Samantha glanced at them in her mirror and started to drive back.

"By the way, I have a right to be mad at you too," Roy said, pouting.

"What are you mad about?" Jason snapped at him.

"You're dating Miss G and never told me!" Roy leaned in close. "I would've stopped hitting on her if I knew she was your girl."

Jason glanced at Samantha, knowing she heard his every word. "Oops... Sorry..." Jason cleared his throat. "How about we start with, why do you have a crossbow?"

"To kill vampires..." Roy looked between Jason and Samantha in the mirror. "I should specify bad, murderous vampires."

"And you just randomly picked up this hobby?"

"No... Uh... I don't know how to tell you this, bro, but I'm a 'hunter'."

"A hunter?"

"He kills supernatural things," Samantha said.

"It's not quite like that, really it isn't..." Roy took a deep breath. "We hunt bad supernatural beings... like supernatural cops..."

"Cops don't go out to kill the criminals... most of the time anyway."

"They pull guns on the murderous ones like we do."

"Fair enough."

"But how did you end up hunting supernatural creatures?"

"It's... the family business."

"Family business? You're mom's a lawyer and your dad is a stay-at-home parent; how is that your family business?"

"Well, the thing is... my dad isn't just a stay-at-home parent."

"Are you saying he's a hunter as well?"

"Yup; hard to believe, isn't it?"

"But he bakes us cookies and makes us all sorts of snacks... and he's super domesticated."

"Jason, honey," Samantha called out to him. "Looks can be deceiving, don't you think? It's best not to judge them like that. And people are rarely only one thing."

"She just called you 'honey'..." Roy trailed off. "You two really are dating, aren't you?"

Jason nodded.

"Damn, man... I can't believe she chose you over me."

"What? Why? Unlike you I don't hit on anything in a skirt," Jason shoved him.

"Because it didn't seem like you were going to pursue her," he shoved him back.

"I have to ask... Emily—"

"It really happened as I said; I had no idea she was killed until you told me. Probably my fault she died too..." Roy sunk into the seat. "I've run into several vampires attacking people lately and they probably saw her with me—"

"They might have killed her because she's one of my students," Samantha said, biting her lip.

"About that... Just to be clear, you are the vampire they're after, right?"

"You know she's..." Jason gasped.

"Yes, I know. I've been keeping an eye on her for a long while now and she's never caused any trouble that I know of, so we let her be."

"But you were surprised when you found out where she lives and Will."

"Yeah, because I only kept an eye on her at school; she never did anything to make me hunt her."

"And what's this about letting her be? Weren't you hitting on her recently?"

"Yes, but that has nothing to do with her being a vampire... and you should know that," he said in a sing-song voice. "She's super..." Roy trailed off as Jason glared at him. "Never mind," he zipped his lips. "I'll refrain since she's your woman now."

Jason sighed and leaned towards the window, staring out at the passing farmland. "How could you hide something big like this for so long? I mean, you called it the 'family business' so I can only imagine how long you've been hunting. I thought we were best friends..."

"I wasn't allowed to tell you, and well, I had to save your hide, so I couldn't help you finding out. There was no way I'd let you die, bro."

"On that note... what were you doing there in the first place? Did you follow us there?"

"Well... After you called and told me about Emily's death and then completely freaked out on me for inviting your sister over, I was worried something was going on. That and the increase in vampires lurking around lately made it seem like you might be in danger, so we kinda followed you. Um... Miss G, is something going on?"

"What do you mean?" she glanced at him in the mirror.

"How shall I put this...? That's not the first vampire I've found stalking you."

"Oh? Have you been helping me in secret, Roy?"

"Only recently. So, are you going to tell me what's going on in my town or keep me in the dark?"

"Jason?"

"Yeah?" his head perked up.

"Do you trust Roy?"

He thought for a moment. "Before today, probably... other than Will thinking you were a vampire sent by the clan—"

"Me? A vampire?" Roy's jaw hung open. "Why?"

"You were acting suspicious and I guess he noticed you keeping an eye on Samantha."

"Well, now you know I'm not and if things are bad enough you're... being hunted by your clan?" he looked between them for confirmation and Samantha nodded. "Then I think it'd be wise to bring me and my pops in on this... though I don't know if he'll want to get involved."

