"It was good," replied her father, stepping inside the house. Her mother looked tired, following her father from behind.

  "Did you guys have your dinner? I am yet to eat," said Melanie, trying to get more information from them to make sure everything was alright.

  "Not yet," replied her mother.

  Melanie kept the phone line open just so that Julie could also hear if her parents would mention something important that must have taken place in the meeting.

  "Would you please heat the food, Mel," asked her mother, and Melanie was more than happy to oblige. While Melanie walked past her parents, her mother again asked her, "Did anyone come by the house in the evening?"

  "No one," replied Melanie, and her mother gave her a nod. "Were you expecting anyone?" She tried to be casual with her words.

  Melanie's mother smiled, "Every person I was expecting was in the hunter's meeting, dear."

  Melanie smiled, and then she asked, "Is Conner back home?"

  "He is. They parked their car outside," her father answered her, and Melanie only hoped that everything had gone well. "Looks like you and Conner have grown closer."

  Melanie awkwardly smiled at her father's words. She decided to go and meet Conner after finishing dinner. And maybe telling her parents that she was interested in Conner wouldn't be such a bad thing. This way, they would not suspect her.

  When her parents went to their room, Melanie brought her phone to her ear and whispered to Julie, "Everything seems fine."

  "That's good, Mel. Let me know if you find anything," said Julie, and she cut the call.

  Melanie slipped the phone into her pocket and started taking the food from the fridge and putting it in the oven. But just when she was about to pull the container out, her hand was twisted, and her head was pushed onto the surface of the table.

  "Mom! Dad!" Melanie shouted for help.

  "It would be better if you stopped struggling, girl," came a familiar voice. The old man, who was leading the group of hunters in this part of the land, now stood behind her. "You have been a very bad child."

  "What is going on? Where are my parents?!" Melanie had been caught off guard, and she struggled to release herself.

  "Your parents are right here in the house, but I have asked them to stay away as they seem to be weak hearted in handling their daughter," said the man. "I knew there was something wrong, when they decided to sit you out of the meeting this time. Now tell me, what do you know about the vampires, apart from what you heard from us hunters."

  Melanie groaned as her head was being pushed, and she said, "What are you talking about?! I don't know anything apart from what you guys told and showed me. Let me go!"

  "Ah ah ah. Not so fast. Looks like you have inherited your mother's genes, but are lost in your path of not knowing where you are walking," though he was old, the man was strong, and he taunted her. He dragged her from the hall, and while he pulled her towards the basement, Melanie's eyes fell on her parents, who stood at one side without moving from their spot. They didn't look pleased right now, and their lips were set in a line.

  Soon Melanie was dragged to the basement.

  One of the dead vampires was thrown out of the chair, and Melanie was replaced on the chair. Her hands and legs were strapped, restricting her movements. No matter how hard she tried, the chair didn't move as it was nailed to the ground.

  "Let me go! You have the wrong information! I am on your side, my parents' side!" pleaded Melanie, while her heart was beating loudly and her vision slightly blurred because of the sudden adrenaline spike in her body.

  "I really doubt your words. You should stop lying, Melanie. I have tortured many vampires for lying, and know when they try to lie. I am sure your parents are not happy with your behavior and neither am I. But don't worry, you will soon be taught what is right," he nodded thoughtfully, and Melanie glared at him.

  "And I am telling you, I didn't do anything wrong. I don't know why I am being strapped like some animal," said Melanie before she called her parents, "Mom! Dad! Please let me—"

  SLAP!

  Melanie felt the sting on her face, and if she wasn't wrong, she could feel something burn near the corner of her lips. She glared at the old man, who stared back at her.

  "Do you think we don't know what goes around? Or what you have been doing?" questioned the man. "So tell me, what are you hiding about Veteris. We would need all the information before tomorrow."

  "I told you I don't know what you are talking about. I will charge you for hurting me," Melanie spoke through gritted teeth. What a wrong time to cut the call, she thought.

  The old man chuckled at her words as if she was making a joke. His chuckle was cold and empty. He said, "That is if you leave this basement, isn't it? Whom are you going to report? To the walls?"

  He was joking, wasn't he?

  She shook her head, "You cannot do this to me. I was here in the house, all by myself. Mom!" she shouted, resulting in the old man striking her face another time.

  "Your parents are excellent hunters, but they seem to have overlooked the matter, when it comes to you. Also they love you dearly, to use their usual methods so I will be the one dealing with you. I think it would be best for everyone, if you cough up anything and everything you have been hiding," warned the man, wiping his hand on his jeans.

  He then said, "You stole one of the glass vials from here. It has been missing, and you have been helping the vampires in Veteris, haven't you?"

  "I know nothing," replied Melanie, sticking to her lie.

  The old man clicked his tongue with a disapproving look on his face. He questioned her, "Why are you trying to protect them? Those are blood sucking creatures. You saw how they killed our men."

  Melanie stared at the man, one side of her face felt hot and numb. She tasted blood in her mouth as the person had slapped her quite hard.

  "I wonder," murmured the man, and he looked for something in the rack of vials. Once he found the one he was looking for, he picked it up and brought it to where Melanie was strapped to the chair.

  He uncorked the bottle and poured the Silverwater on top of her head.

  "Are you fucking crazy?!" Melanie glared at the man.

  "Looks like you aren't a vampire. That would have been pitiful for all of us," commented the man, and Melanie could only confirm that this person was crazy.

  "Can you let me go now?" she tried to ask politely, hoping he would listen.

  She heard light footsteps coming from the basement entrance, and soon her parents appeared at the door. Her mother appeared not wanting to look at her or talk to her right now. While her father said to her,

  "Mel. I don't know why you are doing this, but it would be the right time for you to confess everything you know. This way you will be forgiven easily. Come on now," he tried to coax her.

  Somewhere, Melanie had expected something like this to happen one day in the back of her head. After all, she wasn't living in a normal household but in a hunter's household. She had sworn to keep the vampire's secrets, and she wasn't going to expose them.

  "I don't know," replied Melanie, and the old man turned agitated.

  "Let her spend some time here with the rest of the vampires. She will come to her senses by morning," the old man said to her father. "Where is her phone?" he inquired.

  Her father handed the phone to the elderly hunter, and the man turned to Melanie. "What is the password for your phone?"

  Having already seen the possible ways things could go haywire, Melanie stared at the man. She then said, "One seven zero eight two six."

  The man gave her a suspicious look and then typed the number. When the phone screen unlocked, he went through her call lists and messages.

  "Julie?" questioned the man.

  "She's my best friend," answered Melanie, "Don't tell me I am not supposed to talk to my friends now."

  Mr. Davis said, "She is a human. We have already tested and confirmed her when she came to stay here over the weekend."

  "One can never be sure. Not to mention, your visit to Veteris was a fail," said the old man. "Your daughter is a human, yet she has decided to side with the blood suckers. Who knows if the others are the ones who influenced your daughter." He raised his hand, which held Melanie's phone and said to her, "I am going to keep a close watch, to make sure if you get any calls or messages."

  Melanie watched the old man and her parents leave her alone in the basement, closing the door behind them.

  "Shit," she cursed herself. "How am I going to get out of this?"

  She could only hope that one of her friends would notice something to be off with her responses.