Samantha sighed as she sat on the couch in their living room. "So, what did you find?" she asked her brother again, finally safe at home.

"Wine?" Will offered her a glass and she raised an eyebrow. He knew she rarely drank alcohol. "You might need it."

"Okay..." she accepted the glass and took a small sip as he sat beside her.

He chugged down his glass and poured another.

"It's that bad?"

Will struggled to explain. "Well... They found us."

"What?! That can't be... Wouldn't they have come after us already if they knew where we were?"

"Considering the number of times we've run away from them, they're trying to change their tactics."

Her stomach dropped, her body tensing up. She took another sip, but couldn't even taste the wine. "What kind of tactics?"

"My go-to guy had a letter waiting for me," Will pulled an envelope out of his jacket and handed it to her.

'We see you've set up yourself a cozy little life as a teacher in this town, but you belong to us, to me. The family needs you; the clan needs you. Our numbers have dwindled due to the werewolves and the only way to gain the power we need is with you. Come back home.

If you try to run again, we'll be forced to take it out on your precious students.

Evan

Along with the letter was a picture of her on the bench at school with Roy and Jason.

A chill ran down her spine and she bit her lip. I'm putting my students in danger...

Will heard a noise and glanced outside. In the distance, he saw a Jeep sitting at the forest entrance. He took a deep breath of air and caught a familiar scent; one he recently smelled on his sister. He approached the window, taking a sip of his wine and watched as two boys scrambled away from their house. "It seems we were followed."

Samantha shot to her feet. "What?! By who?" She stood beside him to look out the window, but nothing and no one was there.

"They already took off."

"Did you recognize them?" Samantha asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say your students. You even smelled like one of them recently..." he trailed off and looked at the picture in her hand. "Actually, I know I didn't see them well, but I think it was them," he pointed at the picture.

"Jason and Roy? Why would they follow me?" She clenched her fists, crushing the letter and picture.

"Jason's the one whose sister was attacked, right? The one you drank from?"

"Yeah..."

"But you erased his memory, right?"

"Of course I did. I couldn't leave him knowing what I am."

Will sighed and took another sip of wine as he thought. "What about the other one?"

"Roy? He's a big flirt; flirts with all the girls from what I can tell. He seemed to have an... interest in me, but I tried to make it clear I don't date my students."

"Your students are hitting on you?"

She rolled her eyes. "It happens every year."

Will laughed. "If only they knew your true age."

"I'm a vampire and forever twenty-five; if I looked my age I'd be a bag of bones."

"True for both of us. Do you think they followed you because of me?"

Samantha face-palmed. "Of course, they wanted to know who you were. All I have to do is explain you're my brother and it should be fine."

"That won't explain why we live in the middle of nowhere in a big-ass mansion. Besides, I think they're the least of our worries. Well... Them following us is, but they might be targets themselves."

"Even if I quit, they'll still go after them, won't they?" Samantha bit her lip.

"Stop that," he pinched her cheek. "You made yourself bleed."

"Ow, -top it," she tried to tell him to stop and he released her cheek. She wiped the blood off on the back of her hand.

"They've made it clear they'll go after your students if you run again. The question is: do you care enough about them for that to matter?"

"Of course I do."

"Then are you going to go back to the clan?"

Samantha's face contorted. "I can't go back... They'll turn me into a blood bag."

"I don't think—"

"Don't you get it? It won't be just Evan drinking my blood to get stronger; he'll share me with the rest of his men until they're all super-powered. He's too pissed from the last time I ran away to be sensible."

"You're probably right... If only we knew another vampire with special blood like yours; we could toss them his way and he'd give up."

"You'd sacrifice some poor other vampire for me?"

Will laughed. "Of course I would, and who's to say they wouldn't welcome it? For all we know, they're looking for somewhere to belong. And while you're right about being turned into a blood bag, they'll buy them anything they want. The clan is so full of old money; they'd be rolling in dough."

"You're assuming they need money. And besides, we don't even know if there are any others with special blood alive right now."

They sat back on the couch. "What does that leave us to do?" Will asked. "Try and keep the students safe? I mean, if it was just those two boys we might be able to manage it, but they're likely to go after any of them. I mean, it was the boy's sister that got attacked first, right?"

"Yup..." I don't see any way for this to end well for us.

"I'm sure I could get us some help, but not enough to protect a few hundred students. This is starting to make my brain hurt... Let's put that on hold for now. What do we do about the stalker boys? Is it possible they know what you are?"

"Roy never knew and I hypnotized Jason to forget it."

"Are you certain it worked?"

"Why wouldn't it? It worked on his sister," Samantha huffed.

"Come on, Sammy, you know as well as I do that it's harder to hypnotize some people, especially if they're against it or have a strong will."

"Honestly, if it didn't work, I don't think he'd have Roy with him."

Will smiled at her. "I guess you have some trust in this Jason fellow. Tell you what, I'll enroll in your school and befriend them so I can keep them safe. At the moment, they're the targets, but who knows how long until they just choose someone else. We have to figure out a real game plan. And no going back to the clan on your own," he pointed a stern finger at her. "We're in this together as we always have been, big sis." He held his fist out and she bumped it with her own.

"Right, in it together..."

"Together forever," he hummed and stood. "Time for me to make a few calls. I'm going to be a student again," he laughed, heading out of the room.

"Thanks for the joy ride and dropping me off," Roy waved and headed to his house.

"I should never have listened to him," Jason sighed and headed for home a few minutes away. "Hey Mags," he called out to her the moment he entered his house.

"What took you so long?" she pointed a big wooden spoon at him, standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"I guess you're feeling better," he gave her a soft smile, tension releasing from his shoulders.

"That's not an answer, mister."

"Roy—"

She rolled her eyes at his name and walked back to stir the pot. He dropped his bag by the couch and went into the kitchen. "So really, you're feeling okay?" Jason asked.

"I feel fine; better than ever actually. I'll be back in school tomorrow, so don't worry."

He picked her up in a big bear hug.

"Ah, what are you doing, Jay? Put me down," she squealed, trying to keep the spoon over the pot to avoid making a mess.

"Just glad you're really okay." The feel of her limp in his arms replayed through his mind. If it wasn't for Miss. Gilbert, she probably wouldn't be here at all.

She stiffened. "You're still overprotective because of what happened—"

"I should've noticed what was going on sooner; I'll never make that mistake again. Besides, I'm your big brother; I'm allowed to be overprotective."

"Look, I promise I'm eating properly. I don't know why I was feeling unwell last night and this morning, but I'm fine now."

He set her down with a huff. "You know, you used to like my bear hugs when we were little."

"Ah... I mean... I didn't say I disliked them, but I'm busy cooking us dinner right now, so it's not the time. This is almost done."

"Alright... Thanks for always cooking; I know it can be hard sometimes." He kissed the top of her head.

She glanced back at him and smiled. "Thanks for looking out for me all the time."

He puffed out his chest and patted it. "What else are big brothers here for?"