in agreement. "I know, but please trust us on this . We are doing everything we can to get her back safely."

"I know , mom, but please if something happens don't keep it a secret," I smiled . "You know , mom?" She looked in the rearview mirror at me . "You should be glad that I am just going out and hunting vampires. I could always just go out and get drunk and pregnant and use drugs."

She rolled her eyes at me with a slight laugh . "Daughter dear , that would never happen."

I sighed . "Yeah, you are right , but it always makes a nice threat to scare you with."

"I don't know what I am going to do with you," she said as we pulled into the driveway.

In the house, my mom sent me to my room with strict orders not to get out of bed until morning. Deciding not to push things with my mom , I did exactly as she said and climbed into my cozy bed.

# Chapter 9

Nearly a week passed, and my mom had not told us anything and had barely let me out of her sight. My orders had been to go to practice if I had it after school, and if I didn't, I was to go straight to headquarters to either train or wait for my mother to leave. While the thought of not knowing anything about Sam and her condition was infuriating, I did have Nick to keep me from going over the deep end. It was an odd sort of thing . We had the awkwardness of what could have happened that day hanging over us, but we were there for each other like old friends.

We had actually been spending a lot of time together and had learned what I think was nearly everything we could learn about each other. I knew about his mother, who died when he was twelve , and his father, who was killed by a renegade hunter right after his birth. I had also told him how if I ever met my father , I was going to punch him in the face if he was even still alive.

"Hey," I called out to my mom as I walked down the hall and saw her about to go into her office.

She turned around to face me and smiled . She had been extremely happy since I started being cooperative about everything . "What do you need , sweetie?"

"If it is alright , can I go to the store a few blocks down?" I asked. "It will not take long, and there are a few things that I need."

She sighed and looked around. "Fine, but make it quick. Where is everyone else?"

"They have all gone home, but I will be really quick," I promised . "Besides, it is only seven; it is not that late yet."

She nodded . "Come straight back."

With promises to take less than an hour , I walked back to the elevator and went down to the first floor of the building to exit the front door. Because it was after six, there were not that many people in the area, but a couple of blocks away in the arts and museum district of the city, there were a lot of people in the galleries and at the nearby restaurants. Walking down the street, I passed by a few people, but since we were downtown , there were no greetings exchanged. Everyone just minded their own business.

The market that I visited was familiar to me since it was one that we frequented to make quick purchases. I grabbed a basket and shopped around to collect myself frozen pizzas, an energy drink, and the chocolate that I knew my mom had been talking about all week. What can I say? I am a good daughter , or just maybe I was trying to get her to lighten up some. Either way , I hoped it would work.

Getting into the checkout line, I waited in the line of a cashier that had worked at the store for years. But it was not her that got my attention , it was the person that had just stepped into line behind me. I kind of glanced back behind me, but I didn't have to look to know that it was a vampire. I could sense it.

All I knew was that I wanted to buy my stuff and get out of the store. When it was my turn in line, the cashier rang up my items, and I paid her as quickly as possible and grabbed my bags . Out of the store , I walked back towards headquarters nearly running.

When I was almost to headquarters, I walked by an alley and was pulled inside. I was twisted around until I was face to face with the vampire from the market. This encounter would not go my way because I was unarmed and there was nothing nearby I could use as a weapon. I only hoped that someone was outside of headquarters and saw me get pulled into the alley . "Aren't you going to scream?" he asked me.

Knowing that if I fought he would kill me immediately , I decided that it was best to cooperate and answer him. I shook my head in response.

"I want you listen to what I have to say if you want your friend to live," he said to me , placing his hand around my throat firmly . "My boss knows he has the wrong girl , and if you want her to live you will surrender yourself to him Friday night. You will turn yourself in at midnight at this address," he said and placed a piece of paper in my jacket pocket.

"Why me ?" I could not help asking.

"Just do it and your friend can go . You will find out everything then ." He glanced down the alley . "Just don't say anything to that one."

He nodded down the alley, and I could see that Nick and John were at the end of the alley watching the situation and ready to attack. I knew they hadn't already only because if they were to attack, the vampire would snap my throat in an instance.

"Which one ?" I whispered.

"That one," he nodded again at John.

"Paul," John said getting the vampires attention, "let her go, and I will let you live."

"What makes you think that I would believe that , cousin?" Paul asked.

My eyes and Nick's eyes grew wide with surprise.

"Just do it ." John paused . "You know that I keep my word."

"You haven't recently to Vincent, now have you?"

"I will deal with Vincent. Now let her go and leave," John said with a finality that left no room for argument.

Before I realized what was happening, the vampire twisted around and threw me through the air as if I were lighter than a feather straight at John and Nick down the alley. Nick was able to catch me and put me on my feet. When we recovered , the vampire was nowhere to be seen.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked.

I nodded and watched as he walked over and retrieved my grocery bags for me.

"Riley," John said getting my attention, "what did he want?"

I looked at John and felt as if I could not trust him . There was something that he was hiding. I just knew that he was. I also knew that the vampire had told me not tell him anything if I wanted Sam to live. So of course I lied to him.

"He didn't say anything," I told him . "I guess he was just trying to play with his dinner," I said keeping my face straight and tone even . I started walking down the street to headquarters. Nick followed close behind me, and I could not make up my mind on whether or not I was going to tell him what the vampire had said to me. I trusted him, but I couldn't be sure he would keep my secret.

When we entered the building, I thanked Nick for carrying my bags and took them from him. I let him know that I would talk to him later , but that I just wished to be alone. I made sure that I got on an elevator alone , and when the doors shut , I immediately dropped my bags and sank down to the floor. My heart was pounding so fast, and I felt like crying. My breath was barely coming, and I could not hear. I was having a panic attack.

Breathe, Riley , breathe, I kept mumbling to myself as the elevator reached the floor that my mother's office was located on. I gained my composure before the doors opened, but the panic attack was clouding my thoughts because I still had no idea what to do. All I did know was that I needed to get Sam out of there before she was killed , if she was not already dead.

When I arrived at my mother's office , she was on the phone. It sounded like they were going over vampire activity. When she noticed me , she nodded to a chair and I sat down. I looked around her office while I waited for her phone call to end and found it amusing that she had pictures of me at every stage of my life from baby pictures, dance recital pictures , and most recently, cheerleading pictures . It looked just like any regular office, but the funny part to me was that the office was used for planning vampire hunts.

"Hey, was your trip ok?" she asked hanging up her phone.

"Yeah , there was a small situation, but John and Nick showed up and took care of it ." She looked thoughtful and nodded.

"Are you ready to go home?" she asked gathering up her computer and a couple of papers she had printed out before I came in.

"Yeah , I'm hungry," I said holding up one of my grocery bags . "I also have some chocolate for you that you have been wanting."

My mom cocked her eyebrow at me . "What do you want?"

"Nothing," I said , just hoping to have her in a good mood if something did come up.

She finished gathering her things, and as we made our exit from headquarters she said goodbye to a couple of people who were left in the building. In the parking garage, I got into my own car with instructions to follow her straight home. By the time we made it home, I made my mind up that I would tell Nick what the vampire said. I would trust him, and I would do what the vampires wanted to get Sam back .

# Chapter 10

"Are you sure this is the only choice?" Nick asked me after I told him what the vampire said in the alley before he and John showed up. We were sitting in an empty classroom during my office aide period after I had pulled him out of his chemistry class.

"Yes, I really think it is," I told him . "I have no idea what it has to do with me , but if it will get Sam back then I have to go this house." I waved around the piece of paper with the address on it .

"What if we go to your mom and John and see if they can help?" he asked me.

"No, he told me not to tell anyone, especially John," I pleaded with him . "I am afraid that by telling you, I am putting her in even more danger."

He sighed and stared out of the window of the classroom . "I will think about it and see if I can come up with a solution before you go turn yourself in."

I nodded to him . "Thank you."

"I know that you want to get Sam back, but you can't risk your own life."

"It is not a risk for one of my best friends," I told him.

He sighed . "I'll get back to you later ." He glanced at me and then turned back toward the window.

The bell rang ending the class period, and we hurried out of the empty classroom to blend in with the other students and get to our next classes. I hoped that Nick would come up with an idea before I gave myself over to the vampires.

My last two classes and cheerleading practice passed by in a blur . I was anxious to see if Nick would come up with a plan. Instead of going to headquarters for the afternoon, I received permission from my mother to go home as long as I checked in with her. When I arrived home , I tried to snack on food and work on my homework but could not concentrate. So, I spent my time watching the second hand move on the clock in our living room.

BRING!!! BRING!!!

The doorbell rang, and I was relieved to see that I did not have to wait long for Nick to contact me.

Opening the door I greeted him . "Hey," I said and moved aside to let him in .

I led him into the kitchen and offered him something to eat, then took a seat at the kitchen bar next to him. Sitting in silence was driving me crazy, and I had to break it . "Any ideas?" I asked him.

He looked thoughtful and unsure . "Well, there is this one thing that I had read about a long time ago in a book about vampires."

"Okay, well?"

"I really don't know about it," he said after a moment . "It may not work and it will be tricky, but if it works it would give me a way to track you when you go into the vampire's nest. That way I would be able to get to you quickly if you needed help."

