An hour later, they arrived in a different town and she pulled into the parking lot of a carnival.

"Someplace busy... interesting," Jason nodded, half hoping to have fun the other half terrified.

"I'd prefer to be alone with you, but I haven't been to one of these in forever and I happened to see a posting on the board at school. We can blend into the crowd here, so hopefully, it'll be okay."

"Yeah, no one will notice us," Jason nodded, smiling. "Let's have some fun."

They got out of her car and walked towards the carnival. Samantha laced her fingers through his. "Let's make sure we don't get separated."

They spent the morning trying out food at all the different stalls – often with Samantha feeding Jason. By the time lunch came around, they had eaten so much food they had no space left. They collapsed on a bench together.

Jason patted his belly. "I don't know the last time I ate so much, and it was so good."

"Me either..." Samantha leaned in close. "Although, you're still the most delicious," she licked her lips.

A hint of red spread on his cheeks. "Is that so? Do people really taste that different? I mean, it's all human blood, right."

"Oh, trust me, people taste different and vampires and can tell every little difference as much as humans with regular food."

"Wow, that's unexpected; I thought we all tasted like iron."

"You taste... irresistible..." she kissed his cheek and smirked as he squirmed. He's so cute.

They sat in silence watching the crowd as they rested. Jason squinted as he gazed at a familiar figure in the crowd.

"Something wrong?" she asked, noticing him struggle as he focused in the distance.

"Does that look like Roy?" he pointed off to the side by the hot dog stand.

"Roy? Here?" she followed his finger, stretching her neck to search the crowd. "I don't see him."

"Ah, well... they're gone. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Roy never comes this far out of the city."

Samantha placed her hand over his on his lap. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything; for putting you in danger; for being a teacher and in my twenties so it's hard to be together; for putting a rift between you and your sister—"

"If there's a rift between me and my sister, then it was there before you were in the picture. I'm always either too absent or too attached to her. I need to learn how to balance our relationship."

"I know exactly what you mean; I've struggled with that in the past. Will and I even had a big fight over it... Since we've been vampires though, he seems to be the one always looking out for me." Samantha sighed, dark thoughts consuming her. "He'd be better off without me..."

"What? Why do you say that?"

"For the same reason you'd be too..." She pulled away from him and stared off into the distance. "If it wasn't for me, he could've lived peacefully wherever he wanted, without having to hide and constantly look over his shoulder. With how he is, I bet he could've taken over the clan by now."

"So it's not just based on bloodline? Like the leader's kid takes over kind of thing."

"It has happened like that – tends to really – but if the clan isn't satisfied with the leader, they can vote in a new one, or if one's killed the one who killed them takes over. The leader is normally the strongest in the clan."

"And you think Will could've been the leader."

Samantha nodded, a small, sad smile forming. "He has a way of charming everyone, so yes, I think he could've become the leader."

Jason thought of his sister. "He is too charming, isn't he?" Jason grumbled.

She raised her eyebrows and he shook his head, not wanting to talk about it.

"I guess with how much we've moved around he's always had to adjust to new people and new surroundings. He used to be so shy, but necessity has a way of changing you... He's so good at establishing a ring of informants and people he trusts to get him what he wants."

"If he's so good at that, then why doesn't he go back to the clan and convince them? Or why doesn't he get enough help to get rid of Evan?"

"It's harder than you'd think to get rid of the clan leader when he has his cronies around... and he's super strong."

"Wait, aren't you all strong? Is he a super vampire or something?"

"Not only is he one of the oldest vampires in our clan, but he wasn't a normal human when he first died... he was a witch."

"Witches are actually real? Wait, vampires are real, so of course, they are too. So is he a vampire with magical powers on top of all the vampire powers?"

"Something like that."

"It's a wonder you've been able to stay away from him all this time."

"Not quite; I was caught and subject to him... but we got away eventually and kept running. He's been busy fighting with the wolf pack nearby, so he hasn't had time to hunt us personally for a while..." Samantha sighed. "All my students are in danger now because of me... I don't know what to do anymore, Jay..."

Before he knew what he was doing, he pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "It'll be okay; keep your strength up and trust Will. He'll think of something... he has to."

"He's been looking for a way to stop Evan for so long; what makes you think he'll find something now?"

"Necessity? Fate? I believe something will save you."

She nuzzled closer to him. I wish I could stay in his arms like this. It feels so... safe. Her arms wrapped around him, relishing in the warm comfort. And it's my job to keep him safe too. "Okay," she took a deep breath and backed away. "I think my food's settled enough for us to go on a ride. How about you?"

"Yeah, sure. Which one do you want to go to first?"

"Bumper cars."