Melanie stared at Simon, his question heavily weighing around her neck as if one word would decide if she would be killed or if she would continue to live. Simon started to walk towards her, reducing the distance between them before he stood right in front of her.

  "Why didn't you tell them what I really am?" he questioned her. His bright green eyes staring into her black ones.

  It took a moment for Melanie to stand her ground, and she replied, "You had saved my life, and I repaid it by saving yours. It was nothing more or less than that."

  "So you wanted to repay your debt. Was it unbearable for you to know that a vampire saved you?" Simon's questions continued.

  "What are you doing here?" she questioned him back.

  "I came here to see how you are doing. It seemed like you ran away from your home like a little bunny, and I thought it was better to come and see if you would like to share the recent things that you found out. Isn't that why you are here?" his eyes burned into hers, the subtle smile on his lips barely changed even for a second. It was as if he had practised it over the years, and right now, Melanie could only tell that Simon had more than enough time to practice it.

  "You don't have to show your kind self towards me. As you can see, I am doing perfectly fine," stated Melanie. "If you could step away from me now."

  "Why so fast? We have barely even started speaking. It must have been the wound on my arm that gave me away last night. Not to mention, you even came to check on me, it is only right I do the same for you," stated Simon, his eyes shifted from her eyes to look at her neck. She saw the way his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as if he could imagine the taste of her blood running in her veins before a smirk appeared on his face as if he had done it just to scare her. "One would be curious, but I guess yesterday was a little too much of a crash course for you on vampire's existence."

  "How many of you are there?" demanded Melanie in a whisper.

  "Why? Do you want to tell your parents? Or maybe your future boyfriend?" Their conversation with one question after another, without getting an answer from each other.

  Previous night, Simon had got his arm covered when they reached the Davis' house, and he knew he was safe from Melanie's curious and questioning eyes. But what he hadn't expected was for him to react to something he must have eaten or drank yesterday, to throw up blood into the glass. But the more curious thing here was that Melanie had switched their drinks.

  "Maybe it would be best for you if you would leave this place and maybe this town and university. So that people don't come hunting for you," Melanie didn't lower her gaze, and she continued to stare at him.

  "Are you threatening me, princess?" a chuckle escaped from Simon's lips, the corner of his lips pulling wide, and he said, "Don't you know I have more strength and speed compared to everyone else under this roof. It will take less than a blink of an eye for me to snap that pretty little neck of yours."

  Melanie glared at Simon, hate coming to fill in her eyes.

  "But don't worry, I am not here to harm you. If I wanted to, I would have done it while you were cutely sleeping in your bed. All curled up and warm in the bed, drooling on your pillow," he described it for her, and Melanie's eyes narrowed.

  He wasn't in her room last night, was he? She could feel dread filling up in her, thought Melanie in her mind.

  "What do you want, Simon?" Melanie directly asked him one more time, and he took another step towards, for her to take one step backwards before her back hit the wall.

  Simon placed his hand on one side of the wall, and he said, "I am just here to observe. Like I said, I have no interest in killing you. I will keep you alive. But I cannot keep my word if you go running your mouth to people on what you know about me. Okay?"

  How was she supposed to respond to it?

  She had come here to share this particular piece of information with Conner because he was the closest person around, and he knew about the vampire's existence.

  Before Melanie could reply, Conner appeared in the living room and noticed the way his best friend and Simon stood near each other. For the briefest moment, a look of displeasure passed through his features. He liked both of them, but for some odd reason, he didn't like Simon being that close to Melanie. Brushing the thought away, he greeted Simon,

  "Hey man. You stayed at Mel's?"

  Simon let go of his hand on the wall while Melanie quickly stepped away from the vampire. She went to Conner's side as if her being there would protect her best friend, but at the end of it all, she was only a human.

  "Yes, I did. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were kind enough to ask me to stay in their house for the night. How are you doing, Conner?" questioned Simon, putting his polite mask back on his face, and Melanie noticed how seamless the transition was.

  Conner shook his head and sighed, "I am not sure if he will make it or not. The way he and Mel's father spoke earlier, it seemed like a severe problem and hard to fix."

  "You don't mind if I take a look at him, do you?" Simon asked his permission, and Conner shook his head once again. "Thanks."

  Melanie had a guarded look on her face, and her eyes darted from Simon to Conner while they went to where Conner's father was fast asleep. "I will be outside," she whispered, placing her hand on Conner's arm.

  In the meantime, Simon took a closer look at the human, and he said, "Rogue vampires, sometimes using their ash, can help in reducing or stopping the rapid transition."

  "Transition?" questioned Conner, and Simon hummed.