I thought about it for a moment . "Well, that doesn't sound so bad. It might work."

"Yeah , I think it is called a blood pact, and from what I understand vampires have used it for hundreds if not thousands of years to form bonds with each other ."

I just nodded at him.

"Essentially we would be able to read each other's thoughts, sense feelings , and would be able to track each other."

"Well , I am sure when this is over with we would be able to turn it off , and everything would go back to normal," I told him . "Right?"

"Yeah," he said , but I wasn't convinced he was sure about that part.

"Well , today is Tuesday, and I have to turn myself over to them Friday night," I explained to him . "When should we do this?"

He looked down unsure . "As soon as possible."

I nodded . "That would probably be best. That way we could get used to it."

"What about tonight?" he asked . "That way we both have a few days to get used to the connection."

"Okay, what do we need to do this?" I asked him . "I can sneak out after my mom goes to bed."

"I will get the book and see if there is anything that we need . After I get everything, I'll text you later tonight," he said, heading toward the door.

I looked away from the window and made eye contact with him over by the door . "Okay, I will be waiting."

"Bye," he said , opening the door.

"See you later," I said as he stepped out and shut the door.

After he left I tried to finish my snack and work on my homework, but I couldn't concentrate on it at all and my appetite was totally gone. My mind kept wandering to how this blood pact thing that Nick mentioned would work and how it would affect us. It was a scary idea , but the alternative was a dead Sam and probably a dead me, too . I was just thankful for Nick and that he was willing to do anything to help.

The blood pact itself fascinated me , and I thought it would be very helpful in saving Sam and probably any other future hunting missions. Some of the effects of the blood pact scared me though, and I shuddered at the thought of knowing the innermost thoughts of a sixteen year old boy .

I was still sitting in the same spot, zoned out imagining what would have to happen to form the bond, when the bang of the door opening made me jump. I glanced at the time . It was just after five o'clock , and my mother had just walked in the door.

"Hey," I said greeting her, trying to sound cheerful .

"You look like you saw a ghost," she said, not fooled by my attempt to hide that she had startled me.

I shook my head . "I wasn't expecting the door to open . I was studying, and I guess I was just too focused on my school work," I said, holding up my notebook.

"Yeah," she said grabbing my notebook, "it really must be hard to study a blank piece of paper." "Oh you got me," I frowned. "I was just sitting here thinking about Sam."

She sat next to me and sighed. "It will be okay," she said, putting her arm around me . "We are doing everything we can to get Sam back safe."

I just nodded . I knew they were doing what they could to get her back, but I had decided that I would do my part to get her back as well. Because according to the vampire in the alley , it was somehow my fault that she was taken.

"Well," I said , getting up from my seat . "I am going to go upstairs, take a shower , and actually try to do my homework or maybe take a nap."

"Okay," she said . "Well, I will take care of getting us some dinner."

"Thanks , mom," I said and left the kitchen .

Upstairs in my room , I did just what I told her I would do . I pulled out clean clothes, went into my bathroom , and turned on the hot water to prepare for a shower. I had this unclean feeling from not telling my mother what was going on and was hoping that a shower would wash it away. I doubted it would work. Inside the shower I performed my daily ritual of washing my hair and bathing . I tried to take my time , but my mind kept wandering to Sam She probably hadn't had a shower since she was taken , and there was no telling what kind of abuse she was going through. I just hoped she was okay and that we would be able to get her out while she was still alive.

When I finished with my shower, I dressed as comfortable as possible in a pair of black yoga pants and a purple tank top. I did not bother with doing anything other than brushing my hair and pulling it back in a ponytail, and there would be no need for makeup for whatever was to occur that night. When I was finally done, I decided to forgo homework and laid in my bed to see if it would be possible to get a nap in. I knew that it was going be a long night.

"Riley, wake up," I heard my mother saying as she shook my shoulder . Slowly I opened my eyes and could see her looking over me with concern.

"I'm awake now," I told her. I glanced over at the clock and could see that it was now seven o'clock.

"You have been asleep for a while . I just came up to tell you that dinner is ready," she told me as she walked over to the door . "We have company for dinner."

"Okay," I said, "I will be right down." I sighed and wondered who could be over for dinner. Out of the bed , I straightened my ponytail and pulled on a hoodie and a pair of slippers before I walked down the stairs.

Downstairs in the kitchen, I found my mother seated at the table with John and Nick waiting for me.

"Hi," I greeted them as I walked over and sat down in my seat.

"She was taking a nap," my mother said to John and Nick, then to me she said, "I thought I was going to have to drag you down the stairs."

"Sorry, I was tired."

"I know," she said, "I was just kidding with you."

"I know . I'm still a little drowsy."

She just nodded to me . "Alright then, let's eat," she said.

After the food was passed around, we ate the grilled chicken and mashed potatoes that I assumed John cooked, because I was certain that my mother hadn't cooked it and that it wasn't take out.

"How has school been for you guys?" John broke the silence.

I looked at him shocked because he rarely asked any personal questions. "It's good," I answered him.

"Fine," Nick piped in.

John nodded and we went back to eating, but after a few minutes I decided to break the silence. "Any word on Sam yet?" I asked.

John was not fazed by my question, but the guy never seemed bothered by anything. However, I did not miss the brief eye contact he made with my mom.

"Nothing yet," he told me, "but as soon as we do, everyone will know."

"Ok," I replied to him, "hopefully we hear something soon."

"We hope so too ," my mom said . "This is really good chicken," she said , turning to John to change the subject.

"Thank you," he replied.

After that we ate dinner in silence. When we were finishing up, I turned to Nick . "Did you finish your history homework?" I asked him.

"Um yeah," he said with a confused look on his face.

"Oh good , come help me," I told him and grabbed his arm, dragging him from the kitchen. At the stairs, I stopped and turned to him . "Come on," I said and walked up the stairs.

Once we reached my room, I quietly closed the door and sat on my bed and offered him a seat.

"So," I said as he sat down.

"What?" he asked . "You drug me up here."

I sighed . He was so hopeless . "The plan?"

"Oh yeah , sorry," he said . "I got confused for a second because you dragged me into your bedroom," he smirked at me.

"You idiot !" I exclaimed and threw a pillow from my bed at him which he caught, causing me to scream in frustration. He just laughed at me, and I fell back on my bed and sighed.

"I'm just kidding with you," he said.

"Okay then , seriously?" I said and looked over at him.

"I have everything we need," he told me . "I figured out a place and have read what needs to be done for it to work."

"Okay," I nodded, "when are we going to do this?"

"We will have to sneak out later."

"What about them, my mom and John?" I asked.

"When we go home I am pretty sure John will leave again , so I will just leave after he leaves."

"Okay , and then I could wait for her to sleep," I said.

"Yeah , that's what I figured," he agreed, "and then we will meet at the corner down the street from here and go to the spot."

I nodded while I traced the pattern of my blanket with my fingers. We sat in silence for a few minutes when my bedroom door was opened .

"Hey , guys," my mom said as she looked between us . "John is going on a hunt tonight and is waiting for Nick downstairs to leave."

"Okay," Nick said standing to leave.

"Text me later about that essay question," I told him.

"Okay , I will," he said and left the room.

I looked over at my mom who looked confused. "What?" I asked her .

"Nothing," she said and shook her head and left the room.

As I laid on my bed thinking, I could hear my mother saying goodbye to John and Nick. When they finally left I heard her close the front door, and I began to feel as if something life changing was about to happen to me. If something was going to happen , I at least hoped it was going to be good.

I heard steps coming up the stairs, so I turned to the door as my mom stepped back into my room.

"What was that?" she asked with a small smile.

"Just talking about our history assignment," I told her.

"Is that all?" she asked. "Because I know that when I was your age and I had a boy in my room, it wasn't for studying."

"Oh, mom , no," I said wrinkling my nose . "We are just friends."

She started to walk out of the room . "Are you sure about that?" she asked turning back to me.

"Positive," I said . "Will you shut the door behind you , please ?"

"Alright," she agreed . "I am going to do some reading and then turn in early."

"Yeah , I'm probably just going to go to bed."

"Okay, goodnight sweetheart," she said and closed my door behind her.

Laying back on my bed , I could only see my reflection in my bedroom window as I tried to stare out into the darkness.

The more time went by, the more nervous I was. I understood that some blood was going to be exchanged, and maybe some kind of ritual performed or words would be said. And it didn't sound too difficult, but I was still nervous about the outcome.

Would it work? Will we be able to save Sam because we do this vampire pact thing? I hoped so.

I picked up the book lying on my night table, flipped to my bookmark, and tried to read. It was a book that had captured my attention previously, but with my mind racing in a million different directions , I had to put the book back down after reading the same paragraph five times. With a sigh, I got out of bed and sat at my desk, then opened the lid of my laptop. When the laptop booted up, I turned on my web browser and logged onto a social networking site that my friends and I frequently used.

Nearly as soon as the page loaded, a chat window from Taylor popped up with a message from her.

Hey, what are you doing?

I just finished eating, and I am just killing time now.

Why are you killing time?

Oh just until I am tired. What about you?

Hoping I changed the subject, I held my breath waiting for her response.

