One Life Stand – Chapter 5

Ella looked at the map on her phone, not trusting Charlie’s GPS, and followed their every turn until they reached the hotel. When it came into sight, Ella froze. She knew the name sounded familiar, but she didn’t realize it was the hotel she had woken up in until she saw it.

There’s no way… She glanced at the surrounding area, hoping it looked different from what little she could remember from the morning. Crap… I think it is… Alice was probably right… “I’m so dead…”

“Ella, what’s wrong?” Alice asked from the back seat.

They already know about him, so… “This is the hotel I woke up in…”

“Oh, crap…” Alice gasped.

“Won’t that make it easy to return the ring though?” Charlie asked as she pulled into the parking lot. “By the way, you totally slept with your new boss.”

Ella turned to her with wide eyes. “Say that again? I think I misheard you.” Don’t tell me she knows too…

“Didn’t I already tell you who owned that ring?”

“…

“If you’re looking to avoid him, I doubt that’s going to be easy, but maybe he was as drunk as you and doesn’t remember much, either.” She shrugged.

“I can only hope so…” She stared at the building while the others got ready to take their luggage inside.

“Are you coming?” Charlie asked.

“I should be, but my feet refuse to move.”

“Do I need to carry you in there? You know I can.”

“Ha… I don’t think that’s a good look for my new area of employment.”

“Agreed, but I’ll do it if you want me to. Princess carry or over the shoulder? Or a piggyback ride?”

“No, thanks.” Ella got out of Charlie’s car and nearly stumbled, but Charlie caught her.

“Are you sure? I’m strong; I can carry you easily.”

“Thanks, Charlie, but I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.” She pouted. “Stick close to me until you get to your room; I don’t want you to collapse or faint of anything. And here, I’ll take your luggage.”

The three of them headed inside and met up with the direct boss of the concierges and other staff, who had been waiting for the new employees to arrive.

“Welcome, Ella Luise and Alice Jenkins.” She recognized them from their profiles. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your face.”

“I’m Charlie; I worked with them, and I’m just here to help them with moving in.”She held up the suitcases.

“Oh, alright. Thank you, Charlie, for your assistance.” She checked the clipboard and then pulled out the keys for their employee residence and handed them their welcome package, which was a thick stack of papers. “Take the door on the right, go down the first hall, up the stairs or elevator, and your employee residence will be the second on the right.”

“Thank you.” Alice and Ella took their keys.

“If you need anything or have any questions, give me a call or text.” She handed them both a business card with the name ‘Jenny Leif’. “Have a good day, and I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.”

“We’ll see you tomorrow.” They waved and headed off to find their new home.

Ella opened the door on the right and immediately slammed into someone. “Oh! I’m sorry!” Ella nearly fell back, but Charlie caught her. She looked up at the man she bumped into. “I didn’t look before walking. I’m sorry.”

“You…?” his eyes widened as he looked at her.

“Do I know you?” An image of the man whose taxi she sniped flashed through her mind. “Oh, right; I’m sorry about the taxi, but I seriously needed it. Anyway, if you’re okay, I have things to do.”

The man stepped to the side, letting her and her friends by as he struggled to comprehend the situation.

“Is something wrong?” his assistant asked.

“I’m certain that was her…” he mumbled to himself.

His assistant, Zeke, looked down the hall at the girls and then back at him. “You mean, she’s the one—”

“Yes, that was her.”

“She didn’t seem to recognize you though…”

“It was her; it was Ella… But why didn’t she recognize me?” He knew they were both drunk, but they spent the evening and night together. How could she not remember him?

“I think we’re in for some trouble if you’re supposed to be engaged now.”

“There’s no ‘supposed to be’; we are engaged.”

“Even though she ran away in the morning?”

He huffed. “Doesn’t matter; she’s mine; I picked her out.”

“In the bar, you mean?”

“No…”

Charlie looked back at the man they passed in the hall. “That totally looked like Leon,” she commented.

“Leon, who?” Ella asked. I feel like I heard that name recently. Ugh, why am I so bad with names? Especially in my industry…

Charlie thought for a moment and smiled. “Just some rich celebrity, that’s all.”

“Oh.” Ella lost interest immediately.

They made their way upstairs and into their shared residence. “Wow…” Alice dropped her bags at the entrance and went running around checking out the rooms. “This place looks brand new and so modern!”

“It is new,” Charlie sighed and brought Ella’s bags to the other bedroom. “They recently built this entire building, so you better be extra careful not to break anything.”

“I’m not you, Charlie.;I’m not going to break anything. Ah!” Alice tripped over her own feet as she turned and landed on the dresser.

“Sure you’re not. If there was a vase or anything on the dresser, you would’ve totally broken it just now,” Charlie said as she checked on Alice in her new bedroom.

“I…” Alice pouted, unable to refute her.

Ella sat on her new bed and sighed. She took her gloves off – that she randomly threw on in the car beforehand – and stared at the ring. How am I going to fix this? Even Alice and Charlie shouting in Alice’s bedroom across the living room from hers couldn’t drag her out of her daze.

Alice and Charlie looked into Ella’s room, hoping she’d settle their argument, and both went silent as they saw her staring at the ring.

Alice knelt down in front of her and put her hand over Ella’s, blocking her view of the ring. “We’ll figure this out somehow together, right?” She looked back at Charlie, who agreed.

“Who the hell has a ring you can’t take off?” Ella cried out, still struggling to come to terms with it. “This is seriously insane!”

Charlie shrugged, figuring she’d heard way worse. “Think of it like a handcuff with an invisible chain linking you to your new fiancé.”

Ella stomped up to her bedroom door. “Charlie, thanks for the ride, but can you please leave now?”

“You want me to go already? I haven’t helped unpack or—”

Slam.

The door slammed shut in her face.

Charlie jumped back. “Rude…”

“I’m sorry she’s so insensitive.” Alice was sitting on Ella’s bed when she turned around.  

“I’m sorry, but can you leave, too? I need alone time to think.”

“Okay.” Alice hugged her. “Just remember, we’re here for you.” She left Ella’s room and went to argue with Charlie again.

I wonder if I could cut it off without severing my finger. The words ‘more than a million dollars’ rang through her head. If I was caught, it’d take decades to pay off… She laid back on her new bed. Maybe the owner of the ring will think they lost it, and they’ll never know. Under the assumption they don’t remember last night well either…

She curled up on the bed, staring at the ring. How many times had her boyfriends asked for her hand in marriage and she refused? And yet, here she was, only a few days after breaking up with her most recent boyfriend – who also proposed to her. He’d be crushed if he found out. I better keep this out of sight.

She pulled the glove back on and unpacked her things. She put away her clothes, set up the framed photos of her friends and mom on top of the dresser, and put Penny, the stuffed penguin on the bed, knowing she’d need her to be able to sleep in a new location.

Knock, knock.

“I have our papers in case you want to look at the map and whatnot,” Alice said through the door. “By the way, Charlie is heading back if you want to say goodbye. If you don’t want to, I can kick her out now.”

Ella sighed and rolled out of bed. “I can’t stay angry at any of you guys…”

“Great!” The door opened wide, and Charlie practically tackled Ella for a hug. “I can’t stand the idea of you being mad at me.”

“And yet you don’t seem to care if I’m mad at you.” Alice pouted.

“We have a different friendship, and we’re often mad at each other.”

“Don’t start again; I don’t want to hear you two arguing,” Ella said, feeling the pang of a headache coming on.

“Sorry,” both Charlie and Alice apologized.

“Well, I’m going to head out now. Invite me over sometime soon, after you’ve gotten the feel for the place and whatnot.”

“Sure.”

Charlie gave her another hug, ruffled Alice’s hair, and headed out.

“Do you want to look around the building and start memorizing it?” Alice asked.

“Might as well.”

Alice looped her arm around Ella’s, and they headed out with the map.

“By the way, we also have to go pick up our uniforms,” Alice said, pulling out the list of things for them to do for the day as they settled in and got ready for their first day of work.

“Shouldn’t this all be a part of the first day?”

“I guess it technically is.” Alice pointed at the paper. “We’re getting paid starting today.”

“Oh; works for me then.”

They spent a few hours roaming around the hotel as they memorized where all the amenities were. There was a large gym, both indoor and outdoor pool, co-working office space, dining area, game room, bar, casino, borrowing closet, and more. And they greeted some of the other new hires, some brought in from other hotels like themselves, and others who were brand new.

“I think this place dwarfs our old hotel.” Alice sighed, growing tired of wandering around.

“We’ll have to make sure we remember where everything is, but at least we shouldn’t have to visit them all the time,” Ella said. “Let’s go grab our uniforms and then grab some grub; I’m starving.”

“Me too!”

Laughing as they chatted, they headed to the front desk to inquire about their uniforms like the papers told them to.

“How are you ladies doing?” Jenny, the woman at the front desk, asked.

“We’re still getting used to the layout, but it shouldn’t be long before it’s memorized,” Ella answered.

“We’re supposed to come here for our uniforms, right?” Alice asked.

“Yes, I have them in the back office right here.” Jenny opened up the door and led them in. “Find your size, and you can try them on in the changing stalls right there. Take a couple once you’ve found the right ones. I’ll be outside if you need anything.”

“Alright, thank you,” Ella said as she went through looking for their sizes.

“Oh my gosh, these guys let you choose between pants, shorts, and different-length skirts.” Alice pulled one of each type out.

“Isn’t that a bit short to work in? I mean, you don’t want to bend over and… you know… show too much.”

“Depends on who’s around.” Alice laughed and wiggled her eyebrows.

“You’re going to take all of those, aren’t you?”

“Yes! As long as they fit, anyway. You should too; never know who might be a guest here.” She winked at her and went to try them on. “Dammit!” Alice cursed while Ella was still looking through the uniforms.

“What’s wrong?”

“I must’ve put on weight recently; my normal size doesn’t fit!”

Ella sighed and rolled her eyes. “If your regular clothes still fit normally, then they just have different sizes than you’re used to.” She pulled the next size up and held them over the door for her. “Try these.”

“Thank you!”

After they found uniform combinations that worked for them, Alice forced Ella to take one of each type as well, and they headed back out.

“Is everything alright? You two were in there for a while,” Jenny asked, and then eyed the pile.

“We’re allowed to take this much, right?” Alice asked.

“Yes, of course; just most people don’t seem to want the variety. I am not one of those people, though.” She leaned in to whisper. “I’m actually the one who pushed to have them.”

“That’s awesome! Thank you,” Alice cheered, smiling widely. “I think we’re going to get along quite swimmingly.” She wiggled her finger, pointing between Jenny and herself.

“I sure hope so; I’m going to need friends in this place, especially when I know it’s going to be more pressure than I’m used to.”

“Promotion?”

Jenny nodded. “And I want everything to go perfectly with the opening on Monday.”

“Don’t focus so much on perfect,” Ella said. “Focus on getting through the day the best that you can while dealing with any situations with a clear head.”

“A clear head?” she nodded. “That’s probably good advice; I’m prone to being a bit fixated on everything being just right.”

“Well, thank you for this and we’ll be seeing you bright and early on Monday. Come on, Alice,” Ella tugged on her arm to make sure she didn’t stand around chatting.

“Bye-bye,” Alice chimed, and they headed back to their new room.