  They stepped out of the room so that they wouldn't disturb the injured man, and Simon said, "Though I wouldn't guarantee that it is one hundred percent effective. But using the same rogue vampire's ash, who infected him, it is worth testing."

  "Then we go to the forest and find it," Conner was quick to jump on the search train, but Simon held a grim-looking expression on his face. "What is it?"

  "Maybe finding the ash will be hard. Considering the wind might have blown it away or it might have been cleaned by the other hunters," replied Simon.

  "How are the others not aware of this remedy?" Conner wanted to save his father from his sufferings. He couldn't bear seeing his father in this state, where he was throwing up black blood. Not to mention, the hunters… they were ready to kill his father in fear that he would turn into a vampire too.

  "Most of the hunters aren't aware of how some things work, and it isn't necessary that the solution is always effective. But it is always worth a try," mentioned Simon, and Conner nodded his understanding.

  "I will talk to Mr. Davis and see what he thinks about it. Maybe we can get something there," replied Conner.

  "Yes, I would tell it is better to head there so that we don't lose the ash of the rogue vampires," and before Conner could leave the place, he placed his hand on Simon's shoulder.

  "I don't know how to thank you for your help, but it is good to know that you are on our side," a small smile appeared and disappeared from Conner's lips, and he left. While the smile on Simon's lips continued to stay calm and collected.

  Simon checked Conner's father again before he stepped out of place and made his way to the kitchen, where Melanie was working on making scrambled eggs. "Seems like you are quite ready to take up the role of his wife here," he commented, and Melanie's gaze raised.

  "Where is Conner?" she questioned him, her eyes falling behind him.

  "He's gone to meet your father for your hand in marriage. I just told him about the undying love you have been having towards him," remarked Simon, and Melanie sent a quiet glare over the obvious lie. Noticing how she didn't look ruffled, he said, "We plan to take a small walk in the forest after your wonderful breakfast. What are you cooking for me?"

  "This is not for you. It is for Conner," said Melanie, and when Simon's hand went to reach for one of the bread that she toasted, her hand was quick to swat it away from there, like he was a housefly. But Simon surprised her by catching hold of her wrist, and she pulled her hand hard away from his grasp, which he let go right away. "Are you going to tell me what you are doing here in a hunter's house?"

  "Maybe once I know why you switched our glass of juice. Not to mention, we shared an indirect kiss, did you know that?" questioned Simon.

  "Don't break Conner's trust, Simon. Leave him out of whatever psychopathic tendency you carry with yourself," stated Melanie, and she continued. "I think it will be better for you and me, and everyone else that you go back to wherever you came from. Count whatever happened to be even."

  "Where I came from?" Simon pushed the piece of red fringe that was longer on one side than the other backwards. "That would be something difficult to do. But I don't want to," his smile would have been infectious if Melanie was a stranger to him.

  While Simon kept an eye on the human, who knew about who he was, back in the Winters residence, Julie stood with her back leaned against the wall.

  Julie had a deep frown on her face, her mouth occasionally coming to rub her forehead or covering her mouth. The people whom Donovan had contacted to take Aunt Sarah's body and preserve were yet to arrive, and the tension in the air around her grew.

  Roman stood in the same room as her, watching her before he made his way to where Donovan was in one of the rooms that consisted of light looking weapons which could be easily passed to be something any regular human would use. But these sharpened stakes were clear indication that the woman had prepared the room for quick use.

  "Is your ripper form acting up?" questioned Donovan to Roman, whilst his back faced the younger vampire. "Threatening to snap Julie's neck…"

  "It was the easiest way to get him to speak. Knowing the close bond and love he has towards her," remarked Roman, his face expressionless as usual. "What got into you that you thought killing the woman was the quickest solution."

  "It was the way she came at me," Donovan raised his hand with a stake in his hand. He turned around to meet Roman's eyes that had turned red, and he said, "I was defending myself. You didn't expect me to stand there and do nothing now, did you? Also I heard these humans have these weird gadgets that alert another person from far away. I am surprised that neither of us could tell that she was working for the hunters."

  "She isn't as involved as the others, but seems more like an informer," said Roman and Donovan nodded.

  "I guess that was how it is. What do you plan to do with dear old Uncle Thomas?"

  Roman turned to look in the direction he had come in, "Keep him around until the effects of Silverwater die down. You heard her."

  "And if it doesn't?" questioned Donovan, raising his eyebrows. "He seems quite hurt over his wife's death.

  Roman's eyes narrowed, "It could have been avoided if you could just keep your blood thirsty self away from her. For an Elder vampire you lack control. Did yesterday's Silverwater drain too much of your will power and pride? The woman is Julie's aunt, a direct relative."