Just reading my stream. I heard something fascinating today about you and Nick .

My eyes widened at her response . What could she have possibly been said ?

What did you hear?

Well you know how Lucy Moore has a crush on him?

That was news to me . No, I didn't know that.

Yep and well since she is a jealous "witch" she thinks you two are around each other too much.

I rolled my eyes . Lucy Moore was a moron.

So what? We all hang out together.

She said that one of the old empty classrooms has been seeing some action.

Are you serious? She is an idiot.

Have you guys?

You know better than that.

I know I just had to ask.

I sighed.

Of course, you did. You think it would be hilarious.

I thought it was funny, considering all of the "love" you guys shared when he first came to town.

I shook my head . Lucy Moore was notorious for going around talking about people like this. And Taylor always thought it was funny to listen to her.

Yeah since you know better.

Are you sure I do?

Ha, ha you're so funny.

I know I am. Without me, you wouldn't know what funny was.

Right, whatever you say.

I love you, best friend.

That made me smile .

I love you too.

I told her as my phone on my night table started vibrating.

I quickly said goodnight to Taylor and logged off the computer and shut the lid. Then anxiously I walked over to my table and picked up my phone. It could have been a message from anyone, but I knew deep down that it was from Nick.

Pressing the home button on my phone, I put in my passcode and saw that indeed the message was from him. The message was short and to the point.

11:00 at the corner of your street.

I quickly replied back that I would be there and looked at the time. It was nearly 10:30 so I grabbed my shoes and put them on and then ducked my head out into the hallway . The light was already out in my mother's room. I had heard her go to bed a while earlier and hoped that was already asleep. Deciding that I should go ahead and leave, I snuck down the stairs. The only light on in the whole house was the one over the kitchen sink.

Quietly I opened the kitchen door to the outside and slipped out. Luckily my mother's window is on the same side of the house above the kitchen, and I could check to make sure no lights came on in her room and that her curtains had not moved any. Relieved that there was no sign of movement, I snuck down the driveway sticking close to the bushes that lined the side of it . When I got out onto the sidewalk , I ran as fast I could to the corner. Even though I was about twenty minutes early, I was relieved to find Nick was there already waiting for me.

"I knew you would sneak out as soon as you got the message," he greeted me.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked him confused.

He held his hands up in defense, "You are just predictably impatient."

I rolled my eyes at him as we walked over to the car he was in.

Inside of the car , he started it and pulled away from the curb and we began to drive away.

"Where are we going?" I asked him after riding in silence a few minutes.

"I thought we could do this where we first met."

"We are going to break into the school?" I asked him incredulously.

He just started snickering at me, "No , the park."

"I didn't meet you there."

"Yes you did . You were just so stunned by my awesomeness that you passed out," he boasted.

"Right , of course it was not at all caused by the lack of oxygen from the vampire's hand around my throat," I said rolling my eyes.

"See , I knew you would agree with me," he laughed as he turned onto the street that the park is located on.

We were quiet for the rest of the drive, and when we arrived at the park , he parked the car in the same spot or nearly the same spot my car had been parked the night he rescued me.

I got out and leaned against the side of the car with an odd sense of deja vu as I waited for him to get everything ready. When he was ready and shutting his car door , I looked over at him and saw that he had a knife and a sword in his hands. I looked from him to the sword and back and raised my eyebrow at him silently . "Just in case we have any company," he said .

I nodded at him and we started walking along the drive in silence, listening to the sounds in the woods and of a car starting up and leaving the parking lot.

"I didn't realize I had run this far," I told him after we had been walking a bit and turned into the trees.

"Yeah , you made it pretty far, but you went in the wrong direction to get help."

"Well , I was running for my life . I was just trying to get away from them."

"I know," was all he said, surprising me when I half expected him to be a smartass about it.

We didn't speak much after that as we both approached the small clearing where I had faced the three vampires and was nearly killed. The feeling between us was somber as he placed a blanket on the ground from a backpack that I hadn't even realized he had been carrying on his back.

I stood there dumbly staring as he sat down on the blanket and looked over a piece of paper he had taken out of his pocket.

"Hey," he called to me getting my attention. I shook my head and realized I had just been standing there so spaced out about everything that was about to happen that I was not functioning. "Sorry about that," I said and sat down on the blanket where he had been motioning.

"No problem," he told me.

Turning to face him , I swallowed and asked him, "Okay, now what do we do?"

# Chapter 11

In the moonlight, I could see him swallow and for the first time he showed that he was nervous about the situation.

"In the book I read , we have to say these words in this ancient vampire language and perform a blood exchange."

"Okay, so do you have like a cup or something in the backpack ?" I asked him, motioning toward the backpack.

"Oh , no cups," he said as I gave him a confused look . "According to the book , it has to come straight from the source."

"That is what the knife is for," I said staring at the knife.

"Yes for you," he agreed, "because technically I don't have any need for the knife."

"Oh," I said , stunned about how this was going to work.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"As ready as I will ever be," I replied, instantly afraid of blood spilling for the first time in my life . "Where do we start?"

"Alright then, when I tell you to, read this out loud with me," he said , handing me the piece of paper.

I looked at the paper which had words in a language that I could not even understand. I looked back at him confused.

"It is the old vampire language," he explained . "Truthfully I am not sure what the words mean, but it is part of the ritual."

Not even knowing what I was saying, I did as instructed and said the words on the sheet of paper he had handed me. When we were done , I looked expectantly at him, asking with my expression what was coming next.

"I have never had blood from a live person before, so I will try to do this as painlessly as possible," he told me, trying to calm my fears.

I just nodded and tilted my neck for him . As apprehensive as I was, I knew I had to do this so that we could rescue Sam. Closing my eyes I tried to relax as I felt his breath on my neck. Taking a breath I couldn't help whimpering when his fangs punctured the vein in my throat. The feeling of dread was quickly replaced by a feeling of warmth. I had expected it to feel painful and horrible like my soul was being ripped out of me, but I felt no such thing. It was peaceful, and it felt like I could feel him as part of me and as if I were part of him. It felt good.

Sooner than I honestly would have liked, he pulled away and picked up the knife , and without any hesitation he cut his own wrist. When he presented his arm to me , for a moment I hesitated, but when I looked into his blue eyes they were filled with anticipation. He nodded his head once, and I grabbed his arm and began to drink the blood that he offered me.

Truthfully I assumed that I would be repulsed at the thought of drinking his blood , especially considering how I had treated him in the beginning . His blood was actually the most intoxicating substance that had ever passed through my lips. I had to fight the urge to drink every last drop. I don't know how much I had consumed or how long I had been drinking his blood, but I liked the way it made me feel. It would have been a lie to say I wasn't disappointed when he gently pulled his wrist away from my mouth .

Looking into his eyes , they were cloudy with something I couldn't quite pinpoint . I was sure mine were cloudy with something similar , but in my blood induced haze I couldn't name what it was. After looking into each other's eyes, events got blurred together and I don't know who kissed who first. But we were kissing each other, and I was filled with more feeling than I had ever felt in my life . I didn't know if it was the blood or secret feelings that Taylor swore I had for him, but I liked the feeling of his lips and would hang on to it for as long as I was able.

"Riley," I heard being yelled from downstairs, causing me to open my eyes.

Groggily I looked around my room and was relieved to see that I was in my own bed.

"I'm awake," I yelled back.

Laying there for a moment, I started trying to recall the events of the night before. I could remember the blood, the feelings, the kissing , and then how heated everything had become when our clothes were removed.

"Oh my," I said aloud to myself when images of everything that happened came to my mind. I didn't know what to think about it all, but I was torn about my feelings and honestly they scared me. The main thing though was whether or not it worked, and we would be able to use our new bond to save Sam.

Sighing, I didn't know how to tell if it worked or not . I couldn't feel anything, and I certainly didn't feel any different. Well , maybe some things had changed, I thought and felt my cheeks heat up. Out of bed, I noticed a note on my pillow.

Riley,

You were sleeping, so I brought you home and put you in bed. See you at school.

Nick

I smiled at the note before I folded it and placed it into a desk drawer. I then went into the bathroom and showered to start getting ready for school .

After my shower, I quickly dressed and grabbed my things for school, then finally went to the kitchen. Surprisingly my mother was still home . She handed me a cup of coffee when I sat down and passed me a pop tart.

"Morning," I told her between bites.

"You were sleeping like the dead this morning," she replied to me.

"Actually," I said and paused sipping my coffee, "I slept great and feel pretty awesome this morning."

She smiled . "You do look good, absolutely glowing this morning."

"Well , thank you . I managed to get some sleep last night," I said , feeling a small bit of guilt for lying to her.

"Well , I am going to head off," she said grabbing her keys and purse from the table as she walked to the door.

"Have a good..." I said trailing off overcome with the feeling that someone else was present but not sure, "...day."

My mother looked oddly at me for a moment, but shook her head and opened the door . "You have a good day too."

"Thank you , I will," I told her as she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

After she left I felt the presence again, but it felt like it was in my head.

"This is so weird," I thought to myself.

"You're telling me," a voice popped into my head.

"What the hell, Nick?"

"Yeah , it is me."