“Are you sure it’s her, sir?” Zeke asked his boss.

“Of course I am. I chose her; I’m the reason she’s here, and we were already together,” the dark-haired man said. “I really didn’t expect her to steal my cab that day though…”

“But Mr. Hunt, she didn’t recognize you at all from that night.”

“She must’ve been faking it or something.”

Zeke rolled his eyes. “But why would anyone do that?”

“I don’t know, but she won’t be able to fake not knowing me for long…”

---

Continued in chapter 6.

One Life Stand – Chapter 3

After a miserable night of insomnia and crying, Ella stayed quiet and to herself as much as she could the whole day at work. She even skipped lunch, avoiding her friends. As soon as she got home, she was nabbed by three sets of arms and pulled into a massive hug.

“Guys… Thanks…” Ella sighed, a bit of her tension releasing, as she was glad she had friends she could rely on.

“Guess what tonight is,” Alice said.

“Um… No idea.”

“Friday night!” Charlie cheered.

“And officially your last night here, from what we hear,” Kyra said. “Even though you never gave us a solid answer as to what was happening.”

Can’t believe the transfer went so fast… and that a text was enough to set it in motion “Sorry…” Ella shrank back.

“We’re not here to make you feel bad—”

“We’re here to drag you out drinking at a bar near our new workplace!” Alice blurted out.

“Hey! I was supposed to tell her that part; we decided it before.” Charlie grabbed her in a headlock.

“Ah! Kyra, help me!”

“Quit it, you two.” Kyra smacked them both lightly on the top of their heads. “Tonight is about Ella’s… and Alice’s promotions, so let’s go celebrate.”

“I sounded like an afterthought.” Alice pouted.

“Of course not, honey.” Kyra patted her and then whispered. “But this is also to help Ella with her heartbreak, remember?”

Alice nodded. “Sorry…”

“It’s okay.” Kyra patted her again and then clapped. “The driver is waiting outside, so let’s get going!”

“Wait, the driver?” Ella frowned.

“Yes, we splurged, since we’ll all be drinking tonight.”

“Kyra, you always think of everything, don’t you?”

“I have to, since no one else will.”

They all laughed and hugged again.

Dressed and ready for a night out with the girls, they all piled into the back of the limo they rented.

“You guys got a limo for tonight?” Ella freaked out.

“I said I got us a driver.”

“This isn’t what I was expecting. You probably spent too much.”

“Ella, honey, remember who you’re talking to? I got this for way cheaper than you think, so enjoy the ride.”

“There’s a mini-bar!” Alice squealed and opened the fridge. “Tiny bottles! Do these cost extra?” she asked, not wanting to get into trouble with Kyra.

“All expenses included, but do you really want to be drunk before we even get to the bar?”

Alice pouted. “You have a point… But look at this one! It’s so tiny and cute.” Alice wiggled a pink bottle around. 

“Fine, but please don’t overdo it.”

“Yes!” Charlie stole the bottle Alice was hanging onto.

“Hey!” Alice grabbed at it again.

“No fighting!” Kyra snapped at them, and they both went silent.

Alice let go of the bottle and grabbed another one.

“You might as well adopt them; they’re both practically your kids, anyway.” Ella laughed and nudge Kyra, sitting next to her.

Kyra sighed. “I know, but I don’t want more kids – I have enough of my own – I want my girl friends…” She hugged Ella. “I’m so glad I have you. Make sure you still keep some time open for us.”

“Always.”

They arrived at the new bar near the new hotel, and Alice stumbled out of the limo.

“What happened to one drink?” Kyra followed her out.

“Charlie egged me on!” She pointed at Charlie and wobbled to the side. Charlie smirked and wiggled her fingers, waving at her. “She did it on purpose!”

“I guess your first drink will have to be water.” Kyra sighed. She patted Alice on the back and led her into the bar. “Come on, ladies, let’s have a good time.”

They sat in their booth drinking for an hour as they chatted in the busy bar filled with people drinking and dancing on the dance floor.

“I say we hit the dance floor and catch us some men to hang out with,” Alice cheered.

“I’m married…” Kyra sighed.

“We can dance with men and talk to them while we’re married.” Charlie nodded as she searched through the crowd. “Just no touching any naughty parts.”

“Charlie!”

“What? It’s been a while since I’ve danced with anyone.”

“Then why don’t we dance together?”

“We can do that anytime. Let’s find us some hunks to dance with!” Charlie rushed off into the rowdy crowd.

“I second that.” Alice ran off after her.

Kyra turned to Ella, who was sitting quietly as she drank. “Don’t you want to find someone, too?”

“Not really… In case you’ve forgotten; I just broke up with my long-term boyfriend…” She sipped on her drink and sighed.

Kyra sat down beside her. “I’m pretty sure those two think the quickest way for you to recover is to find someone new, even if they aren’t a long-term prospect.”

“What about you? What do you think I should do?”

“I think… everyone has their own way of dealing with pain and sadness, and you should focus on taking care of yourself right now. Maybe even focus on your new job.”

“Kyra, how did you get to be so wise?”

“I think I always have been, but I think life experiences have made me wiser. And raising three hooligans has made me strong both mentally and physically.”

“I think you should raise that number.” Ella nudged her head towards Alice and Charlie, dancing on the dance floor with a couple of men they’d never met before.

“If you want to include those two, you might as well add my husband to the bunch.” Kyra sighed.

“Really? Harry always seems so mature…”

“He is when other people are around, but when it’s just the two of us, or even when the kids are around, he’s… well… a big kid.”

“You have a hard life, Kyra. I don’t know how you manage it all.”

“By making time to relax with my girl friends, that’s how.” They looked over at Alice and Charlie and couldn’t help but smile. They were both dancing right beside each other and having fun. “Kinda hard to believe Charlie’s married with how she acts.”

“To be fair, her husband is gone most of the time, so she’s probably lonely.”

“True…”

“Hey, Kyra, I think someone’s eyeing you.” Ella nudged her head to someone sitting at the bar. “Why don’t you take Charlie’s advice and have a dance?”

“You know I can’t do that…” Kyra trailed off as she looked at him. “Oh my gosh, is that Harry?” She turned back to Ella, still wide-eyed. “What’s he doing here? What about the kids?”

Ella shrugged. “I’m guessing one of those two planned this, and your sister is probably babysitting, that poor girl…”

“Do you mind if I…?” Kyra nudged her head towards her husband.

“Go for it; that’s why he’s here.”

“Are you going to be okay on your own?” Kyra frowned, wishing one of the other two would come back over first.

“I’m a big girl, Kyra; I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, but call me over if you need anything.”

Ella nodded, and Kyra rushed over to Harry. At least the drinks are good. Ella kept sipping on her drink.

A blonde-haired man approached her. “What’s a gorgeous lady like you doing drinking over here all alone?”

“I’m trying to relax while my friends have fun.”

“Why don’t you just join me and I’ll help you relax.” He winked at her and held his hand out. “You know you want to.”

“Uh, thanks, but no thanks. I’m fine right here.”

“Come on, you came to a place like this, so you must be looking for company.” He grabbed her wrist.

“Hey, what are you doing? Let go of me!” She tried to pull out of his grasp, but it was too tight.

“What do you think you’re doing?” a deep voice came from behind the man.

He glanced back at the dark-haired, blue-eyed man and scoffed. “None of your business, so piss off.”

“What if it is my business?”

The man’s face contorted. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

He grabbed the man’s wrist and twisted it, forcing him to release her. “I’m her boyfriend,” he said and slipped in front of the guy to slide in beside Ella in the booth.

What the hell is going on? Am I that drunk already? Why can’t people leave me alone?

“You have a boyfriend? Why didn’t you say so?”

“Would you have believed her even if she said she had one?” he asked. “I’m sorry I left you alone to use the bathroom, but everything’s okay now.” He gently squeezed her shoulder.

“Tch… Whatever.” The blonde-haired man left.

“Uh… Thanks…” Ella glanced at him and kept drinking. Whoa, where’d this handsome one come from?

“Sure thing. It’s dangerous to be here alone, especially if you’re a beautiful woman.” He smiled as he gazed at her.

“I really came with my friends, though.” She pointed at them on the dance floor.

“Then why are you at this table alone?”

“I don’t feel like dancing.”

“What do you feel like doing?”

She glanced at him again. He looks vaguely familiar and pretty young. Probably barely twenty. “I want to drink my sorrows away.” She held up her drink.

“Must suck to be interrupted like that. How about I drink with you? You can even spill your grievances; sometimes it helps to rant about it all.”

“Why would you do that? You understand I’m not interested in ‘going home’ with anyone other than my friends, right?”

He chuckled. “I’m not one to sleep around, anyway.”

“Sure…”

“You look like you don’t believe me.”

What do you expect? Especially when you look like that… Head out of the gutter, Ella!

He smiled and held his hand over his heart. “I promise I don’t sleep around with random people. I do flirt a lot, though. As long as that doesn’t bother you, would you like to drink together?”

She glanced at her friends having fun. It might be nice to talk about everything with someone who doesn’t know me… She nodded. “Okay then.”  

Never in her life had she ever been as talkative with a stranger as she was then. She told him about the recent events with Nathan and then proceeded to tell him about all her failed, past relationships. In the meantime, she downed a few fresh glasses of beer and fruity cocktails.

Even when her words started to slur, his attention stayed on her.

“You’ve been through a lot.” He nodded and stared at his drink. “What would make you want to marry someone? You seem to think you’ll never be ready for it, but what if it’s just the right person or circumstances you’re waiting for?”

“How would I even know when it’s the right person? Even if I like someone… it never feels quite right… Nathan was good to me, but I didn’t feel like I could really talk to him. And it felt like… he might leave me someday.”

“Fear of abandonment?”

“Maybe… I don’t know…”

“What would you do if you were guaranteed someone wouldn’t leave you, and you were already… pretty open with them?”

“What are you talking about?” She eyed him.

“It’s easy to talk to me, right?”

She nodded.

“And you find me physically attractive.”

She nodded again without thinking.

“Would you marry me if I guaranteed you I’d stay with you?”

“I don’t know how you can guarantee that…” She stared at her empty glass.

“If I put it in writing that you’d own everything that’s mine if I tried to leave or cheat, I think that’s a pretty good guarantee.”

Her brows furrowed. I’m either completely wasted and hallucinating, or I’ve already passed out and this is a dream. “Who in their right mind would do something like that?”

He sighed and combed his fingers through his hair. “A man who’s taken a liking to you, who is required to get married to get their inheritance… and who’s not even allowed to be intimate with a woman unless we’re married or at least to be married, or I lose everything…”

“I must be dreaming, because that sounds ludicrous.”

“I agree, but you have to be the head of the family in order to change requirements like that…”

“Wait, are you saying you haven’t…?”

“Much to my dismay, no…”

“But how would they even know? There’s no way to tell something like that.”

The man looked around and nudged his head at his bodyguard. “I’m under constant surveillance, and on that note, they’ll even hack into the cameras to check on me…”

“That sounds… unreal…” And creepy.

“And yet that’s my life.” He trailed a finger down her arm to her hand, and she shivered. “So, what do you say? Are you interested?”

