"Um... what should I do about my sister? Do I go to a hospital? I mean, she has puncture marks on her neck; what do I even tell the doctors?"

Samantha stared down at them, debating with herself.

"Miss G?" Jason stared up at her with pleading eyes.

Damn; those puppy dog eyes are killer. "I... I can heal her."

"What? How?"

She glanced around to make sure no one was near and knelt down in front of them again. "With my blood," she whispered.

"What?!"

"Shh!"

"Sorry... But... Do you mean she has to," he swallowed, taking a moment. "Drink your blood?" he whispered.

"If you want her to heal fast, yes."

"And that won't turn her or anything?"

"No." As long as she doesn't die with my blood in her system.

"So vampire blood has the ability to heal?"

"Well..." It's best if he doesn't get too involved in this. "Not all vampire blood does, but mine is... special. So, do you want me to heal her or are you going to take her home like this?"

"Please heal her," Jason bowed his head.

"Hold her mouth open."

Jason pressed on her cheeks and Maggy's mouth opened a bit. Samantha bit her wrist and held it over Maggy's mouth, letting some of her blood drain in. Maggy swallowed and a moment later, she woke up coughing.

"Maggy?" Jason stared down at her. "Are you okay?"

"Jay?" she mumbled, gazing up at him with lidded eyes. "What happened?" The image of the vampire attacking her flashed through her mind and she yelped, covering her face with clenched fists.

"Maggy?" he gripped her tighter. "What's going on?" he asked.

"She's probably remembering the attack. She's... traumatized..." Samantha pulled out a handkerchief from her purse, cleaned the blood off her hand and her already healed wrist.

Jason frowned. "Reliving that nightmare; it's not fair."

"It isn't."

"How can I help her?"

Wish my powers would work right now. Samantha shook her head. "No one's going to believe what actually happened to her, but you could go to a therapist saying she got attacked." She bit her lip and turned away, mentally cursing herself.

"No... I can't put her through that again..."

Again?

"Any chance you have some special vampire powers to help erase this from her mind?"

"I... can't..."

"You can't? Not that you don't?"

Damn; I was hoping he wouldn't notice my wording... Samantha took a deep breath. Ugh, I've been able to stay hidden for years; why is this happening now? "I haven't... been eating a proper diet for my kind in a long time, so I'm nowhere near as strong as I would otherwise be. As in, some of my powers aren't fully working in my weaker state."

She could see his gears turning as he processed her words. After a moment, he looked up at her again. "So... Um... Are you saying you need to eat blood to be able to erase this 'incident' from her mind?"

"That's... exactly what I'm saying."

A chill ran down Jason's spine and he swallowed hard, staring at his sister, trembling in his arms. "She's so scared; I don't even think she hears us talking..." He took a deep, shaky breath. "How much blood would you need to do it?"

"I don't know exactly... I haven't had human blood for so long..." She thought about the last person she drank from forty years ago – her boyfriend – and felt a wave of sadness wash over her as she missed him.

"Would it be enough to kill me?"

"No; nowhere near that much, but you'll be a bit weaker."

"Can I feed you my blood, and then you feed me yours?"

"I can, but all that will do is heal the wound I would leave by drinking from you. It won't give you back your energy; only proper rest and water will do that."

Jason nodded to himself, mulling things over. "Um... Can you come over to my house?"

Samantha froze. "Can I what? It's not appropriate for a teacher to go to a student's house."

"B-but how else can I give you my blood?" Jason looked around the trees, making sure no one was around. "I don't want to pass out here, and I think the longer we stay here, the higher the chance of us being seen is."

"Oh, right; I see your point. Are you okay to drive?" She asked, helping him to his feet as he kept a tight hold on Maggy.

"Yeah," Jason nodded.

"Okay, I'll follow you in my car then."

They headed into the parking lot and approached their own cars. She unlocked her Pontiac Solstice, ready to get in.

"Miss G," Jason called out to her. "Um, can you unlock my car? I can't grab the keys with her in my arms."

"Oh right, sorry about that. Where are your keys?"

"Front right pocket."

Samantha looked around the parking lot to make sure no one was around. "Excuse me." This feels inappropriate too... She pulled his keys out and opened the back door.

He buckled his sister in. "Don't worry, I'll get you home soon." He gripped her shoulder for a moment before closing the door.

"Here," she handed him his keys.

"Thanks," he avoided looking at her, a blush taking over his cheeks. He never had someone ruffle around in his pocket before, let alone a female he was crushing on.

Samantha followed him in his Jeep for fifteen minutes until he pulled into the driveway of a detached two-storey house with a two-car garage. She parked at the curb and watched him open the front door before going back for his sister.

"Will your parents mind me being here?" Samantha asked as he let her in.

Jason frowned. "They're not home much."

"So you end up having to take care of the house and your sister?"

"Actually, my sister helps. If I was left to cook, I'd probably burn the house down," Jason said as he made his way to his sister's bedroom. He laid her down in her fluffy pink bed. "I'll be right back," he kissed her forehead and she peeked through her fingers at him, tears in her eyes.

"Jay?" Maggy tugged on his sleeve.

"I'll be right back, okay?"

Her brows turned up in worry and she nodded. "Okay."