"So we can totally read each other's minds now?"

"It appears so."

"How come I couldn't get anything from you until now?"

"I guess it was because I was asleep."

"I see. Well , I am going to go to school so get out of my head."

"Just quit talking to me and maybe it will fade away or something."

"Okay , bye or whatever ."

I finished eating and tried my best to ignore the feeling of Nick in the back of mind. It was kind of weird because I couldn't tell exactly what he was thinking, but I could get all kinds of feelings and emotions from him if I focused hard. I wondered for a moment if he could get the same from me as I gathered my bag and keys to leave. I was pretty sure that he could feel everything that I felt. It wasn't quite as intrusive as I thought it would be. I guessed that I could deal with it. By the time I made it to school, I had come to the conclusion that if I didn't focus on Nick that he was only a minor presence in the back of my mind. And if I focused on him solely that I could pick up bits and pieces of what he was feeling and even what he was thinking some. At that moment, I felt happiness from him.

Parking at school , I could see the team gathered beside Ben's car talking in a group. When I got out of my car and started walking up to the group , Taylor broke away from them and started chattering about the dance on Friday. I just listened and nodded to her when appropriate and walked with her to the school. During our walk, I glanced back at the guys behind us, or more specifically at Nick, who had been staring off into the distance across the field by the school parking lot.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Taylor asked getting my attention.

I looked back at her and nodded, "Yes," and saw that we had gotten the attention of all four boys.

"Sure you were," Taylor said shaking her head at me . "Well, as I was saying, we need to go get our nails done after school."

"Sure," I replied .

"You know Sam would want us to be normal and do normal things," she said surprising me.

I smiled at her . "You're right."

"Well , don't look like you are about to jump out of your skin. I am sure Sam is still alive, and she is okay. After all she has only been gone for two weeks , and we will have her back soon. I am sure of it."

"I know," I told her, "but I do not look scared at all."

"Right," she said turning down the hall to her class when we entered the school . "See you at lunch," she called behind her.

"See you."

Nick, Kyle , and I turned down the hallway to our classroom when we were stopped by Peter Gilbert, one of the kids in our history class. Peter was a wiry junior with shaggy brown hair and a calm demeanor that just made everyone nice to him. He was shy though, so I had no idea why he was standing in front me smiling.

"Riley," he mumbled, "can I talk to you?"

"Okay," I said looking into his fearful brown eyes . I was sure that any sudden move would cause him to bolt like a deer.

"Um, well , you see , I know it is short notice, but I was wondering if you would go to the Homecoming dance with me on Friday ?"

"Umm," I was shocked by the question, and even though I had already been asked a couple of times, I had just turned everyone down. I was just surprised that he was asking me and was even asking so close to the event . "I am sorry but..." I trailed off.

"I am sorry dude, but she is going with me to this one," Nick cut in apologetically.

Kyle and I both probably looked equally surprised, but Peter took it pretty well.

"Oh , I understand . I should have asked sooner," Peter said.

"I'm sorry," I told him sheepishly . "Good luck finding a date."

"Thank you," Peter said and walked ahead of us into a classroom.

Before Kyle could ask questions, I walked into the history classroom and took my seat.

At my desk, I pulled out my notes and book and got them ready for class to start. Hannah came in soon after while Nick and Kyle entered right before the bell rang. After what just happened in the hall , I chose to act like I didn't see either one of them walk into the class.

"Hey," Hannah said getting my attention.

"Hey."

"Did you get your essay finished?" she asked me.

"Yeah , a few days ago actually," I answered, even though it was the history assignment I had acted like I needed help with the night before. "What about you?" I asked her.

"Oh yeah , I finished," she told me. Just as Hannah was about to say something else , Ms. Johnson came into class.

"Okay class," Ms. Johnson said, "put everything away except for something to write with and get ready for a pop quiz ."

Groans were heard all over the classroom as students started putting their things away.

Ms. Johnson passed out the quiz papers, and the classroom grew quiet with the sound of writing. The quiz had only twenty questions and students finished it rather quickly. When I was on the last question someone walked past me, and I couldn't help the first thought that came to mind. "Now that is a nice ass ."

"Well thank you, yours isn't so bad either."

"Oh no, I just said that out loud," I thought and glanced around the room only to see that no one was paying any attention to me. I glanced ahead only to see Nick walking back down the aisle smirking.

"You didn't," he said, and I could hear him laughing in my head.

I just shook my head and went back to my quiz and quickly finished. Getting up from my seat, I gave Nick a quick glance that said don't even think about it. I practically ran to turn in my paper and his laughing just kept on in the back of mind.

"Pervert," I thought at him.

"You started it," he said back.

I sighed in my mind and once back in my seat, I chose to get my mind off of Nick and focus on history class instead. After history class, I effectively avoided Nick and kept him at the back of my mind throughout the day. I was just so confused about everything and wasn't sure about how I felt. I did like Nick and would be a hypocrite if I said everything I did last night was just to save Sam. But the fact that we did things that I had never done before confused me even more .

As I left school for the day, I waited for Taylor and Hannah out in the parking lot so that we could go to the nail salon. Part of me felt frivolous and guilty for going to get my nails done while Sam was being held captive somewhere.

"You are not being frivolous and don't feel guilty . You are just acting normal like you were told to," a voice piped in beside me.

I looked over at Nick to see him leaning on Ben's car next to mine . "Well at least that wasn't in my head," I told him. Looking back at the school , I tried to see if Taylor and Hannah were coming.

Nick followed my eyes to the school . "They aren't coming."

Confused , I looked back at him . "Why not? We have plans."

"I talked to Taylor and was going to ask you to go get something to eat with me first."

Doubtful and even more confused, I nodded and motioned for him to get into my car. We went to a small coffee shop because I insisted that sandwiches were fine. While we ate , we made small talk about inconsequential things and avoided talking about everything that had happened between us the night before.

"I like you," he blurted out, catching me off guard and causing me to choke on my food.

"Really?" I asked him showing my confusion . "Forgive me, but I am just honestly at a loss. I like you too." I looked out the window and mumbled under my breath, "Or I would not have done all of that last night." Realizing I had said that out loud , I mumbled, "Sorry."

He laughed lightly and smiled showing off his perfectly straight teeth. "Me too."

"This conversation has to be the most awkward conversation ever," I said laughing.

He just nodded in agreement.

"So you didn't just do this pact thing with me for Sam did you?" I asked.

"Only a little," he confessed. "She was nice to me, so I wanted to help her, but I have thought you were fascinating since I saw you in the clearing that night."

I opened my mouth to say something to him, but Taylor and Hannah burst into the shop interrupting us.

"Hey guys," Taylor said sliding into the seat next to me . "You said you would be done with her by now," she said to Nick.

"Sorry," he said to Taylor, holding his hands up in defense . "She is all yours now."

I just laughed and gathered my purse from the seat next to me and turned to Nick . "Thank you for dinner ." I paused thinking of what to say . "We can continue this conversation later."

He nodded , and as I walked away he grabbed my arm. Before I could protest, he turned me to face him and planted his lips on mine. I kissed him back, and when we broke apart I quickly turned and walked out before Taylor and Hannah could wipe the shocked looks off their faces and say something.

Outside I waited for them. As soon as Taylor walked up to me , she asked the question that was on the tip of both their tongues, "what was that?'

I just shrugged and tried to act nonchalant about it and smirked, "Just saying goodbye to a friend." From Taylor, I got a look that said I don't believe you while Hannah laughed. As we got in the car I sent Nick a thought, "I am so going to stake you for that."

In my head I could hear him laugh, "No you won't . You liked it too much."

"Sure I did," I said and I shoved him to the back of my mind with a laugh.

"What?" Taylor asked, and I realized I had laughed out loud.

"Nothing," I said and tried to keep a straight face.

# Chapter 12

I walked out of my bedroom Friday morning way earlier than I normally did , and I bumped into someone way taller than was normally in the hallway. Looking up into the face of John, I couldn't help but to give him a confused look . "What are you doing here at six in the morning?"

"Just discussing some matters with your mother," he answered.

Looking doubtful and realizing he was only wearing a pair of sweat pants, "You're lying," I told him, "but you wouldn't tell me the truth anyway." I turned to leave and started toward the stairs and stopped . "Tell my mom I already left for school ." I went down the stairs before he could respond to my accusations.

Downstairs I quickly grabbed my things in the front hall, exited the house, and got into my car and left. I left the house early because I had wanted to speak to Nick before meeting the vampires that night. I hadn't talked to him much since I left the cafe a couple of days before. I knew that I could wait and talk to him at school or even mentally, but I could tell that he was asleep, and I wasn't feeling patient.

At his housing complex, I parked next to his car and quickly located what I knew was the townhome he lived in. Looking around I admired the beauty of the landscaping . There were walkways and benches all around giving the place a peaceful look. Taking a breath I rang the doorbell , and through our connection I could feel him stirring but not quite waking up. So I did what anyone with a lack of patience would do ; I rang the doorbell again and then used my fist to bang on the door. I finally felt him wake and within seconds could hear his footsteps coming to the door from inside of the apartment.

Opening the door he looked confused but not surprised to see me . "Hey," he mumbled and moved aside to let me inside his home.