“An interesting situation, to say the least…”

He pulled a diamond ring out of his pocket. “All you have to do is say yes, and I’m yours for life.” He smiled at her and leaned in close. “Think about it. The marriage you secretly want. A man who will have every means to take care of you, and will treasure you his whole life. And you’ll never need to worry or be alone anymore.”

She glanced at her friends still on the dance floor. Not being alone anymore? That sounds good… She nodded without thinking it through.

“In that case…” He slipped the ring onto her finger and leaned in even closer. “You’re mine now.” He gently cupped a cheek and kissed her.

“Hmm?!” At first, she was surprised, and then melted into it, her body tingling. When he finally pulled away, she touched her lips. Holy…

“Not sure I’ve ever had this good of chemistry with someone.” He smirked and bit his lip.

Well said…

“How about we go somewhere private and solidify our newfound engagement?” He stood and held his hand out to her.

In her drunken stupor, she took his hand. He tugged her out the door and into the backseat of his car. “Go to the hotel.” He told his driver before rising the divider and turning his complete attention to Ella. “Don’t worry; the hotel isn’t far.” He pulled her onto his lap and caressed her as he trailed kisses down her neck.

Between the alcohol in her system and his blissful touch, Ella enjoyed her daze. Once they stopped in front of the hotel, he carried her all the way up to the penthouse suite, his bodyguards following behind. “Welcome to our home.” He headed straight for the bedroom.

---

Continued in chapter 4.

One Life Stand – Chapter 1

Ella sat in a booth at her regular bar with her girl friends, having a drink after a long day of work as concierges at Breakwater Hotel. Ella took a swig of her beer and sighed. “The best part of any workday is when we come here.”

“Shouldn’t the best part of your day be when you go home to that sweet, sexy boyfriend of yours?” Alice nudged her. “Oh wait, it’s been years, and you still don’t want to move out of the employee dorms to live with him.”

“It’s easier for me to live in the dorms! You live there too, so what are you complaining about?”

“The staff housing is fine for me, but you have an alternative! It’s too expensive for me to live near the hotel on my own, so I have no reason to move out.” Alice groaned, wishing she had more money.

“I love going home to my hubby; too bad he’s out of the city so much because he’s travelling.” Charlie puffed her cheeks out as she circled the top of her glass with her finger.

“That’s what you get when you marry a pilot.” Kyra gave Charlie a shoulder hug. “If you wanted someone who comes home like clockwork, you should’ve married an accountant like me.”

“But… how exciting is it to be a pilot?!”

“If that’s your response, then don’t complain.” The girls all laughed.

“Seriously though, Ella.” Alice nudged her. “Has Nathan even talked about marriage with you?” All the girls leaned in, eager to hear her answer.

He’s tried to. Ella thought. “Well, yes, but it feels too early for that, so he agreed to wait…” At least I think he understood…

“Too early? You guys have been together for how many years? You’re doing it again, aren’t you?”

“Doing what?”

They all exchanged tired glances. “Like what happened with Bruce or Justin,” Alice said.

“Or the first one…” Charlie muttered.

“All of them were long-term relationships, and they all proposed to you, but you never said yes. You always said you weren’t ready yet.”

Ella frowned and took another drink. “I actually did say yes more than once; I just never made it down the aisle. Besides, it never felt right!”

“What didn’t? I mean, each time, I thought you were in love.”

“I was, but when it came down to it…” Ella shuddered. “I felt like running.”

“And that’s what you keep doing. Do yourself a favour: if Nathan does one day ask, don’t run away instantly.” Alice poked her in the shoulder.

Ella rolled her eyes. “I doubt he’s going to ask anytime soon.”

“Then I guess you have time to prepare yourself.”

“Prepare myself? How?”

“Prepare yourself mentally to actually say yes!” the girls squealed. “You would say yes, right?” Alice asked.

“Uh…” Would I? She thought about Nathan and all the good times they had together, while both going out on dates and hanging out at home. She imagined him kneeling down and offering her a ring. Her stomach churned. I…

“Ella?” Alice poked her cheek.

“Hmm? What?”

“You went completely silent there and didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh, sorry. What was the question again?”

“I know you heard me.” She pouted. “Fine, I’ll ask again. Would you say yes if Nathan asked for your hand in marriage?”  

“I… Uh…” I know the answer they want, but my mouth refuses to say it!

Her friends sighed. “It’s happening again!”

“N-no… I just don’t know until the moment it happens.” Ella’s cheek twitched.

“She’s not exactly wrong…” Kyra commented. “I mean, even if you think it’s what you want, the moment it happens, things can change.”

Charlie looked at Kyra. “That’s not your way of saying you’re having second thoughts about your hubby, is it?”

“What?! No way; I love my husband!”

“Sure…”

“Ella, if you don’t want to marry him, and it’s been a few years, maybe you should stop wasting both your time and his, and break up with him,” Alice suggested.

Ella sighed and took another drink. “I don’t want to…”

“Okay, I think we should head out while we’re still able to walk,” Kyra said, standing up. “I’ll settle our tab this time.”

“Thanks, Kyra, we love you!” Charlie called out.

The next day, Ella went to work with a massive headache.

“I didn’t think you drank that much,” Alice whispered to her while they were being given their specific duties for the day.

“Neither did I, but it sure feels like someone shoved an ice pick in my head.”

Their boss handed them their papers with instructions for the day. “I also have something to talk to you two about. Please come to my office at the end of the workday.” She pointed at Alice and Ella.

“Yes, ma’am,” they both said.

Once they were dismissed, and the other employees left, they turned to each other. “What do you think this is about?” Ella asked. “I don’t remember doing anything bad, did you?”

“Nope; my work has been perfect as always. Maybe it’s not for something bad, but for a raise or promotion.” She rubbed her hands together.

“Why both of us, then?”

“I don’t know,” Alice sighed. “We’ll have to wait until later to find out. Let’s get to work.” Alice smacked her lightly with the papers.

“Okay…”

Ella managed to make it to the end of the day without any incidents and without her headache getting any worse. “I don’t want to go in…” she mumbled to Alice as they stood in front of their boss’ door.

“Oh, come on, don’t be a wimp.” Alice knocked on the door.

“Come in,” their boss answered.

Alice opened the door and urged Ella in with her, closing the door behind them. “You wanted to see us?” Alice asked as she glanced around the office. They’d been in there a few times, but never for long, and it never changed. The same pictures and diplomas on the walls, the same full bookshelves, and every inch of the office in its place.

“Yes, our head office is opening a new hotel not too far from here.” She rearranged the papers on her desk. “A hotel resort, actually.”

“Why would they compete with themselves?”

She glanced at Alice. “Because we are filled to capacity so often and don’t have room to expand. And it won’t quite be under the same name.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Anyway, several of our hotels were asked to transfer a couple of staff members to work at the new hotel as a promotion of sorts to you. Both the pay and benefits will be better. Are you two interested?”

“Are you kidding? Of course, we’re interested!”

“Before that, how far is not too far?” Ella asked, thinking about how they’d have to move.

“You don’t have to worry; there are dorms there for you two to live in like you currently do.” She pulled out a map with the spot circled. “It’ll be here. This will be your new pay and additional benefits.” She pulled out another paper.

The other side of the city. That’s not too bad, but it puts some distance between Nathan and me.

“I’ll give you two some time to think it over.”

“I don’t need any time. I’m up for the promotion,” Alice said, her eyes bulging out as she read the new pay.

“I need time to think about it.” Ella gave her a small bow.

“Think about it first, Alice.” She pointed at the door. “That was all.”

“Yes, ma’am.” They both left and walked together to their shared dorm room.

“Can you believe this?!” Alice cheered and hugged her. “And my parents said I’d never get a promotion here.”

“I need to talk to Nathan.” She sat on their couch and pulled out her phone to find she had a text.

‘Are you ready for tonight?’

Tonight? “Alice, did I have plans tonight?”

“Hmm?” Alice flopped down on the couch beside her. She glanced back at the calendar on the fridge. “Oh, it’s date night for you two, isn’t it?”

“Already?” Felt like we just went out.

“What’s with that response? Shouldn’t you be happy about going out?”

“I’d rather stay in…”

“Then have date night at home – at his home – and give him your good news.”

“Why do you sound so sure I’m going to say yes to the job? It’ll take me farther from Nathan than I already am, and I can’t see him being happy about that.”

“It’s not that much farther.”

“In wintertime it is.”

“Touché. So, do you really think he’ll want you to turn it down because it’s farther away?”

Ella shrugged. “Between work and distance, there isn’t that much time for the relationship.”

“And yet it’s lasted years.”

“Because we’ve made it work, but this doesn’t work in my favour.”

“But it’s more money!” Alice rubbed her thumbs against her fingers.

“This is one of the reasons you can’t keep a guy; you value money over people.”

“Not all people.” She nudged Ella. “And you know I don’t like to keep them for too long, anyway.”

“Oh yeah, did you tell Charlie or Kyra about it yet? If we take the jobs, we won’t be working with them anymore, and it’ll be harder to meet up after work for a drink or two.”

“You’re right…” Alice frowned. “Can you break the news to them?”

“I haven’t decided yet, remember? I need to talk to Nathan first. You should talk to them since you’ve already decided to take the new job and abandon them.”

“Ugh… You make it sound so bad…”

“You know that’s how Charlie will see it.”

“I know, I know, but can’t you tell them I got a new job?”

Ella stared at her blankly. “I have enough to deal with on my own. This one’s on you. Now man up or woman up, whatever. I have to get changed; Nathan is on his way.” She waved her phone around.

“Fine… Have fun.” Alice stared at her friends’ numbers on her phone. “Maybe a text is enough…”

A man in a suit with brown hair was waiting outside the entrance to the staff housing. “Nathan!” Ella called out to him, smiling.

“Aren’t you looking gorgeous tonight?” They hugged, and he kept a hold of her waist as he stared into her eyes, unable to stop a small smile from forming.

“Why… are you looking at me like that? Didn’t you say you made reservations or something?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Arm-in-arm, they headed to his vehicle.

“I’ve always wanted to eat here, but isn’t it a bit expensive?” Ella asked as Nathan escorted her through the front door.

“It’ll be worth it for tonight,” he assured her.

“Where… are all the other customers?” Ella looked around the restaurant. Soft, live music was playing on the stage in the back, but all the tables were empty.

“Here.” The waiter led them to a table and handed them menus once they were seated.

What’s going on? This place is popular, so if it’s empty, then… “Did you rent out the entire place for tonight?” Ella asked, her stomach doing flips.

“Because tonight’s a special night, and I know you don’t like an audience, but you’ve also been dying to go here.”

“A special night? Oh, did someone else tell you about my promotion?” Ella asked in a rush.

“Promotion? No, no one told me about that… I actually meant—”

“They want me to move to a different hotel that’s just starting out. There’s better pay and everything. I haven’t agreed yet since I wanted to talk to you, but it is tempting.”

“I see… I suppose that might complicate things a bit, but I’m still certain I want to do this.” Nathan pulled a red velvet box out of his jacket pocket and knelt down in front of her.

Ella’s eyes widened, and she shook her head.

“Ella Luise, will you marry me?”

Her heart rate increased, and the lump in her throat stopped her from speaking.

He waited for a moment before calling out to her. “Ella?”

“I…” her voice squeaked out. Nearly hyperventilating, she stood and knocked over her chair. “I… can’t.” She took off running out of the restaurant.

