Samantha drove up to her mansion off in the middle of a crowded forest. She slammed her car door shut and sat on the hood, staring up at the darkening sky.

"You're back late; what were you up to?" her younger brother, Will was waiting at the entrance for her.

"There was some trouble, but I dealt with it," she sighed and walked past him.

Will sniffed the air. "Why do I smell blood?" He closed in on her. "Have you finally caved and had a drink from someone new?" he smiled, hoping for the best.

"It was necessary, that's all. A vampire attacked one of the students at my school. I was able to dispose of the low-level vamp easily, but I didn't have enough power to hypnotize them."

"Oh-oh-oh... Considering you used to be one of the strongest around, that's surprising. I guess it has been too long since you fed on real food."

"As long as nothing else pops up, I won't have to again."

"I don't know why you starve yourself like this. You know you don't have to eat straight from the humans these days; I could get you a steady supply of blood bags to drink."

She rubbed her face, groaning. "I'll pass; humans need those bags too, you know?"

"There's no winning with you, is there? Anyway, just say the word and I'll get some for you. I can even get you a willing human with ease."

"Thanks, Will, but I'll be fine." She started to walk upstairs towards her room.

"What if it wasn't a one-time occurrence? What if they've found us again?"

She turned to face him, following her up the stairs. "It's been decades; do you really think they're still trying to find us?"

"I don't think they'll ever stop."

She bit her lip. "If that's the case, I guess we'll have to find somewhere new to live again."

Will grumbled. "I've kinda grown attached to this house... Maybe you should switch schools at least and start over. Use a different name this time. I know they probably don't look for your real name these days, but it was reckless to revert to using it."

"It's hard to change it every time; takes a while to get used to a new name and I end up not responding to people. It's easier this way and I didn't expect them to look for my real name."

"Then quit being a teacher. We have more than enough money without your piddly wages, and I can make a ton gambling if needed," Will smiled as she glared at him. "I don't even have to hypnotize people to win there; I'm just that good."

"I love teaching and we've finally settled into this town; I don't want to hide in this mansion with nothing to do."

"There's plenty to do in town without teaching; it has an active nightlife."

"I like the daytime and I love teaching." Her students' faces flashed through her mind. "I don't want to leave in the middle of a school year anyway..."

"Okay, okay," he held his hands up. "Please, don't cry; you know I can't handle tears."

She rubbed her eyes. "I'm not crying."

"For now, I'll try and find out if this is a one-time incident or if something's going down," he pulled the hood of his hoodie up. "See you later." He waved and headed off.

"Bye, Will." She dropped her bag beside her bed and flopped back on it, letting out a groan. "What should I do?" she grabbed one of the extra pillows and hugged it. The picture of her deceased boyfriend on the nightstand caught her eye. "Nero... What should I do?" A tear escaped, streaming down her face as she passed out.

The next day at school, Samantha arrived early to do a check of the perimeter for anything weird or supernatural. She ended up back where Maggy was attacked the day before, the scent of blood still lingered in the air.

What was Maggy doing over here? According to Jason, he waits for her in the parking lot every day, but you don't pass through here to get there if you're coming from school. If the vampire carried her here, we would've heard her scream earlier. Based on his age, I doubt they knew each other, so what was she doing over here? Did he lure her out? That must be it...

She noticed scratch marks on the tree right beside where Maggy was attacked.

Too deep to be from Maggy, but not too deep; it was probably the vampire and not something even worse to deal with.

The bell for school rang and she jumped.

Dammit; I've been out here too long. Samantha rushed to get to class.

"Sorry I'm late, guys," she sighed, setting her bag down as she turned to her first-period class.

I forgot to bring lunch with me... At least I'm not that hungry today; his blood is still in my system. Over the years, the amount of blood she required to stave off the hunger decreased dramatically, but if she had a bit of blood after a long time, she'd end up craving it more. Samantha wandered around outside the school checking for vampires again. She heard footsteps coming towards her and a delicious scent tickled her nose. Jason? What's he doing here?

"Hey, Miss G, what are you up to?" Jason approached her in the parking lot.

"Hey... Nothing for a student to worry about. Shouldn't you be eating lunch right now?"

"Shouldn't you? I normally find you on that bench, but you weren't there."

She turned to him, her arms crossed. "And what if I said I already ate?"

"Funny, so did I."

"But what are you doing here in the parking lot? Did you go somewhere for lunch?"

"Nope; I had lunch in the cafeteria since my sister was too tired to make me something to take."

I hope she's not out of commission for too long. Samantha gritted her teeth, wishing they found before she was attacked. "Is that so? Well, I hope she's feeling better soon, but you still haven't answered me. Why are you here?" There's no way he remembers, right? Samantha eyed him.

"I like going for a walk after I eat lunch. That's how I always end up running into you at that bench and sometimes you share your food. Thanks again for that. Any chance you have food to spare today too?"

The tension released in her shoulders. He just likes going for walks... "No, sorry. If you want, I can get you some dessert today too though."

"Really?" he almost salivated at the thought. "I'd love that. For some reason, I'm super hungry today."

"Okay then, how about you come with me to the dessert cart this time and choose what you want?" I wouldn't mind something sweet right now anyway.

Jason nodded. "Sure, that sounds great. Thanks, Miss G. Lead the way."

She walked past him, her eyes scanning the parking lot as she went. Jason glanced at the spot Maggy was attacked between the trees before following her.

They stood in front of the cart. Jason leaned in close, his eyes trailing from one dessert to the next.

"I'll take a piece of vanilla cake, Jason, choose whatever you'd like." She rummaged around her bag as he pointed at three different desserts. He was about to point out a fourth when she grabbed his hand and pulled it down. "I think three desserts should be enough; any more and you'll end up in a sugar coma in class."

Jason laughed. "Yeah, I guess so. Probably should've only picked one, but they all look delicious."

Samantha paid for their desserts and they wandered back over to the same bench from yesterday.

"Are you two meeting up like this on purpose? I always seem to find you here," Roy popped up beside them, eyeing Jason's plate. "I'll take that!" he picked up a square piece of cake with his bare hands and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth, getting icing on his upper lip.

"Hey, that was mine!" Jason complained.

"And let you have all the dessert Miss G buys? No way; you need to learn to share." Roy licked his lips and fingers.

"And you need to learn to ask first."

"Just take the other half of mine and quit bickering," she handed Roy her plate.

"Thanks, Miss G," he gobbled down the rest of her dessert.

"So, seriously, what's going on here?" Roy eyed both of them and inserted himself between them, his arm hanging on the top of the bench behind her.

"Roy, nothing's going on here," she moved his arm so it wasn't behind her. "And I shouldn't have to say this, but I'm your teacher and you should treat me as such. I don't date students, but I am here if you need help or food," she motioned to the plate.

"You're here to help us?" Roy nodded, lost in thought. "Interesting..."

"Dude, lay off," Jason warned him.

Samantha stood. "I'll see you in class, students." She walked away shaking off the delicious scent Jason was giving off. So much for not being hungry.

"Wow," Roy had been watching her walk away when he noticed, so was Jason. "Well, well, seems you are still attracted to our teacher after all."

"We've both established she's hot, but I'm not you; I wouldn't chase someone out of my league or that would lose their job if they dated me."

"Sure, you say that now, but that look in your eyes say 'I want her'."

"I bet she's tired of dealing with all the students that aim to get her..." Jason sighed. If she was a vampire – and a good one at that – then how long could she have been a teacher? How much has she had to put up with throughout the years?