Upon entering I could see a sparsely furnished living room with a dark leather couch and large screen TV in a corner. There were no decorations or photos anywhere other than a couple of books on a coffee table in front of the couch. "I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I would pay you a visit."

Nick gave me a look that said he didn't believe me . "Come on," he said and lead me down a hallway. The first door we passed he told me was a closet, the second a bathroom , and the third door that was cracked open he told me was John's room. Inside the door, I could see a bed and a bedside table illuminated because of the hallway light, but that wasn't what caught my attention. It was the picture on the table that caused me stop in my tracks.

"What is it?" Nick asked when he realized I wasn't following him down the hallway.

Before he could stop me and say anything else, I walked to the table and picked up the picture. It was a picture that I had seen my whole life . It was in my mom's bedroom on her bedside table, my dresser in my own bedroom, and even on our fireplace. It was a photograph taken of my mother and me when I was an infant, only I had never realized that someone had been cut out of the picture.

I turned to Nick. "This photograph is of me when I was a baby, my mother , and John." He looked at the picture and shook his head . "Only the picture I have had him cut out of it."

"I have never seen this photo before," he told me . "I'm sorry, I never come in here."

"Yeah , it is just weird to me ."

"Maybe it was taken before he moved away," he told me . "He said that he and your mom were friends before he left."

"Your right," I agreed. "I just think it is odd that he would have this picture here."

"Let's just get out of here before he comes home," he told me.

"Okay," I told him and mumbled, "I knew he had some creepy thing for my mother."

Which Nick heard and just started snickering.

"You wouldn't be laughing if it was your mom," I said and followed him into his room . "Did I tell you I caught him in my hallway this morning wearing only a pair of sweat pants?"

"No," he sighed and flopped onto his bed and flung one arm over his eyes . "But that is messed up," he agreed . "So what's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing gets passed you huh?"

"No, I can just feel the anxiety coming off of you in these crazy intense waves , and you are really jittery." He moved his arm from his face and looked at me . "How many cups of coffee have you had?"

" I lost count at five around three this morning," I told him and sat on the edge of his bed. I looked around his room and could see that it was just as neat as the rest of the apartment. He had a shelf stacked full of books and there was a stand in the corner with different types of weapons. Other than that there was a desk with a computer on top and a dresser where I was positive his clothes were put away neatly , so unlike my own which were just shoved in where they would fit. I sighed and looked at him from my spot on his bed . "I'm honestly nervous about tonight, and truthfully that is not good because I am usually never scared about anything . I am worried about failing. What if this doesn't work?"

He sat up behind me, and I leaned into him . "You can do this," he whispered into my ear . "And I will be right there backing you up."

I nodded . "I just hope we can save Sam and no one gets killed ." I yawned, and he let go of me and motioned for me to lie down. I laid down, and he got up and slid my shoes off of my feet.

"Why don't we skip school today," he said covering us up and lying down next to me . "We can sleep all day and be ready for the dance and for whatever happens tonight."

"I need to be ready for whatever Taylor has planned for getting ready this afternoon," I said and closed my eyes and relaxed in the warm and cozy bed next to the comfort of his body.

Hours later I woke up alone in Nick's bed. I looked around and could see that it was already two in the afternoon from the alarm clock next to the bed, so I decided to get up and see if I could find Nick somewhere in the house. Walking down the hallway into the living room , I saw someone at the table reading a newspaper.

I walked into the kitchen and just as I was about to say something , the newspaper was lowered revealing John . "And what are you doing in my home at two in the afternoon?" he asked . "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"Sleeping," I answered truthfully . "Where did Nick go?"

"He left to get something for you guys to eat."

"Thank you," I told him and started go back to Nick's bedroom to wait for him to return.

"You can have a seat and wait for him here," he motioned to the seats around the table.

I sat down and he and I sat in an awkward silence with him turning newspaper pages every few minutes. Hearing the door knob turn caused me to sigh in relief. I quickly got up and walked to the door, thankful to see Nick walk through with bags of Chinese food.

"I hope you like Chinese," he said and led me back to the table.

"You totally know I do, thank you," I told him.

"You're welcome," he said. "When we are done here , I will take you home since Taylor and Hannah are going to your house when school is out ."

"Oh yeah," I said , remembering we had plans to get ready for the Homecoming dance after school . "I almost forgot."

As soon as we finished eating, we walked outside where I insisted I could go home by myself and would see him later. I gave him a quick kiss goodbye and left for home. At home, I did not have to wait long for the girls to arrive, and before long we were ready for the dance and waiting for the guys to come pick us up.

"You guys have fun," my mom called from the door as we all got into the cars to go.

"We will mom," I said and impulsively gave her a tight hug . "I love you mom," I said to her.

Surprised , she hugged me back . "I love you too," she said with a confused look in her blue eyes.

"See you later," I said and went out to the car to leave for the dance with Nick.

The few hours we were at the dance, we spent talking with friends and dancing when it was insisted upon by my friends. When we both glanced at the clock and saw that it was 11:00 , we nodded to each other and made our way out of the gym to the parking lot.

"Do you know where to go?" he asked when we were standing by his car.

I nodded and pulled out the piece of paper the vampire had given me from my bag . "So how should we do this?"

"You are going to drop me off down the street from the address and go to the place while I sneak up to keep an eye on you."

"Okay , well here goes," I said and took a deep breath when we drove away from school.

A block from the house, I dropped Nick off after he had strapped a sword to his back and then drove to the house by myself. At the house, which was actually a mansion with several wings, I wasn't surprised to see guards at the door when I drove the car up the circle drive. When I exited the car , they stepped forward and led me through the front door into a sitting room. A gruff vampire built like a linebacker told me to sit and that his boss would be with me shortly.

I was left alone in the room, and while I waited I looked around and admired the lavish decorations. The walls were a dark burgundy , and the place looked like it was from another time other than the modern amenities such as electricity.

"What is going on?" I could hear Nick say in my mind.

"They led me into a sitting room, and I am waiting for the boss."

"Okay , which side of the house are you on?"

"I think it is the west side of the house, close to the front."

"Okay , I will look through the windows on that side of the house and find you."

The door started opening. "Someone is coming in."

A tall vampire with black hair and green eyes entered and scrutinized my appearance. He was quite handsome and appeared to be in his early twenties . He looked a lot like someone I knew, but I couldn't quite figure out who. Before he could say anything , I spoke first . "I am here now . Will you please let my friend go?"

He didn't speak for a moment and nodded . "You are Elizabeth Spencer's child correct?" he asked in a quiet yet commanding voice . "I thought you would be taller."

"What does this have to do with my height?" I answered, becoming annoyed when he just looked at me . "Yes, she is my mother."

Without answering, he turned to the linebacker sized vampire standing guard at the door . "Bring the girl." The other vampire left, and the leader turned back to me . "I will let your friend leave , and then we have another guest coming for a chat."

"Okay," I agreed . I was still confused about what was going on but knew that there was no point in arguing with him.

A few minutes passed , and Sam was led into the room by the vampire from the door. When she walked in , Sam ran up to me and we hugged . "Are you okay?" I asked immediately.

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Did they hurt you or anything?"

She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the vampire leader . "She was treated like an honored guest ." Sam nodded in agreement.

"Okay," I said still doubtful, but if she said so I would agree with her.

"Now she may leave," he said, and the guard stepped forward and tried to lead her out.

"I can't leave you here," she said to me.

"It will be okay," I assured her . "I came to get you out."

The guard grabbed her arm and led her in the direction of the door and out of the room. After I heard the front door close , the leader turned back to me . "My other guest should be here any minute."

I sat back down. "She is out," I communicated to Nick through our link.

"I see her," he told me.

"Okay, get her somewhere safe."

"I can't . A car just pulled up."

"Who is it?"

"I don't know," he told me, "but someone just lead Sam to the car, and a second person is going to the door."

"Great."

"I can see the person at the car clearly now," he told me . "It's your mom."

"Oh great," I said . "Think that means they know I'm here?"

"Probably , but I can see you now through a window."

"Okay , let's see what happens now," I told Nick as I heard the front door shut and turned my attention back to the vampire leader.

"Good , he is here," the vampire leader said to me.

We both watched the door, and a few moments later I was surprised to see John walk through the door. "Victor," he tensely greeted the vampire.

"Little brother," Victor said with a maniacal grin.

What ? Little brother? Wow. I couldn't say that I saw this one coming.

"I am so glad you could join us," Victor said and motioned to me.

John for the first time noticed me sitting there and had a look of shock on his face but quickly hid it before a look of anger marred his pale face . "Why is she here?"

Not knowing what overcame me, I could not help the words that came out of my mouth next . "Well, you see we were going to go to this party, and he said he would buy us alcohol, but now I am trapped here. So I think it was a trick," I said with sarcasm . "Do you think he lied to me?"

John only looked angrier, and Victor only looked more and more amused at his half-vampire brother's anger . "I just wanted to get to know Alexandra," he said motioning to me.

"It's Riley," I said quietly.

"And besides you violated our agreement by coming back," Victor continued , ignoring me.

"Stay away from her," John said with no emotion in his voice . "I have reasons for being here besides that agreement we made."