“Ella?” Nathan stared at her fallen chair in a daze.

“What are you waiting for, man? Go after her,” the waiter urged him.

“Right…” He rushed out of the restaurant and looked all around, but she was nowhere in sight. He checked his car and through the entire parking lot, to no avail. “Ella…” He thumped his fist on the roof of his car a few times and bit his lip as he fought back the tears.

---

Continued in chapter 2.

For advanced chapters and to support me:

Amazon Release: June 30, 2023 – The Contract Marriage – Preview

The Contract Marriage

Casey Winner is a storyboard artist in the media design department of the major conglomerate company, HGroup.

One day, after finding out her parents are in serious debt to the wrong people, she’s called into the office of the CEO Henry Gillian. Henry knows about her situation and gives her an offer: marry him and he’ll pay off their debt. She refuses him, but when the loan sharks come after Casey and Henry steps in to help, she’s not left with any choice. She has to sign the contract and become his wife or be thrown back to the sharks.

How will Casey survive her possessive billionaire husband and his jealous behaviour? What are Henry’s true motives? Will the truth ever come to light?

Preview

Chapter 1

Ring, ring, ring.

“Ah!” Casey moved her feet off of her desk and knocked over her open bottle of cola. “No, no, no…” she picked up the bottle, setting down her sandwich as the cold liquid spilt all over her skirt. “Damn it.” She reached for her still-ringing cell phone on her desk and the bottle of cola tipped over again, spilling out on her blouse. “Come on!”

“Honey?” a deep voice came from the phone.

“Ah, dad, hi,” Casey answered her phone as she set down the closed bottle and stared at her wet clothes.

“Is something wrong?”

“Just spilt my drink again.”

“Sorry; I must have startled you with the phone call, but you really have to stop eating at your desk.”

“It takes too much time and money to go out to eat all the time, and I don’t like the cafeteria here at the office. Anyway, what’s up? It’s odd for you to call at this time.”

“Well…” he trailed off, uncertainty evident in his voice.

“Is something wrong? Is mom okay?” Casey’s heart raced as she thought of all the bad things that could’ve happened.

“No; your mother’s perfectly fine. It’s…”

She sighed, holding a hand over her heart. “If it’s not urgent, can it wait? I need to see if I can get this cola stain out or find some new clothes to wear before my lunch break is over.”

“Ah… Well… You’re still coming over for dinner tonight, right?”

“Yes, dad, I’m still coming over tonight.”

“I guess it can wait until then,” he sighed. “Not like the situation will change by then,” he mumbled to himself.

“What was that?” Casey could sense his desolation, and wished he would come out and say what was on his mind. He always tried to hide when things were going wrong.

“Nothing, dear. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Okay, bye, dad.”

“Bye, honey.”

Click. Casey stared at the phone in her hand for a moment, frowning as a pit grew in her stomach. I hope he’s okay, Casey thought as she hung up her phone.

Casey stuffed the rest of her sandwich in her mouth and rushed past the other’s desks for the elevator. Going down twenty-two floors, she made it down to the ground floor and headed straight for the exit.

People crowded around the entrance, trying to grab the attention of the blue-suited man who just entered the building.

Ugh, I thought I might get fresh clothes before anyone spotted me. Who in the world is that guy if he’s drawing such a crowd?

The man answered a few questions and accepted a small stack of papers before moving on, heading for the elevator. Casey watched him move closer. Their eyes locked for a moment. He glanced at her stained clothes and smirked. “Good afternoon, Casey,” he said as he walked by her.

“Uh, good afternoon,” Casey muttered, wondering why he knew her name. He looks familiar…

“Oh my gosh, Casey, do you personally know the CEO?” Fera, her co-worker, came rushing up to her. “Did you spill your drink again?” she sighed, staring at Casey’s stained clothes.

“Oh, right… I was actually headed out to buy some new clothes before lunch break ended…” Casey checked her watch. “Dammit, why did it take so long to get down here?”

“You need to start keeping spare clothes with you. Come with me,” Fera grabbed her wrist and dragged her back to the elevators. “I swear, you must be pretty careless for this to happen almost every week.”

“Ah ha… Yeah.” Some things never changed. Even back in school, she’d end up spilling food while she studied.

“So, Henry Gillian knows your name?” Fera asked as they waited for the elevator.

“Who’s Henry?”

Fera almost fell over. “How can you have worked here for five years and not know our billionaire CEO’s name? Especially considering how hot he is and how many of the female employees swoon over him. He’s like a total celebrity around here.”

“I never needed to know him…” They entered the vacant elevator. “He’s never graced us with his presence on my media design floor… as far as I’ve noticed, anyway.” Casey had a habit of getting too into her work, so she ended up not noticing what was happening around her.

“But that begs the question, why does he know your name?”

“Maybe he’s got a good memory, and he actually knows all the employees by name.”

“He’s never called me by my name, and we’ve traded greeting so many times. He’s surprisingly friendly in passing.”

“Is that so?”

“Are you sure you don’t know him?”

“He looked familiar, but that’s about it.”

“Of course, he looked familiar; his portrait is on display at the entrance,” Fera face-palmed.

“Oh, ha ha…” Casey scratched the back of her head and turned away. You’d think I’d notice something like that after being here for so long!

They arrived at floor fifteen, where Fera worked designing clothes for their commercials and fashion line. Fera pulled her into the back room filled with racks of designer clothes. She grabbed a light blue blouse and skirt and held them up to Casey. “Yup, this will look perfect on you. Go change.” She forced Casey to take them.

“Are you sure it’s okay to keep lending me these clothes?”

“I wouldn’t have to if you weren’t such a mess. And it’s fine; I’ve recently taken over a bit more here, remember?”

“I don’t know how you did it, Fera.”

“Hurry up; lunch break is almost over.” Fera waited outside while Casey changed clothes.

When Casey came over to her holding her stained clothes off to the side, Fera nodded. “Yup, I am awesome at this.”

“Oh, is this your design?”

“Yeah, this blouse was the first one they accepted.”

“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver,” Casey hugged her.

“What kind of best friend would I be if I left you like that?” she held up the stained clothes and they both laughed.

The rest of the workday went off without a hitch as Casey worked on her storyboards for a commercial.

“Don’t stay too late,” Ben, her boss, said as he left a Mars bar on her desk.

“Thanks, Ben; I’ll be sure to head out soon,” she ripped open the packaging on the chocolate bar as she continued to work for a half an hour longer. “And, done!” she saved her newly finished storyboard and threw the wrapping at the garbage bin. Miss. “Stupid thing isn’t aerodynamic,” she grumbled, picking up the garbage.

Lucky for her, she was the last person on the floor and no one saw her pathetic attempt at throwing.

She packed up her things and grabbed her purse before waiting for the elevator.

Ding. The elevator doors opened, and a familiar, handsome face greeted her. “Hello, again. Another late night?” Henry asked, moving to the side so she could enter.

“Uh, only a little bit late today,” she stood beside him and pushed the button for the first floor. She stole a glance at him and he smirked, watching her in the reflection of the elevator door. They stood in awkward silence as the elevator descended.

Ding. The elevator stopped on the bottom floor. “Thanks for always working hard. And those clothes look good on you, Casey,” he said before exiting.

Her heart skipped a beat when he said her name with such familiarity. “You’d think I’d remember if I’d met him before.”

“Dad, mom,” Casey called out from the entrance to their two-story house as she took off her shoes.

“Baby girl, those clothes… they look expensive,” her mom came out from the kitchen dusting flour off of her apron.

Casey picked at her blouse, straightening it. “It’s on loan.”

“Oh, well, they look good on you.”

“Thanks,” Casey sighed and followed her mom into the kitchen. “Need help with anything…” she trailed off when she saw her father’s pale, battered face. “Dad, what happened?”

“This?” he chuckled, pointing at his black eye. “It’s nothing. I just fell and hit something.” Casey glared at him, not believing a word. “What? That’s all it was.”

Her mother sat down beside him at the kitchen table and placed her hand over his. “I think we should tell her about the situation. She’s old enough to know about our troubles.”

“It’s not her concern. She has her own life to worry about.”

“If something is going on, I want to know. I want to help you guys out any way I can,” Casey touched their hands on the table.

He sighed, clenching his fists as he attempted to hold back his frustration.

Casey sat across the table from them. “Just tell me what’s going on.”

“We have to close the bakery,” his father said.

“What, why? I thought you guys have been doing well lately.”

He swallowed hard. “We’re doing better, but we’re not making money fast enough to pay our debts. We… can’t afford to keep it.”

“That’s how you make your income; you can’t afford to sell it. Besides, that bakery is your dream; it always has been.”

Thud. He thumped his fist on the table. “I know that! But the cost to keep it is too great. If we sell it, then we can pay off our debt and not worry about our safety.”

“Our safety? Wait, this debt you’re talking about, I thought it was just the cost of the bakery itself which you took out a loan with the bank for. Do you guys owe someone else money?”

Her mother and father exchanged a worried glance. Her mother spoke up, “Actually, the banks refused to loan us the money to buy the bakery repeatedly, so we used someone else to get the money…”

“You got money from a loan shark?” Casey’s voice hitched. “What the hell were you two thinking?”

“Watch how you talk to us,” her father snapped.

“I’m guessing the black eye isn’t from falling, is it?” Silence. “Tch, why didn’t you tell me this sooner? I could have—“

“Could have what? You have a decent job in advertising, but you don’t exactly make enough to help us out. And besides, this is my mess to clean up, and that’s what I’ll do, somehow.”

“Our mess,” her mother corrected him and tugged open his clenched fists, lacing her fingers through his.

“Don’t give up so quickly,” Casey said, thinking about how hard and long they had worked to get their own bakery.

“You think this is easy for us to give up? We’ve tried everything we could to keep afloat, but nothing is working anymore,” her father spat. “The economy is in such a terrible state it makes it hard for us little businesses to flourish.”

“I’ll… cut back on my expenses and help you pay your debts.”

“This is a lot more money than you think.”

“I’ll get a second job!”

“When would you have time for that? You already work overtime almost every day as it is.”

“The weekend; I’ll find something for just those two days.”

“You can’t; we owe too much—”

“Let me do this! You two have supported me through everything, even paying tuition every time I changed my path in college, so let me help you. How much did you borrow to get the bakery?”

Her parents exchanged a worried glance. “We currently owe them 500,000 dollars… we’ve been paying them regularly for years, but they’re tired of us not making full payments. And for breaking the contract, they’re requesting assets in lieu of payment or more money per time.”

“In full or assets?”

“They basically want the bakery plus extra…”

“Add my name to the contract and promise to make the payment in full and more. I’ll find something to help them agree,” Casey said as she thought about the antique jewellery she got from her grandmother. She’d need to get them appraised, but hopefully, it would be enough to make a difference.

“We can’t—”

“Just do it,” Casey sighed.

Grumble. Casey held onto her stomach.

“How about some food?” Casey asked; all the stress was making her hungry.

“Of course,” her mother set up the table while her husband and daughter sat lost in thought.

---

To be continued in Chapter 2.https://mybook.to/TheContractMarriage

Vampire Teacher – Chapter 18

Samantha went the next few months without any contact with Jason outside of school. It was the end of the school year and the grade twelve students were getting ready for their graduation. She watched them move about outside setting everything up as she sat in her classroom. Her students wanted her there, but she said she couldn’t bear to be the one to send them away and they let her be.