Jason turned to Samantha. "Okay, let's do this." He swayed his hand towards his room, not wanting his sister to see. She nodded and went into his room, eyeing the sports trophies above his desk and sketchbooks strewn about.

They stood facing each other. The image of her deceased boyfriend overlapped with Jason. They had a similar tall stature and sharp bone structure. She could hear his voice, 'It's okay, Sammy, take as much as you need; you'll be safe with me.' Her throat closed a bit.

"Miss G?" Jason called out to her again.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry... I zoned out... I can take it from your wrist or somewhere else if you don't want me biting your neck."

"I imagine it's easiest from my neck, so it's okay."

She stood in front of him and he stared down at her, his heart beating a mile a minute. "I also don't want to scare you with my fangs and red eyes, so I can bite you from behind—"

"It's fine, Miss G; just go for it. I'm nervous, but I'm not afraid because it's you."

Because it's me? "Can you bend down a little bit?"

He turned his head to the side and crouched down, leaning towards her as he braced himself. He could feel her breath on his neck and her sweet scent tickled his nose. "Is this going to hurt?"

"At first, but it'll feel good after a moment."

His head whipped back, almost running into hers. "What? Does that mean my sister felt—"

"Don't finish that sentence. He was a lesser vampire than me... I mean he was old enough to turn into dust right away, but... I don't think he was drinking long enough for that... Anyway, just never mind that part."  I can't tell him too much.

"I see... This vampire business seems complicated."

"Indeed."

Jason turned his head to the side again, his eyes closed and he took a deep breath. "I'm ready." He tried not to twitch as he felt her breath on his neck.

Samantha held him in place as she bit into his neck. He jumped slightly and relaxed as she drank from him. He tastes... so good... She almost melted at the euphoria of tasting human blood again.

After a few gulps, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against him.

What am I doing?! She pulled away, his hands still on her waist. "That should be enough," she wiped the corners of her mouth.

"That was... wow..." he gazed at her with lidded eyes.

Crap. She bit her wrist and forced him to drink a tiny bit of her blood before leaving his grasp. The wound on his neck sealed up in a few seconds. "Okay, I should be able to help her now."

"Your blood... it tasted sweet; I thought blood was metallic," Jason said, still in a daze.

"Don't mind that." She wandered back over to his sister's room and sat on the edge of her bed. "Maggy," she called out to her and held onto her hands.

"W-who are you?" Maggy asked, shaking. She tried to pull away from her, but Samantha kept a tight hold on her hands.

"She's my teacher, Miss Gilbert," Jason said, standing behind Samantha. "She's here to help you."

"Oh," her shoulders relaxed, but she didn't stop shaking.

"Maggy, can you focus on me for a moment?" Samantha ducked her head down a bit to stare into Maggy's eyes. "The last thing you remember was leaving the school and meeting up with Jason like normal. He took you safely home and you laid on your bed feeling tired from a long, studious school day." She backed off and ushered Jason out of her room, closing the door behind them.

"That's it? She's all better?" Jason asked.

"I erased the time of attack from her mind. There is a slight chance something could trigger her memory, but it's unlikely. She should be her normal self by tomorrow I suspect, albeit a bit more tired from the lack of blood."

Jason nodded and grabbed both her hands. "Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it. Um... I suppose it's your turn now."

"My turn?" he backed away. "What are you talking about?"

"You don't need to remember what happened or what I am either."

"You want to make me forget, too?" Jason frowned.

"Of course, I do. You're a normal, human boy; you don't need to know about the world of the supernatural."

"What if I don't want to forget?" he stepped away from her, fidgeting.

"I'm sorry, Jason, but it would be irresponsible of me to leave you with this knowledge." Not to mention I told him about my special blood too.

"But I could be your personal blood bag and keep you strong in case another crazy vampire starts attacking people in town," he took another step away. "If there was one, there might be more and I'd rather have someone around to keep us safe... like a superhero..."

"Jason... This was one random incident." I hope. "This town hasn't had any vampire issues in decades. It's best for you if you don't remember any of this."

He shook his head again. "You don't know if it's one random incident. Hell, since it was at our school, maybe something is after you. Don't you think it's best if you have someone at school that can back you up?"

"Look, it's sweet you want to be there to help if needed, but I can't put you in danger like that. Jason," she stepped towards him and he backed away again. "Don't fight me on this."

"But... You saved my sister and me; I want to reciprocate and help you too."

"Jason." She quickly stepped towards him and grabbed his chin. He tried to push her arm away and move his head, but he couldn't overpower her. She forced him to look into her eyes. "Vampires don't exist."

He scrunched his eyes closed before she could finish a sentence.

"Dammit, Jason, I'm doing this for your own good." She grabbed his arm and flipped him over her shoulder, thumping him onto his bed. Instantly, she was on top of him. "Keep your eyes open," she commanded, gripping his chin from above. He blinked a few times and stared at her with worry. "Vampires don't exist. After school, your sister wasn't feeling well, so you made sure she got to her room to rest. The last time you saw me was in class." She sighed and got off of him. Without another word, she left Jason's house.

Jason stared at the ceiling for a moment. "She... It didn't work?" He went back to check on Maggy, but she was asleep. "I should probably bring her oatmeal or something. I can at least work a microwave," he tried to act normal as Samantha's desperate expression flitted through his mind.