"Please share then."

"Mother asked me to come back."

Victor had an odd look on his face . "Mother?"

"Yes."

"I am not really caring what Mother's role in this is."

"Look," I interrupted and stood from my seat . "I understand you two don't like each other. I mean , I don't like either one of you myself . I can tell you had an agreement and have mommy issues, and that is sad and all because I feel you. But you," I said pointing to Victor, "brought my friend and me into your family problems. It is not our problem. So I am leaving, and you people can work out your own issues." Both of them looked sufficiently stunned, and I started walking toward the door when the linebacker sized vampire blocked my way.

When Victor started laughing John and I simultaneously said, "What?" to him.

"Of course you kept it a secret from her," he said.

"What secret?" I asked.

But before he could answer, John attacked him. For the few months I had known John , I had often wondered if he could get angry . I had only ever noticed him slightly annoyed.

They were moving so quickly that it was hard to keep track of their movements, and a few blows were exchanged. John broke away from Victor and went for a sword from a nearby wall display. He swung it a few times in Victor's direction, and then Victor went for a sword of his own . The clashing of metal could be heard ringing throughout the room. After a few minutes of slashing back and forth at each other, John had managed to knock the sword away from his opponent. He brought his weapon to Victor's throat . The linebacker guard started to head for John , so I had to act to stop him from attacking John. I grabbed Victor's sword and went for the guard. I managed to jump in front of him and raise the sword just in time to stop him from saving his boss.

He just started laughing at me . "Get out of the way little girl."

"Seriously," I said and swung the sword at him causing him to back up . I kept on swinging until I had him backed up to a wall. "Little girl?" I asked him before I swung the weapon one last time and decapitated him.

Right after he turned to ashes, the closed door burst open and several vampires came into check on their boss. Victor used their entrance to shove John off of himself , and the two began to fight again. Letting Victor handle his own fight , the newcomers turned to me since I had killed their comrade. It was time to call my backup. "Nick, I know you are watching, and I think we need your help now," I communicated to him.

Within seconds of sending my thought, Nick burst through the window causing everyone in the room to stop what they were doing . He didn't stop moving and attacked the vampire closest to him. John and his brother kept fighting each other while Nick and I each took care of every vampire that we came up against. It seemed like they would never stop coming, and just as I was being overpowered by one, a voice rang out through the room .

"STOP." The voice was so commanding that every last occupant of the room stopped what they were doing.

I turned to look at the door and saw one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen in my life. She didn't look any older than thirty and had hair blacker than night and the same green eyes of the fighting brothers.

She looked at the vampire closest to me and with a snarl said, "Step away from the girl." The vampire stepped back without complaint, and she looked around the room at everyone . "Everyone except my children, the girl , and the boy leave," she ordered, leaving no room for argument from either side of the fight.

After the vampires left, the woman who I guessed was the brother's mother regarded me with a curious look. After a moment, she nodded to herself with a slight smile on her face and turned to the door . "Elizabeth," she called, "your child is here safe."

My mother rushed into the room and stood next to me, fussing over a bruise that I could feel forming on my right cheek . When she touched it, I couldn't stop myself from flinching .

"The one who did it is dead," I said with a glance at one of the piles of ash on the floor.

"What the hell were you thinking?" my mother yelled, making even the vampire lady's eyes widen. "You could be dead right now."

"I'm okay . I had to get Sam away from the psycho," I said and pointed toward Victor.

"She was well cared for," he defended.

"Oh well , just because you have a problem with your brother, it gave you no right to bring my friend and me into your family drama."

"You're right," my mom said glaring at him before turning back to me . "He had no right, but you should have come to me , young lady."

I just nodded.

"And you," my mom turned on Nick, "are in just as much trouble for helping her pull this stunt."

"Yes ma'am," Nick could be heard mumbling while looking down at the floor not wanting to make eye contact with my angry mother.

"Calm down Elizabeth," the elder woman said gently . "From what I can tell, they were just doing what they thought was right to help their friend ." I watched the lady and could tell by her mannerisms that she was far older than she looked . "It reminds me of a girl and boy from about seventeen years ago." My mother just looked down as if in deep thought and the woman turned her attention to me . "Come here, please," she said and motioned me to her. Too afraid to argue , I stood in front of her , and she looked into my eyes and smiled lightly . "You inherited my family's eyes."

"Um, thank you?" I said confused.

But she just kept on fussing over me . "And you are wearing a dress to a fight," she stated.

Slightly embarrassed by my state of dress, I told her, "Homecoming dance dress."

She didn't acknowledge that I had said anything and looked toward Nick . "Boy, what have you done?" Nick got nervous and I could feel his anxiety through our bond.

My mother looked concerned. "What?" she asked.

"They are bonded now," the vampire lady simply said . "She is definitely her parents ' child."

"It was so that we could save Sam and work together better," I defended even though I was extremely confused by their concern. My mother's response was just to sit down and stare off into space.

"What kind of bond , Nicholas?" John said angrily.

"A mating bond ," Nick mumbled, and before I comprehended exactly what he had said , John attacked him.

Confused , I watched as Victor on his mother's order pulled John off of Nick. When they were separated , I walked over to help Nick up and make sure that he was okay.

"Why?" John asked once he was calmed down somewhat.

"To help her save Sam," Nick said . "I thought a bond would help me keep track of her and keep her safe because she was going to come and save Sam whether I helped her or not," Nick told John . "And I didn't want anything to happen to her because I am in love with her."

"I am so confused," I said and managed to capture the attention of everyone else in the room. With everyone looking at me, I started ranting first at Nick . "Thank you, but I wish you would have told me what kind of bond that was. I feel betrayed because I didn't know . Now I am confused about why we did what we did, and if it was because I wanted to or because of this bond," I said to him, and then I turned to John when I heard him growl and Victor snicker . "And why are you so upset by this ? And why in the hell was my friend kidnapped by your brother and the only way he would let her free was if I came here?"

John looked tense and like someone that might pass out . "Because I am your father."

Now it was my turn to be stunned, and I did the one thing I always said that I would do if I were ever faced with my father.

I punched him in the face and then I walked out.

# Chapter 13

It had been three weeks since the incident at the house. I had spent most of my time ignoring my mother, John, and even Nick. I felt like I was deceived by all of them and was not ready to talk to them or deal with the situation. I had learned a lot of things about how the organization had worked with the pure blood vampires for years to get rid of the vampires who hunted people. We did it to protect people, and they hunted them so that they wouldn't be exposed to the population at large. But apparently a rift had been created around the time John, who is the vampire queen's half human son, had started a romantic relationship with the organization leader's daughter, my mother. I had decided that it was all crazy family drama, and I was going to step back and ignore it like the plague. But it was kind of neat that my grandmother was the queen of the vampires.

"Sweetheart, what are you thinking about?" I smiled and looked over at my grandmother , Luciana . "Nothing," I told her.

"Right, I believe you," she said with a wink.

Since everything had happened. I had gotten to know her even though I was afraid at first. She had told me a lot of things about her life and history with the organization . I had found out that she was 350 years old even though she didn't look a day over thirty. I found that I actually liked her, and she explained everything to me even though most of it left me confused. She explained that the occurrences of people like John and Nick being half human and half vampire were rare , and that she didn't expect to give birth to John when she took a human lover thirty-five years ago. I also found out that my grandfather had been dead now for twenty years . He had been a lifelong member of the organization and good friends with my mother's father. That friendship though still didn't stop a rift when my parents started a relationship resulting in my mom getting pregnant with me at seventeen. I also found out that my mother and John had formed a bond when my grandfather had tried to break them up. Victor also came into play during this by being jealous of his mother doting on John and ran him out of town by threatening the lives of my mother and me. He has since apologized for his actions and confessed that he would have never hurt either of us even if John had stayed. His excuse was that John just takes everything too seriously, but apparently at a young age he had made enemies other than his nemesis of a brother, so he thought it would be best to get some distance in order to keep us safe. I still wasn't ready to accept him or talk about him and my mother. Getting to know Victor was quite funny because he wasn't so bad after all; he just liked antagonizing John, which was thoroughly amusing considering he was forty years older than John and looked younger. I also asked her about myself since John was my father. My grandmother said that time would tell if I inherited any vampire traits.

Sighing, I stood up from my seat . "I'm sorry, but I need to go," I told my grandmother sadly . "My mother told me to come home for dinner , and then I have to go out with my team tonight."

She nodded . "I understand," she said, "but I will see you soon?" she asked with a bright smile on her face.

"Yes , you will," I said and hugged her quickly before I left.

On the drive home, I thought about the story my grandmother had told me weeks prior about the bond that was formed between Nick and I. She told me that there was once a vampire around a thousand years ago who fell in love with a human who didn't want him . He had a witch come up with a spell to bond them together. The witch called it a mating bond and tied them together for life. It gave them the ability to find each other anywhere, communicate telepathically, sense each other's feelings , and be devoted to each other for life. After the first bond, the bonding ritual was performed for years, many times ending in death. I don't want to die, was my first thought when my grandmother had told me. But because of the deaths and the bonds being formed without permission, the practice of forming bonds this way had died out and been banned by some vampire circles. In the last 150 or so years , there had only been a handful of cases of a bond being formed and two of them were my parents , and now me and Nick.