“I know I turned myself into a student with fake credentials and whatnot, but there’s no way I’m participating in that,” Will popped up beside her as he had been doing for months.

“It is a bit much, isn’t it? But it’s a proud moment for them.”

“And you can watch it from here.”

She nodded without thinking and snapped to attention. “What are you getting at?”

“Nothing,” Will smiled and sat down on the windowsill.

“You’re going to watch it?”

“If you are, I am too.”

“Why don’t you participate in it then? The others think you’re a graduating student too.”

“I’ll pass; I’d rather enjoy from afar with a drink,” Will pulled a flask out of his jacket.

Samantha’s nose twitched, breathing in the scent coming from the flask. “You have alcohol not blood in the flask?”

“Ah, so your nose does still work after being dried out again,” he took a sip. “Want some?” he held the flask out to her.

She sat down on the windowsill beside him and took the flask. “Thanks.”

His eyes widened for a split second and he smirked. He had expected her to complain about him bringing alcohol on school grounds, but if she took it, she must’ve been struggling more than he thought.

“Are you ready, Jay?” Roy held onto Jason’s shoulders, staring at him with narrowed eyes.

“To graduate, yeah, are you?” Jason nodded.

“Of course, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Are you gonna do it?  Or have you chickened out after all our planning?”

“Do you think I should?”

“Of course, I do!” Roy shook him. “Today’s the day you’ve been waiting for. The love of your life isn’t your teacher anymore; she’s fair game.”

“But what if she still rejects me? I don’t know if I can handle the heartbreak again.”

“Man up, dude, or else I’m going to confess.”

“To Samantha? I thought you didn’t have feelings for her.”

“Not to her, to Maggy.”

“Wait, what?” his eyes widened and he froze.

“Jay?” Roy waved a hand in front of his face. “Did I break you?” Roy poked him in the forehead.

“Don’t you dare confess to my sister!”

“Geez, why do you hate me so much? I thought I was your best friend.”

“I know you too well and it’s terrifying to think about you two going out and then breaking up. Sorry, Roy, but Maggy is my sister and I have to choose her side.”

“Seriously? I say about confessing to her and you instantly go down the line of us breaking up?”

“Hey,” Maggy ran up to them off to the side of the rows of chairs by the trees, having been hanging with her parents in the waiting area. “Mom wants to take a few pictures before it starts… and during and after,” she laughed. Her parents were rarely available for school functions of any sort, but they made time for this.

“Yeah, okay.” Jason gave Roy a warning look and walked away.

Roy sighed and glanced up at the school. He instantly noticed two people in one of the windows and smiled.

Samantha jumped away from the window. “He totally knows we’re here,” she said, having locked eyes with Roy.

“So what? You’re a teacher; there’s nothing wrong with you being around during graduation,” Will sighed. “Maybe you haven’t had enough to drink…” he held his flask upside down. “Shall I find us some more?”

“No, I’ll do without…” Takes quite a bit for us to get drunk anyway.

“How long until this thing starts? I’m so bored,” Will sat on her desk chair and spun around.

She glanced at her watch. “They should be getting everyone seated soon.”

“Are you going to meet up with him after the ceremony?”

“…No.” She shook her head. “We’ve stayed away from each other these past few months and it’s worked. I’ll say goodbye from afar and that’ll be the last time we see each other.”

“Oh? Are we moving again?”

“We can move back home.”

Will froze. “Come again?”

“We can go back to the clan.”

“Why would you want to? I know Evan is gone, but it’s not like we have a lot of good memories of the place.”

“I’ve heard you talking to them, Will. I know they want you to be the new leader.”

“If you’ve heard that much, then you have also heard me decline them numerous times. I don’t want to lead them.”

“Why not? I think you’d make a great leader and they definitely need it. It’s a great opportunity.”

Will stomped up to her and she backed up into a wall. “Evan wasn’t the only one who hurt us, in case you’ve forgotten. And even the thought of going back there pisses me off. If I tried to lead them, I’d probably off every single one those punks who abused us.”

Samantha swallowed hard.

“You may have forgotten over the centuries, but I haven’t. Besides, I don’t want those pigs near you and our promise was together forever.”

“Forever is a long time.”

“And yet still potentially not long enough,” Will poked her in the forehead and sat back down. “I’m not leaving you and if you leave me, I’ll hunt you down and annoy you until you cave. And you know how good I am at finding people.”

He’s doing this for me…

“Don’t you dare feel guilty about me turning them away! This isn’t just for you. I need you, Sam, so don’t force me away. How about this…” he leaned on her desk. “I’ll train the next leader. They’ll have to come here for the training, but we have plenty of space at home.”

“You think you can train someone to be a good leader?”

“Of course; I even have someone in mind. Now…” he walked back over to the window. “It’s finally time to watch the ceremony.”

“Maybe you were right,” Samantha unlocked her bottom drawer and pulled out two glasses and a bottle of vodka.

Will whistled. “Who would’ve thought my sister would keep some strong stuff in her desk?”

“Are you saying you don’t want any?”

“When do I ever turn down alcohol?” He snatched a glass and sat back down.

Will and Samantha sat together watching the ceremony in silence.

“Hard to believe the people who helped save us are just teenagers, isn’t it?” Will glanced at his sister. She had a blank expression as she continued to stare out the window, empty glass in hand and empty bottle on the table. “I swear… you’re more hopeless than I am…” He smiled sadly and downed the rest of his glass. He looked out the window again, watching them scatter since the ceremony had ended. He patted her arm, finally grabbing her attention. “I’m gonna go wander a bit, eat some of the free food and probably have a chat with Maggy. I’ll come back later and we can head home.”

“Okay,” she nodded. He left and she went back to watching her students enjoying themselves at their last high school function. She placed her hand on the window. “Goodbye, my precious students…”

“Isn’t that something you should say to our faces?” a familiar voice came from the doorway.

She froze, her heart skipping a beat. Why is he here? She dared not turn around.

The door clicked shut and he slowly approached her. “We deserve as much after all we’ve been through together, don’t you think?”

“Jason…” she saw his reflection in the window. “What are you doing here? You should be out there with your friends.” She rubbed her forehead, blocking out the sight of his reflection.

“I think they’d understand if I told them I had to go confess to the person I love.”

She gasped, her body tingling. “Jason… Don’t…” Don’t make this harder. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes.

“Don’t what? Say goodbye to my teacher? Talk to the person I love…”

Her heart tightened. I don’t want to say goodbye.

He stood behind her. “Goodbye to Miss G, my favourite teacher, but I still have things to say to Samantha.”

“What?” she turned to him, eyes wide. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re officially no longer my teacher, right?”

“I guess not…”

He knelt down so he was eye level with her. “Samantha Gilbert,” he gently held onto her hands. “I fell for you the first moment I saw you, and when I eventually ended up in your class, you have no idea how happy I was. Even happier still to get to know you as my kind and caring teacher, who always had time and food to spare for her students. Your secret surprised me, but it didn’t change how I felt. As I got to know you even better… despite you being forced into it, I got to find out how amazing you truly are and just fell deeper.”

“I’m not amazing; I got my students killed, I got my… boyfriend killed before too.”

“Will told me about that and it wasn’t your fault; it was his choice to try to keep you safe. If you want to blame someone for him, blame Evan. But you’re free now, Samantha; you don’t have to be afraid to love anymore. And if you’re willing to try, I’d love if you’d be my girlfriend again, for real this time.”

“Just because Evan is gone, doesn’t mean you’ll be safe. Who knows who might find out about my blood and I could be hunted again.”

He smirked. “You know what I’ve been doing in these past couple of months?”

“Studying? Getting ready for college.”

“I probably should’ve studied more… but no, not really; I was training with Roy. He’s helping me become a hunter; one who can help keep you safe.”

“Jason… Don’t base your life decisions on me. I’m not worth all this trouble.”

He frowned. “Don’t say that, please. Why can’t you see that you are worth the trouble?”

“I’m a vampire—”

“And I’m human, I know, but I could always be turned a decade or so down the line if I want. Trust me when I say I’ve thought this through. I’ve been thinking about it every day since you broke up with me.”

Samantha stared at him, stunned and unable to form words.

“If you feel even a little bit for me, can you give me a chance?” Jason leaned forward and gently touched her cheek. “I’ll prove to you we’re meant to be together, that we work, that a vampire and a human can be together. At the very least, you know I’m willing to feed you and I taste good, right?” he smiled.

She let out a little laugh and nodded. “You do taste good…”

“Give me a chance, Sam, because I love you too much to just let go.”

She stared into his eyes, biting her lip.

“What are you so afraid of?”

“Hurting you… or causing you to be hurt…” Of having another love taken away.

“Things won’t be like they were in the past. And I’ve trained and will continue to train. I’m strong, Sam, and I want to keep the one I love safe.” They stared at each other in silence for a moment, Jason’s stomach a bundle of nerves. “So, what do you say? Will you give me a chance?”

The door to the class flew open. “What the hell, Sammy? Either say yes or put him out of his misery and say no! Please, say something, because I can’t stand outside waiting for you two to finish this gush fest,” Will growled.

“Dude, couldn’t you wait any longer?”

“No! You have no idea how indecisive my sister can be, or I guess it’s more appropriate to say how hard it is for her to say yes to something that might actually be good for her.”

“You think I’m good for her?” Jason’s face lit up.

“Oddly, yes; I haven’t seen her light up like when she was with you in decades. Even though you’re an inexperienced teen and a bit of a lug head, you genuinely care about her and others in general, so yes, you’d be good for her.”

“I even have your brother’s approval,” Jason kissed the back of her hand.

“Not that it probably matters much,” Will sighed, rolling his eyes as he walked away.

Jason looked up at her again and they stared into each other’s eyes. He took a deep breath, steeling himself. “I’m going to kiss you in three seconds, and if you don’t want me to, you’re just going to have to stop me. Three… Two… One…”

She grabbed his head with both hands and kissed him.

They separated and he smiled at her. “Can I take that as a yes?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yes, but I’d still rather not do this at the school.”

“Ah, right; I probably did pick a bad location for this, but since I didn’t know if I’d see you again and didn’t know if you’d answer the door to me, I had to take my shot now.”

Will came back in. “Good, you’re done. Can we get out of here now? The other students are complaining I didn’t participate in the graduation even though I’m here…”

Jason stood and took her hand. “You can go home alone; I’ll make sure she gets home safely later.”

“Fine, do whatever you want. Have some fun and get her home by midnight.”

“I have a curfew now?” Samantha asked, holding back a laugh. “You realize I’m older than you, right? And, you know, centuries-old…”

“Doesn’t matter. Midnight,” he pointed at Jason.

“You’ve got it,” Jason nodded and pulled Samantha in close.

“Okay then, later lovebirds… I’m off to see my own special friend,” Will waved and left.

“Hey Jay,” Samantha rested her hands on his chest and gazed up at him lovingly. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For everything. For being you,” she smiled and leaned in to kiss him again.

“Mmm… I think this is definitely going to work out.”

THE END

---

I hope you enjoyed!

If you wish to purchase the full novel, it’s on Amazon.