"I think we could use the help," Jason said. "If he's a supernatural hunter, then maybe he can help you stop them. He might know how to deal with a vampire witch."

"Vampire witch? Holy crap... I wasn't sure any of those actually existed; I thought they were just lore my dad was obsessed with."

"Any chance you've heard of a way to get rid of them?"

"You want to kill him?"

Samantha sighed. "You can explain my situation, Jay; if you trust him, then I do, too." And you've already blurted out enough to drag him into this anyway.

"Well, here's what Will told me..."

"That's a raw deal..." Roy sighed after hearing about Samantha's situation. "You think they'd give up after centuries of pursuing someone who wants nothing to do with them."

"So, are you going to try and help us?" Jason asked.

"Bro, even if she wasn't your smokin' hot girlfriend, I'd still be obligated to help since they're a threat to our hometown. I think I'll refrain from telling my dad everything if I can, but I will let him know they're here to hunt someone... and ask about the whole vampire witch hybrid."

"Thanks..."

They stopped at a red light. I'm kinda glad he knows now; gives Jason someone to talk to about our relationship. It must have been hard to keep it a secret from his best friend for so long... Wait, how long has it been? When did we start dating? Pain spiked in her head and she gripped the stirring wheel tightly.

"Sam?"

"Miss G? It's a green light."

"Samantha?" Jason leaned over the middle section. "Are you okay? If you're tired, I can drive us the rest of the way."

"Uh, no, I'm fine," she shook it off and started driving again. What was that all about?

Roy and Jason exchanged worried glances.

"Anyway..." Jason looked at Samantha again before turning his attention back to Roy. "Do you know how to kill one?"

"As far as I've ever heard, they can be killed the same way as a regular vampire, it's just they'd be super hard to get to in the first place."

"So the issue is catching them?"

"Yes, but it's more complicated than that; they can attack from a distance without a physical weapon."

"Oh, geez, can they strangle you from afar?"

"Yeah... and worse; set you aflame, give you an aneurysm... witches – with the proper knowledge – can be godlike."

"No wonder you two just fled..."

"If we could nullify his magic, we'd be able to take him out like a regular vampire."

"Um..." Samantha interrupted. "He's also an old vampire and therefore stronger than... most other vampires, so it'll probably take a few of us to take him out."

"Or a lucky shot where we catch him off guard."

"By the way, what was that arrow made of? Typically arrows hurt, but don't end up being enough to kill us unless they hit the heart."

"Ah, yeah, my arrows are part silver and coated with a poison my dad made in the lab."

"So he's a chemist too?" Jason asked.

"A bit of one."

"A poison? So if you hit them, but you miss their heart, they'd still end up dead?" Samantha asked. I never thought to poison him... It's too bad I never studied up on poisons.

"I'm not sure if it's strong enough to kill an older vampire whose blood will fight it off faster, but that's the general idea."

"It's not much, but it feels like a step closer to figuring out what we can do," Jason sighed, wishing he could do more to help her.

Samantha pulled back into town. "So, Roy, where can I drop you off?"

"Go straight and take the second right. My house is the third on the right. I probably shouldn't tell you this, since you're a vamp and all, but like you, if Jason trusts you, I trust you."

A few minutes later, she pulled over in front of Roy's house. "Thanks for the ride and have a nice night you two," Roy winked at them and headed off.

Jason hopped in the front beside her. "I'm sorry about him... he's a bit much sometimes."

Samantha nodded, smiling slightly. "I kinda like him though."

"Is it because he's a hunter? Maybe I can learn to be one too..."

She stroked his chin and leaned in close. "It wouldn't hurt to learn to defend yourself, but don't you dare try to be like him; you're the one I love, not Roy."

Jason flinched.

She kissed him on the cheek. "Are you okay?"

"As okay as I can be after today."

"Right, I suppose you're not used to being in danger... and having to run away..." she slouched back into her seat.

He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "It's not your fault, you know? And I think I'm adjusting to all this stuff pretty well, but I am still getting used to it. Also... I do know a thing or two about fighting; my dad had me take aikido lessons when I was younger, so I'm not completely defenceless... I'm no Roy though..."

Aw, his pout is cute. "Buckle up."

"Yes, ma'am."

She cringed.

"Sorry; force of habit."