When I arrived home , I could smell the scent of food cooking coming from the kitchen. I immediately headed for the stairs, but my mom stepped out of the kitchen and caught me before I could make my escape . "Dinner will be ready soon."

"Okay," I said , keeping it short and going up the stairs before she could say anything else.

Walking into my room , I sighed in annoyance when I saw Nick sitting on the edge of my bed waiting for me . "Can I help you?" I said trying to hide my annoyance.

"Will you talk to me?" he asked.

"What is there to say?" I asked back . "You tricked me," I hissed . He winced visibly as if he were in physical pain , and I instantly regretted my tone.

"I'm sorry," he said for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last few weeks . "Can we just talk about everything?"

"I don't know," I said honestly.

"I really care about you," he explained, "and I fell in love you that night I saw you in the clearing . I don't think I will ever move on from these feelings."

"I don't either," I said truthfully, "but I don't know if it is real or just this bond."

He nodded . "If it helps, the bond is just supposed to intensify what you were already feeling." I looked out of my window and swallowed because I knew this was true, my grandmother had already explained this to me. Looking back at him , I nodded and sat down next to him. "Just give me some time, okay?" I asked , and he put his arm around me . "It is not just you though. My mom has kept all of this stuff from me my whole life, and I feel so hurt."

"Take your time," he said and squeezed me . "I'll wait for you," and with a laugh he added , "I can't help it." I laughed despite everything and leaned into him.

"Hey guys," my mom called to us from downstairs . "Dinner is ready."

We broke apart and stood up, and I glanced over at him . "He's here?"

"Yeah, he is," he responded with an apologetic look on his face. Since everything had taken place, John was still Nick's caretaker, and their relationship was a little icy from what I had been told by Taylor when she had asked the guys. I had found out that even though John is angry about the whole bond thing, he had told Nick that he understood why he had done it.

Walking into the kitchen, I didn't say a word to anyone and sat down in my usual seat at the dinner table. After everyone else sat down, we passed around the food and began to eat. I hoped that the whole meal would pass in silence, but I could tell that it was driving my mom crazy. I knew it wasn't completely silent for her though. I had been discreetly watching her and John, and I was sure that they were communicating through the bond they also shared. Finding out they had a bond explained a lot of things. Like the looks they always shared as if in silent conversation and then the fact that my mom had never dated another man my whole life. Though I'm guessing that some of the trips she had taken that were for "business" over the years were spent visiting him.

But I figured that if they could play the let's have conversations over the teenager's heads game, then I could play the same game and be way more discreet than they were about it. Taking a bite of my food, I communicated to Nick for the first time since that night . "They are so talking right now."

"Probably," he agreed, "probably talking about how you are being so stubborn ." I rolled my eyes at him, and we both started laughing out loud. Being discreet just went out of the window.

My mom tried to ignore our outburst, so she decided to start a conversation which I had been hoping to avoid . "How was school today?" she asked.

"Fine," I said and didn't offer any further comment about my school day.

"Good," Nick told her.

"Are you two ready for Thanksgiving vacation next week?" she continued trying to get a conversation going.

"Not really," I said.

"Well , we are going to go to your grandparents' house for dinner," she said.

"Okay," I agreed because it was something that we did every year.

After finishing my meal, I went to my room to get ready for the night's hunting trip. In my room, I changed into a pair of black yoga pants and a dark blue long sleeve t-shirt. As I finished putting on my black running shoes , there was a knock at my bedroom door. "Come in," I said while I was tying my shoe thinking it was going to be Nick. To my surprise , it was John that came in. "Can I help you?" "You need to cut your mother some slack," he said bluntly.

"I'll think about it," I said dismissively, hoping he would leave.

"You have no reason to be mad at her."

"Are you serious?" I asked exasperated, "after all of the lies ?"

"It wasn't her idea not to tell you the truth," he said . "She was just following my wishes."

"Great," I said and left the room in a huff. Until then, I hadn't spoken a word to him since that night, and he hadn't spoken to me. Now I wished he hadn't. He made me feel horrible for giving my mom the silent treatment and at the same time made me feel like I was an unwanted kid. I guessed our feelings of dislike for each other were mutual.

Opening the front door, I called to my mom that I was leaving. Outside I found Nick listening to music on his phone while leaning against his car. I waved at him to get his attention and waited for him to take the ear buds out . "Are you about to go meet everyone?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he said, "come on," and he walked around to the passenger door of his car and opened the door for me.

"Just a second," I said and walked to my car and grabbed my katana out of the trunk. Back at Nick's car, I slid into the passenger seat and he shut the door for me and walked around to get into the car.

We were the first ones to arrive at the meeting spot which was actually the same park where I had been waiting for my team the night everything had started. It was also the same park where we had went into the clearing and formed the bond. It was around eight p.m. and the moon was already high in the sky, and the only ones around were runners leaving in their cars or a few teenage loiters hanging out on benches.

Getting out of the car, I walked around to the back. I leaned on the car to wait for the rest of our team. I just stood there and stared at a distant streetlight that was flickering near where I had run into the woods that night. My attention was so focused on the light that I did not realize how close Nick was standing to me. When I looked up, I was taken aback by the fire in his blue and eyes and was caught off guard when he kissed me. As mad at him as I was , I had no control over myself and I kissed him back. I kissed him with all of the feeling I had in my entire body and soul . When we pulled apart, we stood close together , basking in each other's warmth on the cool fall night as we waited for our team to arrive.

I glanced over at him and laughed . "At least I am not waiting out here alone this time." I shrugged and sighed . "I still have no idea how I ended up out here alone that night."

Now Available

The Broken Pact

By: Sharon Rose Mayes
Chapter 1

"I'm positive the guys and Sam had more fun tonight than we did," Taylor complained as we walked to our cars when cheer practice was over.

"Most likely," I replied , stretching my aching back while we walked across the parking lot.

"What are they up to?" Hannah asked.

I exchanged a knowing look with Taylor whose face was red from the exertion of our workout . "They were watching a movie at Nick's place," I told her while I stopped to adjust my ponytail. It was a lie, but I couldn't admit to her that they were out hunting vampires.

"They probably did," she agreed . "No handstands and pyramids for them. What were they going watch?" she asked, naive to the fact I had been in communication with Nick the whole time.

"Some vampire movie," I shrugged , too exhausted to think of any movies that had recently come out.

"Right," Taylor said snickering. I couldn't help smiling.

Nick had kept me informed about the group of vampires they had faced. It wasn't as easy a hunt as they had anticipated.

While Taylor and I pretended to be jealous about everyone else's "movie night," we continued walking across the school parking lot to our cars. It was already dark out, and all three of us were drenched in sweat and probably smelled more like we were on the boy's soccer team than cheerleaders getting ready for a competition.

"I am ready for a nice , long shower and a good night's sleep," Hannah sighed.

"Yeah, me t -" I was cutoff and shoved to the ground, getting the breath knocked out of me in the process.

Hannah immediately started screaming, and Taylor was cursing as she moved away from what I assumed was another attacker. However, I couldn't focus on them. My focus was on the extremely large vampire trying to plunge his teeth into my throat. Without thinking, I head butted him in his nose. When I heard the crack signifying that his nose had been fractured , I shoved him off of me and rolled out from under him. I scrambled to my feet and gave him a kick to the stomach hoping that it would keep him on the ground until I could get a weapon in my hands.

"Here," I yelled and threw my car keys to the nearly comatose Hannah who seemed frozen in place with shock. "Get the sword out of my trunk."

"What?" she asked scared and confused.

"You will see it," I said more harshly than I intended and delivered another kick to the vampire's midsection . "No go." Intimidated by my strict orders and with no choice but to listen, she ran in the direction of my car across the parking lot.

Turning in Taylor's direction, I could see she had her opponent under some control by swinging her gym bag back and forth keeping him away from her.

I turned back to the vampire that had attacked me just as he was getting to his feet. It was obvious that my opponent was a newer less experienced vampire . His movements were sloppy, and he wasn't smart enough to go for the easier prey, which wasn't me in the situation. His brown hair was closely cropped, and he had the body of a football player. That's when I recognized him from another school .

"Hey , don't you play football over at East?" I asked distracting him . "Oh wait, never mind . Not anymore. You know because of the whole no sunlight thing , and of course that you will probably try to kill your teammates."

He growled , not particularly amused by my banter . They never were. He lunged at me again, but thankfully this time I was expecting him . I kicked him in the groin and followed it with an uppercut to his already injured face. I needed my sword . Where was Hannah?

He lunged at me again, this time taking a swing at me with a clumsy fist . Luckily I was able to duck in time . I heard the pounding of Hannah's feet on the concrete as she sprinted back over to us. Finally.

"Toss it here," I yelled as she got closer with the vampire standing between us.

"Okay," she stuttered doubtfully .

I side stepped the vampire and kicked him in the side , then caught the slender katana in my hand. Without thinking , I reflexively swung and decapitated the vampire with a quick blow.