Current ongoing book on Booknet – One Life Stand

Vampire Teacher – Chapter 17

A few days later on the weekend, Samantha opened her eyes. It took a moment for her eyes to clear and her surroundings to come into focus. Roy’s basement?

“Sammy?” Will loomed over her. “You’re awake?” his face lit up. “You have no idea how worried I’ve been,” he couldn’t help himself and pulled her into a tight hug. “You’ve been out cold for a week.”

A week? No wonder I’m stiff. She struggled to move enough to hug him back.

“I was worried you wouldn’t come back,” his hug tightened and he buried his head in her shoulder.

An image of an arrow shooting through Will’s chest popped into her head. “What about you? The deadly wound…”

He pulled back, holding onto her shoulders still. “I’m obviously okay now, thanks to you. On that note, how can you be so reckless?!”

“Ack,” she flinched back. “I just woke up; give me a break.”

“Right, sorry.”

“Besides, I should be the one wringing you out for hypnotizing me into being Jason’s lover. I can’t believe you’d stoop so low just to make me drink his blood.”

Will froze, his eyes wide. When had the hypnotism broken?

“Didn’t think I’d ever find out or what?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, but I did what I thought I had to do. We needed you at full strength and he was already in love with you, so I thought it’d be the safest way. You wouldn’t even drink from blood bags… so I had to find a way to keep you strong.”

“Did Jason know about everything?”

Will nodded. “Well, most of what I hypnotized you to do anyway. Don’t blame him though; it was my idea and I was determined to make it happen with or without his consent.”

“You know I can’t continue this, right?”

“What are you going to do? Break up with him? That’ll break his heart, you know? And after he went through so much to help us…”

Samantha gritted her teeth. “I have to…”

“Are you saying you don’t feel anything for him?”

Her heart wrenched. “I… I didn’t say that.”

“Then you do?”

Samantha could feel all of Jason’s gentle touches and remember his wide, cheerful grin. The way he worried about her and tried to protect her despite being weaker. “I don’t know what my feelings for him are…” she mumbled. “But it’s time to end the relationship.”

“This better not still be about—”

“It’s not about Nero.”

Will’s eyes widened. She had actually said his name. “If you say so… Guess I should let them know you’re awake.”

“Can we just go home?”

Will stopped mid-step. “They’re your friends and worried. I want to tell them right away.”

“But I’m tired.”

“Don’t be a brat…” Will trailed off, his ear twitching. He smiled. “Sounds like you don’t have a choice,” he pointed upstairs. “They’re here.”

“Crap, maybe I should bolt before they get here,” Samantha groaned as she got off the bed. Her legs shook and she instantly reached out to Will to use him for stability.

“Sure you will… They’re headed down here to check on you, again.”

“How often do they come here?”

“Every day and they stay for hours as they wish for you to awaken. Jason barely leaves your side during that time too…”

I suppose he cares… but wouldn’t it be better if he didn’t? Samantha swallowed. “Would you…” she trailed off, her throat closing as she tried to spit it out. “Would you erase their memory of this? Of it all, I mean.”

“You want me to make it so they don’t know about vampires anymore?”

She nodded.

“Erase their troubles this last week… Erase how they helped us, fought for us…”

“I know what I’m asking, Will.”

“I know I usually have no issue doing the dirty work, and quite frankly, I was the one who pulled them in deeper and deceived you, but no. If you want to erase their memories, you’ll have to look into their eyes and do it yourself,” Will turned away from her and went upstairs.

“Sam!” Jason came running down the stairs after a brief interaction with Will, who was now talking with Maggy. He instantly pulled her into a tight hug, his arms trembling. “I was so worried about you. I thought you might never wake up.”

She hugged him back with limp arms, not sure what to do. “Well, I did, so you can stop worrying.”

“Well, you’re awake, but if you’re like Will when he first woke up, you’ll need a few more days to recover—”

“Jason…” she interrupted him.

“What is it?” He helped her sit back on the bed and took a step back, still holding onto her hand.

“Everything’s settled now and the students are safe… Thank you for all your help; I owe you all my life…” She took a deep breath. “But I know what Will did… how he hypnotized me into being your girlfriend so I’d feed off you.”

“Oh…” His expression dropped, already feeling as if his heart was being ripped out of his chest.

“I’m sorry you were forced—”

“He didn’t force me to; I wanted to do it; I wanted you. I still want you…”

She couldn’t hold back a small gasp, a warm feeling spreading in her body. She shook her head. “I’m your teacher, Jason, and I love teaching… I…”

His hands shook. “Please don’t say it.”

“I’m sorry, Jason, but considering how we got together and the fact that I’m your teacher, I have to end this.”

He bit his lip, trying to hold back. “I… I get it…” He swallowed, his throat painfully dry.

Her heart ached as she watched his emotions play across his face. She found herself reaching over to him to brush away the single tear that escaped. “I’m so sorry…” I wish I could take away all the pain, but I’m too weak to do anything right now. “You’re better off without me.”

“You don’t get to decide that!” Jason snapped and she pulled her hand away. “What makes you think my life is better without you?” His fists clenched.

“I’m a vampire and your teacher…”

“So what? Who cares about that?”

“It’s kinda illegal…”

“I don’t care. I mean, I don’t want you to get fired, so I wouldn’t do anything at school, but it doesn’t matter to me that you’re that a vampire and… way older than me, all that matters is I love you and want to be with you. What about you? Do you care for me?”

“Of course, but—”

“I don’t mean in a way a teacher cares for their students or as just a friend. I mean… do you feel anything for me?” He cupped her cheeks. “If you can look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t have feelings for me, I’ll walk away right now and the next time we meet in school, I’ll treat you as my teacher, just my teacher.” His eyes pleaded with her not to say it.

She could feel his hands shaking as he kept her head tilted up, staring at him. It doesn’t matter if I might have real feelings for him, I have to let him go. “I’m sorry, Jason, but I… don’t have feelings for you.”

He looked stunned for a moment as her words settled in. He released her and stumbled back a few steps. “Okay… I’ll see you at school, Miss G.” Jason turned and ran out of the basement.

Tears formed in her eyes. “No…” she mumbled to herself. “I have no right to cry… Stop it…” she dug her nails into her legs as tears dripped onto her hands. Jason…

“Hey, bro, how was your reunion…” Roy trailed off as Jason ran straight past him. Maggy and Will started towards him, but Roy held them back. “I’ll handle this,” Roy took off after him. “Jason, wait up!”

Jason didn’t hear him and kept running.

“Dude!” Roy yelled, slowly catching up to him. “Don’t make me tackle you!”

Samantha’s words replayed in Jason’s mind as he ran aimlessly. His heart hurt so much he thought it would explode. “Ah!” he yelped as something hit him from behind like a ton of bricks and he landed in the grass. “What the hell?” he coughed.

“Dude,” Roy huffed. “Didn’t you hear me calling you?” Roy sat on his back, not letting him get up. “Geez, you’ve gotten faster. Either that or I’ve been slacking too much.”

“What are you doing, Roy? Get off me.”

“You kinda ran out of the house and ignored me, so I’m sitting on you as punishment.”

“Just leave me alone…” Jason dug his fingers into the dirt.

“No can do, bro. Now talk.”

“Um… While you’re sitting on me?”

“Yes; it’s late and no one is around, so don’t worry about it. Tell me what happened.”

“She broke up with me…” Jason went on explaining everything that happened.

“I see… And you ran away crying.”

“Shut up, douche.”

“I get you’re hurt and feel like this is the worst thing in the world, but are you really going to give up so easily?”

“I promised I’d accept it.”

Roy sighed. “Okay… so you broke up, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get back together.”

“Why would she get back together with me? She has no feelings for me; I’m just her student,” Jason clenched his fists.

“Are you sure about that?”

“She told me so herself… Thanks for reminding me of that…”

Roy laughed. “Just because she said it, doesn’t mean she meant it.”

“Oh, she meant it… I knew it wasn’t meant to last but…”

“But you love her.”

“Yeah…”

Roy sighed and gazed up at the stars. “You can give up for now, but are you going to give up on her forever?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Once you graduate, won’t one of the obstacles be removed? We aren’t even that far from graduating either, just a few months. So I’ll ask again, are you going to give up on her forever? Are your feelings so weak that you’ll get over her by then?”

“You know I’ve had feelings for her since I saw her back in grade nine.”

“I know, but back then it was a crush… a long-lasting one, but a crush nonetheless. I can find a few dozen other guys who have a crush on her.”

“Tch. You make it sound like it’d be easy to win her over. Do you have a plan or something?”

Roy smiled and finally got off of him. “That I do.”

“If you’re going to cry about it, why’d you break up with him?” Will complained, leaning on the wall by the stairway with his arms crossed.

“Just leave me alone,” Samantha laid on the bed and turned her back to him as she curled up, tears still streaming down her face.

“How can you expect me to leave you in this miserable condition?” He sat down on the edge of her bed and rubbed her arm. He hadn’t seen her this sad since Nero passed. “Fine, if you really want me to I’ll erase their memories.”

Samantha shook her head. “Don’t bother…”

“Oh, so you’ve given up on making them forget?”

“If he forgets, he might pursue me again… and…”

“And you might fall for him again?” Will asked.

Samantha’s lips tightened as she refused to respond.

“So that’s the truth, hmm? You actually fell for the big lug. By the way, how long ago did you break out of the hypnosis? How long did you pretend to be with him while knowing the truth?”

“It’s not like it happened at once; I got headaches and was confused until I remembered what happened. Now, can you lay off, Will? I want to sleep some more. I want to get back to work as soon as possible.”

“Tch. Fine, do whatever you want, Sammy,” Will left her alone.

She buried her face in the pillow as tears continued to silently stream out.

Samantha and Will went home the next day and when Monday rolled around, they got ready to head back to school.

“Are you sure you don’t want to change schools?” Will asked as he parked the car. He had insisted on driving since he didn’t trust her when she said she was better already.

“Are you sure you want to keep going to school?” Samantha asked him back.

“This school’s better than the last one and has better company, so it’s not so bad. Besides, I want to keep an eye on you. I don’t want you collapsing or having a nervous breakdown…”

“I’m fine, Will. Let’s go before we’re late to class.”

Will watched her leave the car and head towards school. He sighed and got out. A Jeep pulled into the parking lot across from his spot. Jason gave him a little wave and headed for class. Maggy ran up to him.

“How is she?” Maggy asked.

“Claiming to be okay, but I know she isn’t. How’s Jason holding up?”

“He’s been weirdly calm and… determined.”

“Determined? To do what?”

“I don’t know; he won’t tell me. I think Roy has something to do with it, but I have no idea what’s going on.”

“I see… And how are you?”

“Me?” her eyes widened. “I’m… um… I’m okay; it’s not like I was one of the ones out there fighting… or kidnapped.”

“I know, but all this has been quite stressful, so I was worried about you.”

Her cheeks flushed. “You were?”

“Yeah, is something wrong with that?”

“Oh, no, not at all!” She smiled and played with her hair, combing her fingers through it. “It just made me happy to hear you worried about me.”

“Did it now?” he smiled and reached over to caress her cheek with his thumb. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll talk to you later,” he headed for class as she watched him go, her hand held over the spot he touched her.

“Hey, Mags, whatcha doing?” Roy came up from behind.