  This time, Donovan narrowed his eyes, and he said, "It was either her or you guys. And I chose you both."

  And though Donovan said that, Roman could tell that if the time ever proposed where the Elder vampire had to save either him or Julie, the man would save him and would rather let Julie die.

  "Don't hurt him now. Can I expect that from you?" asked Roman, and Donovan gave him a nod.

  "I told you, I wouldn't hurt him," said Donovan, a faint smile appearing on his lips, and Roman didn't trust the man one bit.

  "If you didn't kill her, we would have been able to get some answers from her. If she's told Julie's father about her, but that is lost," said Roman with a slight furrow in his eyes.

  "If the man isn't here, isn't it obvious that they haven't been in contact with each other?" asked Donovan, and by his words, Roman turned around before going through Aunt Sarah's phone.

  "What are you looking at?" asked Julie, coming forward and taking a look at the phone.

  "Seeing if your father has tried to contact her. Any number that looks familiar?" he asked her, and Julie went through the messages and call list before she shook her head.

  "I don't think they belong to my father. Some are unsaved numbers," replied Julie before giving the phone back to him. "Do you think it is possible for them to have been in contact?"

  "Probably not. At least I believe not. Hunters have their own society and groups of people, and they don't mingle with the others. Because there is always a possibility of infiltration of vampires, morms, or other creatures," explained Roman, and he put the phone in his pocket.

  Julie stayed quiet for some time, deep in thoughts, before she spoke, "And what if he has been in touch with her? There has been something that has been bothering me."

  "What is it?"

  "Uncle said he and aunt never told father about me studying in Veteris, but what if someone else tells him? Like the neighbors know I study there," her brown eyes stared into his red ones.

  "I will take care of it," upon his words, Julie gave him a nod. But before he could walk out of the house to go and compel the people around, he said to her, "I am sorry for what I said in there."

  Julie knew exactly about what Roman was talking about, and she gave him a nod again. But she didn't go to speak more on it.

  Roman left her side while Julie took brave steps to walk to the couch where her aunt continued to sit on the couch. Last evening, when Aunt Sarah was speaking to Donovan about her, somewhere she had hoped that her aunt was taking her side and she didn't dislike her as much as she thought she was being disliked.

  But this happened right after she woke up. She didn't even get time to speak, but now that she thought about it, what was she supposed to speak about?

  That she had found out about her being related to the hunters? Or that Aunt Sarah was only protecting her family and was thinking the best for her family like everyone else in the room.

  Coming to stand next to the woman, Julie raised her hand that lightly shook. In the intention to close Aunt Sarah's eyes that had been left open, when she touched the person's forehead, she felt something zap between the skin contact. Julie's surroundings started to melt, and change. Suddenly she stood in the balcony of Uncle and Aunt Sarah's room, where Aunt Sarah was on the phone.

  "They want us to mix that Silverwater with everything? What is that going to do?" questioned Aunt Sarah. "…… And what do I do if I do have vampires in the house?…… No, my husband doesn't know about it and I prefer it that way… I kept the stakes ready as you asked me to. I would like you to take it with you as I do not wish to be part of this… No, I don't care. My family won't be walking that path, it ended with my parents."

  "Who is the call from?"

  Julie turned and noticed Uncle Thomas come to where his wife stood.

  "Just a friend who wants me to go to a party," replied Aunt Sarah, putting the phone away.

  "You can go if you want. Joel is going to camp and you might find it to be refreshing. I will manage it fine," said Uncle Thomas but Aunt Sarah shook her head.

  "You know I don't like those get together. I am good here," she smiled and she asked, "Did you hear from Julie?"

  Uncle Thomas shook his head, "She didn't call me, and her phone is unreachable. Why do you ask? You aren't still holding her where she's her father's daughter, are you? I think it is quite silly of you to even think that. The poor child needs someone motherly, and you treating her that way, is only going to create distance."

  "I do it because you are too soft on her," replied Aunt Sarah, her lips setting into a grim line before she said, "She's too soft and looks like she doesn't know the right from the wrong."

  "She's a young lady now. I am sure she will manage fine. She did survive, didn't she?" sighed Uncle Thomas and he said, "You'll be nice to her, won't you?"

  "I'll try," replied Aunt Sarah, and Julie stood there watching her uncle and aunt step back inside the room, leaving her alone.

  When Julie pulled her hand away from Aunt's Sarah's face, where she had closed the woman's eyes, she stared hard at the person. A sadness coming to fill her chest as she stepped away.