"Oh my god," Hannah screamed as if she had just been haunted by an entire army of ghosts . "That was insane. What in the world was up with that? And why do you have a sword in your trunk? Not that I'm not thankful it was there ." She asked the questions rapidly like a machine gun . "Why did that guy turn to dust?"

"Just breathe," I said turning to see Taylor's opponent fleeing the parking lot toward the back of the school.

"You won't catch him," Taylor said as I turned to chase after him.

I rolled my eyes , knowing that she was right. I turned to them both . "Are you guys okay?" I asked checking on their wellbeing before anything else.

"Yeah," Taylor said walking over to us while Hannah just nodded, her blue eyes still wide with shock.

"Tell me everything," Hannah said simply after taking a moment to regain her wits. "It's a really long story," I answered her with a small frown while I straightened my skirt and tank top and then tightened my now loose ponytail . "Let's go talk to my parents," I told her, still getting used to calling John my father.

"Okay," she agreed , scrutinizing the ash that was starting to blow away on light breeze in the night air. "Parents? I thought you only had your mom."

"Yeah," I nodded . "We can just tack that on to the long story . My father only recently moved back to town."

"Oh wow!" Hannah exclaimed . "No wonder you have been here but not here the last few months."

"Or we could just blame it on that dreamy boyfriend of hers," Taylor snickered despite the anxiousness we were both feeling over having been exposed in front of Hannah as vampire hunters.

Rolling my eyes at them, I shook my head. "Let's get out of here," I told them walking to my car . We picked up our bags on the way. I was going to need moral support for the talk with my parents and Hannah. Taylor and I both could be in a lot of trouble. So I decided to get the only person who would be with me through everything, Nick.

"Hey, I need you to meet me at my house, please ?" I communicated to him through the connection we shared.

"I'm already here waiting for you," he replied back.

"Oh, good."

"What's going on?"

"I will let you know when I get there."

"I'll drive," I told them. After leaving the school, we rode in silence . Taylor and I were both nervous about the potential trouble that we might be in, but Hannah was oblivious. She just wanted to know why the guy attacked us, and why he turned to dust when I cut his head off. I parked in front of my house and was not surprised to see John's car out front.

Getting out of the car , I was startled when Nick seemingly appeared out of nowhere. I chastised him for not announcing himself by hitting him on the arm. He rolled his eyes saying that I hit like a girl.

"Really?" I asked annoyed because we both knew better than that.

But he became serious. "What is going?" he asked . "Your nervousness is really driving me crazy," he said pointing to his head, and I instantly gave him sympathetic look . He looked down at me through his dark blonde bangs that fell messily over his deep blue eyes . "You're not, you know?" He barely mumbled loud enough for me to hear.

"What?" I asked , confused by his question.

"You know?" he said again pointedly, looking toward my stomach.

I got the hint that he was asking me if I was pregnant . "Oh no," I said, sure that my eyes were the size of saucers . "Hell no, no way." I finished frowning. That possibility was farfetched since the only time we had been together that way was the night we formed the bond months before.

He let out the breath he had been holding . "I'm not ready to die yet."

I laughed at his absurd line of thinking. "And we are way too young for that ." I looked up into his beautiful blue eyes . "Besides, if that were to happen before we are thirty , I would give you the news with a plane ticket ." He gave me a questioning look . "To give you a head start out of town, or out of the country would be even better. You know, before John finds out, or my mom, and probably Victor too. You would be probably be on the run for the rest of your life," I said, feeding into his fears that we were in no way going to face anytime soon.

"I think that even if we were thirty, they would still kill me," he said in agreement with me about my relatives who were overprotective of me, especially my father . Most of the time , the two of us acknowledged each other with growls and snide comments.

"When we get old and ever decide to take that step, you know like their age old," I added, "I will protect you from my very scary family, including my frightening daddy. Seriously though, it is nothing like that at all." I held up a hand . "But first let me vomit from saying 'daddy' though."

He sort of laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I can't believe you said that either," he said and stepped closer and put his arms around me in a tight embrace and brought his face down and softly kissed me bringing our mouths together in a deep kiss.

"Aww, how cute," a voice interrupted our kiss before it could grow more intense. We quickly pulled apart. I had nearly forgotten that Taylor and Hannah were standing there. They were on the other side of my car looking amused at the conversation we had been having.

"I think I am going to be sick," Taylor said, "from all of that lovey dovey mess ." I gave her a dirty look.

"I think it's cute," Hannah said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, but you don't have to see this all. Of. The. Time," Taylor responded, emphasizing each word. "I mean every time we turn around. They won't quit touching each other." She looked at Hannah and shuddered in mock disgust . "I really think they are going to get stuck that way one of these days," she mumbled.

I sighed . "Oh my god, you do the same thing with Kyle when you think no one is looking." Taylor faked looking shocked at my accusation, but didn't have a response to my statement because we both knew it was the truth . I turned to Nick. "She saw me kill one," I told him, referring to Hannah . "That's what is going on."

His eyes widened . "If it couldn't be helped, then it will be okay," he assured me, realizing that my anxiety was about the potential trouble we could be in with the leaders or the organization.

"I hope so," I responded, and he gave my hand a comforting squeeze . "Come on," I told the three of them and took a deep breath . I mumbled, here goes , to myself as I looked at the house. I could see a light on in the living room and knew they were both still awake.

"Wait here," I told them when we entered the front hall. Inside of the living room , I found my mom laying on the couch watching TV with her feet propped up in John's lap .

"Mom," I greeted . "I need to talk to you guys about something ." That one statement quickly got their attention. "I kind of messed up tonight, but I'm not sure how bad it really is."

"Oh no," my mom said.

Ugh, I thought and wondered how come people kept coming to the same conclusion.

"No, it is in no way what you're thinking," I assured them emphasizing my exasperation with them thinking such thoughts. My mom still let out the deep breath she had been holding since I said I needed to talk to them. I went on to explain how were attacked in the school parking lot and how I was unable to hide the existence of vampires from Hannah.

"It's okay," my mom said , gently relieving me of my fears that Taylor and I would be in trouble . "I will have a talk with her about keeping what happened a secret."

"Right," John agreed.

"Good," I said relieved . "And another thing. I didn't actually explain to her what she saw. I kind of didn't tell her that what she saw was a vampire go poof or why I had a sword in my car ." and with that I left the living room to retrieve the others, leaving it up to them to explain.

I found the other three in the kitchen, and the scene I walked into was funny because my two blonde friends were laughing about something while Nick was rolling his eyes at something they had been saying. "Hey guys," I said getting their attention . "Let's go in the living room. They are waiting for us."

In the living room , my mother stood and happily greeted Hannah and Taylor . "So you saw your first vampire tonight?" Mom offhandedly asked Hannah.

Eyes widening , Hannah turned to me. "That's what that was?"

"Yeah, I am sorry I didn't say anything," I said sheepishly . "I thought it would be better if my mom did."

"I totally get it though," she said. "The way he went for your throat and then the way he disintegrated or whatever that was when you killed him." She nodded in thought. "But wait, how did you know what to do? And just how come you had that sword in your trunk ?"

"It's a katana," Nick mumbled from beside me . He was easily annoyed whenever people didn't call weapons by their correct names. My response was to elbow him in the side to stop him from making corrections all night.

"What?" Hannah asked when he grunted in pain.

"Nothing," I smiled . "Mom, care to explain?" I asked. I knew she would make it easy for Hannah to understand.

My mom went on to explain to Hannah a little bit about the organization and some of what we do and how vital it was to keep vampires secret. And how it was important not to tell anyone about vampire hunters. Hannah promised not to tell anyone, and I knew because of her crush on Lucas that she would not be telling anyone. She wanted to protect him anyway that she could.

After we finished talking to my parents, Hannah and Taylor called their parents . They had decided to spend the night at my house. John promptly sent Nick home to the apartment he was now living in by himself since John had recently began living at our house.

"So being a vampire hunter is why you always fall asleep during class?" Hannah asked once the three of us were alone and settling in my bedroom.

I laughed at the observation . "Pretty much, but don't say anything about that in front of my mom."

"Yeah, she seems like she worries about you," Hannah said .

I nodded in agreement . "I know she does, but this was the way she was raised and now the way I have been raised too."

"You too?" Hannah asked Taylor.

"Yep," she smiled . "But my parents are a little older than Elizabeth and John."

"You know," Hannah said mischievously, "statistically you got really lucky to look the way you do."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"With parents that good looking , you should have been ugly."

"Oh right," I said sarcastically, "or maybe because I look like I am their kid ." I couldn't help but to laugh because I had no doubts about my looks. I had just never thought I should have been unattractive based on my parents' looks . "My uncle claims that I should be thankful to him ." They both gave me confused looks . "You will both understand if you ever meet him. Ask Sam . She will tell you that he is a character."

We laughed a bit more . Taylor already had spare clothes in my room. Hannah borrowed some clothes to sleep in . After we all showered, we settled down to sleep.

About The Author

Sharon Rose Mayes lives in Lufkin, Texas with her two sons. She chronicles her daily life at her personal blog Not Your Mom Blog and has been active in the blogosphere for seven years. When she is not chasing her kids and playing soccer mom, she writes and dreams of all of the places she can't wait to travel .

To receive news and announcements about upcoming book releases, sign up for email alerts here.