She jumped and turned to him. “What? I mean, nothing…”

“Uh, okay… Where’s Jason?”

“He went inside already.”

“And left you in the parking lot alone? Tch, and here I thought he was Mr. Overprotective. Let’s go, Mags,” Roy wrapped an arm around her shoulders and urged her towards the school.

Samantha made it through the morning with all of her students expressing their worry about her this past week and glad she was back. She sat on her normal bench at lunch with her lunchbox in hand. Why did I sit here again? She glanced over and saw Jason leave the school.

Their eyes locked. He gave her a head nod and continued on his way.

“I put effort into making your meals; you better not throw it away,” Will said, resting his arm on the bench right behind her.

“I wouldn’t dare waste your food.”

“Sure…” He hopped over, landing on the bench beside her. “You know, if you want to avoid him, you might not want to come here to where you saw him on a near-daily basis.”

“Force of habit.”

“Make a new one. Here, I’ll help,” he tugged on her arm and dragged her away from the school to the park nearby. “A picnic table; much better than a bench, right?”

“I guess.”

“You can be a bit more agreeable, you know?” Will sat down and pulled out a flask filled with blood. “And I can stay with you for the rest of the school year; keep you company during lunch and whatnot.”

He’s too nice sometimes. “Don’t you want to hang out with friends or something?”

“Are you saying we’re not friends?”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Will laughed. “I know what you meant, but this is what I already decided. Now, sit and eat; I don’t want even a crumb left.”

“Okay… Thanks, Will.”

---

To be continued in Chapter 18.

If you wish to purchase the full novel, it’s on Amazon.

Current ongoing book on Booknet – One Life Stand

Vampire Teacher – Chapter 16

Will felt something warm wrapped around his hand as he awoke. He felt a searing pain in his chest and his entire body ached. He opened his eyes. “Maggy?” he barely managed to say with his dry throat.

“You’re awake! Guys!” she ran off to call the others.

“No…” he groaned, wishing she didn’t leave. He glanced at the IV in his arm wondering how long he had been out. He glanced down at his chest. The wound had closed, but it still hurt. “This… sucks.” His eyes widened. Beside him in a similar hospital-type bed, was Samantha, still unconscious.

Rapid footsteps came closer as they ran down the stairs.

“Will!” Jason came up next to him. “You’re okay?”

“Water…”

“Right, sorry,” Maggy poured him a glass of water from the pitcher sitting on the table nearby and held it up to him while helping him sit up.

After a few gulps, he sighed. “Thanks, Maggy. Um… Is she…?” he glanced at his sister.

Jason moved over to Samantha to hold her hand. “She’s alive as far as we know, but unlike you, she’s been unconscious the whole time.”

“And I haven’t been?”

“You haven’t fully woken up until now, but you’ve moved a bit and your eyes fluttered open a few times for only a second or two before you fell unconscious again. So, how do you feel?”

“Like I got shot in the chest and then hit by a truck… What the hell is in that serum?” Will turned to Roy.

“My dad’s secret…” Roy laughed, only knowing part of the recipe.

“Thanks for the beds, I guess…” Will finally noticed they were in Roy’s basement. They had moved things around so they could fit two beds away from their experiments.

“Thanks for coming to save me,” Jason said.

Will rolled his eyes. “Not like you were kidnapped because they wanted you anyway.”

“Still, you could’ve left me to be killed.”

“As if my sister would let me.”

“I know you’d come for me without her telling you to.”

“You have too much faith in a vampire you hardly know.”

Maggy frowned at Will and he shut his mouth, turning away.

“Sorry…” Will mumbled. “So, how long have you been here? I swear it was the warmth from your hand that pulled me out of my slumber.”

Maggy blushed. “Um… I… I’ve come and gone a few times.”

He lightly took her hand and kissed the back. “Thank you.”

Maggy nodded, unable to find her words as she tried not to smile.

“Okay, you, back off,” Roy tugged Maggy away.

“What? Why?”

“He needs more rest; it’s only been a few days.”

“A few days and it’s still in my system?” Will asked. “And I only had a little of her blood… I think… How long until my sister recovers?”

“Considering it was kinda a proto-type of the serum and not tested, I haven’t got any idea how long until it passes through your systems. I wasn’t even sure you’d be okay since it was meant to halt the witch powers too…”

“On that note,” Will glared at Jason. “You had the other syringe; how could you let her take it?!”

“As if I had a choice! I didn’t want to give it to her, but she pinned me down on the bed and took it from me.”

“Oh, that sounds sexy,” Roy wiggled his eyebrows. Everyone glared at him. “What?”

“That’s my sister you’re talking about,” Will said.

“Right… Guess I should watch my mouth, not that you’re a threat at the moment.”

“But I will be later and I have a good memory.”

“Enough said,” Roy stepped away. “By the way, your wolf friends showed up when we were carrying you two out and they wanted to thank you for getting rid of Evan.”

Will laughed. “I imagine my clan won’t be too happy about it though.”

“I don’t know; the guard I was sitting on seemed to be happy to be rid of him.”

“But they’ll be in disarray, running around like chickens with their heads cut off.”

“That’s… graphic. But anyway, I think you’d better rest more before worrying about them.”

“I think my time is better off worrying about her,” Will tried to sit up and Maggy pushed him back on the bed.

“Worrying about her doesn’t help, it saps your energy,” Maggy said, sitting down on the chair beside him and reaching for his hand again.

“But if you pulled me out, maybe she needs someone too.”

“I’ve been beside her quite a bit,” Jason said, brushing his fingers through her bangs. “But she hasn’t responded to me at all…” his shoulders slumped.

“Jay…” Maggy reached a hand out to him and he took it. “I’m sure she’ll be okay. Will is… so I think it’ll just take longer. She is the one who drank the serum and was low on blood herself.”

“Maggy’s right,” Roy nodded and patted Jason on the back.

“You kiddos are making too much noise. Why don’t you head upstairs and let them rest?” Roy’s father suggested, standing in the stairway. “I’ve made snacks and you two should probably get home; you have school tomorrow.”

Jason kissed Samantha’s forehead and headed upstairs with Roy. Maggy turned to Will, who gripped her hand.

“Thank you, Maggy.”

She smiled at him. “I didn’t do anything, really, but I’m glad if I did help even a tiny bit.”

“You did help.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“We’ll see on the okay part,” Will sighed. Even if he healed completely, if Samantha didn’t, he wouldn’t be anywhere near okay.

“Um… I gotta ask… would you heal better if I—”

“Probably, but I think it’s best if I don’t drink from someone right now.” In his weakened state, he didn’t trust himself to keep his drinking in check.

“Oh… okay…”

“It’s nothing against you, Maggy. Honestly, you’ve smelt delicious since the day I met you and I’d love to have a taste, but—”

“It’s okay,” Maggy pulled away from him. “I get it… I guess I should get going. I hope you feel better soon.” She gave him a little wave and ran off to join the others upstairs.

“Tch… Why do things always have to be so complicated?”

“Hey, Mags, something wrong?” Roy cozied up to her, an arm around her shoulders.

“Nope,” she said, holding back anything more.

“Do I really have to tell you again?” Jason poked Roy’s shoulder and pointed at the arm around his sister.

“Come on, man; I ain’t gonna hurt her. Besides, I was just worried since she seemed down. You don’t have to make me seem like such a bad guy.”

“I never said you were a bad guy, but you are a skirt chaser.”

Roy frowned. “I can’t deny that.”

“Which means you’re not the best at staying faithful—”

“No, no; those are two different things. Being single and chasing girls around doesn’t mean I’d do that if I had a girlfriend. I mean, at least you now know I could protect her.”

“It’s still a no.”

“And it’s still not your decision,” Maggy huffed and walked away.

“Ouch, the overprotective older brother takes a hit,” Roy dramatically put his hand to his chest and fell back onto the couch.

“Let me know if she wakes up.”

“Of course, bro.”

“See you tomorrow I guess,” Jason sighed and followed Maggy out.

“I guess they’re not staying for a snack,” Roy’s father came out of the kitchen with a tray of fresh chocolate chip cookies.

“Nope; more for me,” Roy hopped off the couch and snagged a cookie.

“You really like her, don’t you?”

“Like who?”

“Maggy, who else?”

Roy shrugged. “Of course I like her.”

“You know what I mean,” he bumped Roy’s shoulder, smiling. He already knew Maggy liked him, but her overjoyed reaction to Roy’s pictures he had brought over really solidified it.

“No… I don’t know… Maybe… It doesn’t matter anyway; Jason doesn’t want me pursing her and I apparently have some stiff competition.”

“Really? Who can compare to you?”

“Will…”

“Oh…”

“Gee, thanks, dad; nice to know you think I stand a chance against him.”

“Well, he’s got a lot more practice and he’s… got that vampire charm working for him.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know, girls find me quite charming.”

“But does Maggy?”

“I thought she did…”

“Then work your charm when Jason isn’t around.”

“Are you sure you should be telling me to do that?”

“Why not? I had your mom’s older brother doing the same thing when we met, and look at us now.”

“I’m guessing your rival wasn’t a charming vampire though.”

“Nope… Good luck, Roy.”

“Are you seriously going to give me the silent treatment the whole way home?” Jason asked as he drove back with Maggy.

“You make it sound like it’s super far,” Maggy sighed, watching the houses as they drove by.

“I just don’t like the idea of you being mad at me.”

“I’m not mad; I’m tired.”

Jason swallowed his words, knowing he’d only make it worse. “Are you glad to be back in school?”

Maggy shrugged. “Can’t say I care too much; I got my work done so I didn’t fall behind. Everything’s back to normal there… At least we shouldn’t have to worry about getting attacked by vampires anymore, so that’s a relief.”

“True…”

“Are you going to keep going out with Samantha after she wakes up? I mean, now she shouldn’t need to feed off you all the time…” Maggy trailed off at her brother’s desolate expression. Will had filled her in on everything that happened between them and she couldn’t help but wonder.

“Is it crazy to say I don’t want to let her go?”

“Of course it isn’t.”

“I mean… I liked her before all of this, so while it’s been scary, it’s also been like a dream… But at the same time…”

“It wasn’t real and she’s your teacher.”

Jason nodded, gritting his teeth and gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. “It… wouldn’t be fair to her, would it?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“But what if during our time together she ended up liking me anyway?”

“How would you get rid of the hypnosis?”

“I… have no idea. You broke out on your own, so I guess it can happen naturally.”

“If she doesn’t, are you going to break up with her and set her free, or keep her for yourself?”

“I… don’t know. What do you think I should do if it comes down to it?”

Maggy thought for a moment. “You should let her go…”

---

To be continued in Chapter 17.

If you wish to purchase the full novel, it’s on Amazon.

Current ongoing book on Booknet – One Life Stand

Vampire Teacher – Chapter 15

Will and Roy hid behind a stack of wooden crates, catching their breath. “How many more men do you think he has?” Roy asked. They had each killed a few vampires and Roy even had a close call, but Will shot the vamp before he could eat Roy.

“No idea, but he’ll come for us soon…” Will sighed, glancing around the crates.

“Arg.”

Will turned back around to see Evan with his hand around Roy’s throat.

“I already have one boy and I’ll have you soon enough, so I don’t think this one is needed. What do you think?” Evan asked, his grip tightening on Roy’s neck.

Roy grabbed one of his daggers and stabbed Evan’s arm.

“Dammit,” Evan dropped him and ripped the dagger out of his arm, steaming.

Bang, bang, bang. Will shot Evan three times, each shot hit him, but not in the heart.

Evan let out a roar, growling at them with the power of magic behind it. Both Roy and Will were sent flying back into the nearby metal wall.

Roy laid on the ground, groaning and coughed up blood.

Will quickly made it back to his feet, but Evan had vanished. “Hurry, drink a little bit of Samantha’s blood,” Will knelt down beside him.

“Yeah, in a sec,” Roy groaned, pain surging through his back as he tried to move.

“Tch, which pocket are you keeping it in.”

“Front-left pants pocket,” Roy tried to reach for it and yelled out in pain.

“How about you wear looser pants?” Will shoved his hand out of the way and picked the vial out of his pocket while grumbling. He opened it and held it up to Roy’s mouth. “Never tell anyone I did this for you and never make me do it again.”

Roy swallowed some of her blood and cringed at the taste. “Thanks; I hope you never have to do that again either. If someone other than myself is going into my pants pocket, I’d prefer it was a girl.”

Will kept an eye out for any more vampires while Roy recuperated.

“You know, you’re a pretty good fighter,” Roy sighed as he sat up, feeling better.

“I could say the same about you, for a human.”

“Had to throw that in there, didn’t you?”

“Why not? A human fighting vampires? You must be crazy. It’s like you’re looking for a way to shorten your lifespan.”

“It’s the family business, that’s all. Besides, my dad’s still alive, so I guess I learned from someone who knows what he’s doing.”

“I suppose so. Are you ready yet or has my sister’s blood gone stale?”

“It worked… Does vampire blood go stale and stop working?”

Will shrugged. “Her blood’s rare; who knows how it works?”

“Alright, let’s go.”

The door to the basement creaked as it opened. Jason and Samantha tensed, still holding onto each other, as they listened to the footsteps slowly clopping down the stairs.

The guard stood as Evan approached. “Sir? Are you okay?” he asked, staring at the blood trickling out of the bullet wounds and knife wound, taking their time to heal.

“It sucks that being a witch doesn’t stop the vampire weakness; they had silver weapons… I’ve never run into someone with silver bullets before…”

“I see… but you seem to do better with them, they are quite lethal… when it comes to us regular vampires,” he swallowed, worried he’d be next. He only came with Evan because he was forced to and being in danger wasn’t something he was comfortable with. When it came down to it, he’d prefer to stay at home playing video games and generally enjoying himself.

“Of course I do.”

“So,” the guard swallowed. “Are you back because you’ve taken care of the others and it’s time to go?”

“No,” Evan growled, a vein popping out of his forehead.

“Then why—”

“Shut up, Steve.”

He sat back down, hunched over and curling in on himself.

“I’m here to heal.” Evan stared at Samantha in the cell.

Good job, Will. She narrowed her eyes as their gazes locked.

“I know I was giving you some time to snuggle up with the boy-toy, but I need you, so you’re time’s up. I hope you said your goodbyes.”

“I’m not going to see him again?” Samantha asked, gripping Jason’s hand.

“You will, but you’ll probably be asleep once I’m done with you right now, and when you see him later you won’t be allowed to touch him. I don’t like my woman being familiar with others.”

“Aren’t you planning on passing me around your closest friends back home just so they can become stronger too?”

Evan cocked an eyebrow. “What makes you think that? Don’t you remember last time?”

Not really. “You kept me so out of it most of the time, I barely remember it.”

“What did you do when you had her last time, drug her?” Jason asked, his grip on Samantha tightening.

“So what if I did? It made it easier to take her blood. She always fought me tooth-and-nail, so I had to find a way to make it easier.”

“You’re a despicable pig,” Jason spat.

“What was that?” Evan cupped his ear, leaning towards them. “Did the hostage just say he wants a finger cut off?”

Jason tensed, cursing his big mouth.

“Evan, don’t… please,” Samantha removed Jason’s arms from around her and stood, careful not to appear shaky. “He’s a rowdy teenage boy; you don’t need to go that far.”

Jason’s heart wrenched at the word ‘boy’. Was that really how she saw him or was it lip service?

“Fine, whatever; I don’t have time to deal with him right now anyway.” Evan opened the cell and reached out to Samantha, urging her forward. “Come on.” He glanced at Jason and smirked as she walked towards him. As soon as she was close enough, Evan wrapped an arm around her waist as he tilted her head up and breathed in her scent.

Samantha cringed, a feeling of disgust running through her body. She had to force herself to stay still; every fibre of her being was telling her to fight him off.

Evan frowned. “You smell different.”

Samantha gasped and glanced at Jason. Crap…

“Are you saying it’s just because you were hanging onto him a moment ago? Well, whatever; the smell won’t be on you after today. Enjoy the show,” he smiled at Jason and bit down on Samantha’s neck.

“Ugh…” She shuddered as his fangs sunk into her. After a few gulps, her legs gave out and she was only standing because he was holding her up. He kept going and her whole body went limp.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jason shook the cell bars. “You’re taking too much!”

Evan kept drinking.

“Stop!” Jason yelled.

Evan pulled away, blood trailing down his chin. “Ah, it tastes even better than I remember,” he licked his lips. He glanced down at the sealed holes in his chest. “And works like a charm.”

“What the hell?!”

“She’ll be fine,” he tossed Samantha at Jason like a ragdoll, who caught her and fell back onto the bed.

“Sam?” Jason pushed her hair out of her pale face and caressed her cheek as he held her in his arms. “Please wake up,” his voice shook as he put pressure on her wound. “You can use me to help you heal…”

Evan smiled and wiped the blood off his face.

The metal door at the top of the stairs opened and Will carefully descended with Roy not far behind. Roy hid behind some crates and kept going deeper into the room.

“So, you’ve finally made it here,” Evan turned towards Will. He smirked and lifted his hand. Nothing happened. Evan tried to send a wave of magic at Will again, but it didn’t work. “What the hell is going on?”

“Oh, good, I guess she did get you with the serum,” Will laughed and held his gun up.

“What are you talking about? I destroyed it.”

“What?”

“Whatever you were trying to hit me with, it’s splattered around upstairs.”

“Tch,” Will gritted his teeth, his eyes trailing to the healed wounds in Evan’s chest and then to the cell behind him with Jason and Samantha. His grip on the gun tightened, his breathing ragged as his blood boiled. “How much did you take from her?!” Will yelled.

“As much as I needed to heal the wounds you and your little friend gave me with your silver weapons.” Evan laughed and started towards Will. “I don’t need my witch-powers to deal with the likes of you.” Evan tried to run at him with vampire speed, but it didn’t work. “What the hell’s going on?”

“She got you…” Jason whispered, his eyes never leaving Samantha’s face.

“Guard, get him!” Evan turned to see his guard on the ground with Roy sitting on him, a big smile on his face and his crossbow pointed at Evan.

“Tch, useless bunch—”

“Always blaming others,” Will glared at him, his gun still pointed at Evan, aimed at his heart.

Evan’s eyes widened as he stared down the barrel. For the first time in centuries, he was afraid. He was afraid to die. His body suddenly felt weak. “You… you can’t kill me…” Evan shook his head and backed away.

“Really? I’m pretty sure I can.”

“I’m your clan leader—”

“Why should that matter to me? You never gave a damn about anyone other than yourself; you’re no leader.”

“I’m the leader that kept our clan alive while we were being hunted by the wolves!”

“Funny, I talked to the wolves and they seem to tell a different story.”

Evan’s cheek twitched. “You trust the word of some mangy wolves over mine?”

“To be perfectly blunt, yes; you’ve done nothing whatsoever to make me trust you as you hunted my sister and me for centuries so you could use her for power and control.”

“She’s special and should be using her special powers for the clan.”

“The clan? What a load of malarkey! You wanted her for yourself and your lackeys.”

“Quit talking and kill him before I do,” Roy continued to sit on the guard who had surrendered willingly before Roy even took a shot. He kept his crossbow pointed at Evan, his trigger finger feeling itchy. “I know you want the honour.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Evan held his hands up.

“Why should I?” Will scoffed. “Killing you will be a mercy compared to if I were to pay you back for everything you did to us.”

“Tch…”

“Goodbye, Evan.”

Bang. Will shot Evan straight through the heart with one bullet.

“Ugh,” Evan fell back, unmoving and bleeding out of his chest. “Screw… you…” he mustered enough strength to say a few words. His skin turned grey, cracked into tiny pieces and then he crumbled, turning into dust.

“He’s finally gone…” Will sighed, his body relaxing. “Ah!” Will jerked forward, an arrowhead sticking out of the front of his chest and blood pouring out. He dropped to his knees as he stared at the sizzling, silver arrow. He fell back, hitting the ground.

They stared at him in shock for a second. Another vampire was behind Will holding a crossbow. “Payback— Ah!” he screamed as an arrow hit him in the heart. Roy had acted quickly and shot him, killing him instantly.

“Will!” Samantha’s eyes flew open as if she felt his pain, and she staggered to his side as fast as she could. Roy and Jason followed her over.

“Sorry… sis… Even though—”

“Don’t talk,” Samantha ripped the arrow out and tossed it aside. “It didn’t hit your heart; you can live through this.”

“It… was… still silver…”

“Shut up! You can live through this.” Tears streamed down her cheek and dripped onto his face. “We’re finally free from him; you’re not allowed to leave me now!” She gripped his shirt.

“Wait,” Jason pulled the half-full vial of Samantha’s blood from his pocket. “I didn’t use it all.” Samantha rested Will’s head in her lap, lifting it slightly as Jason held the vial up to his lips.

“Drink,” she commanded as Jason tilted the vial, pouring all of the contents into Will’s mouth.

Will managed to swallow the blood. He could feel his sister’s blood healing him, but the burning pain didn’t stop; it wasn’t enough.

“Sorry…” Will mumbled, his vision blurring.

“I have some more,” Roy fed him the rest of his vial.

“Human blood can help you heal faster, right?” Jason asked.

Samantha glanced at him. “Yes, but the amount it would take for a wound like this…”

Jason took a dagger off of Will’s belt.

Samantha snatched the dagger from him. “Mine’s still stronger,” she cut into her arm and let it pour into his mouth.

“But won’t that weaken him like it did you?”

“Evan healed before he was weakened; Will can too.” The burst of energy she got when she felt something wrong with Will was fading fast. She leaned against him, still letting blood trickle into his mouth. “Drink what you need… Will… Please don’t… leave me…”

Will could feel his wound closing as what little strength he had to move left him. “Enough…” He swallowed and tried to turn his head away.

Will… Samantha’s vision went dark and her body slumped.

“Sam?” Jason pulled her back to lean against him. “Samantha?” He looked up at Roy, panicked, his brows furrowed and at a loss for words. “Are they…”

“They’re old vampires; if they were dead, they would’ve turned to dust like Evan,” Roy answered his unfinished question.

“So they’re okay?”

“Okay is yet to be seen, but they are alive – well, as alive as vampires are…”

“We should get them out of here… but where?”

“Leave it to me,” Roy said, patting his chest.

---

To be continued in Chapter 16.

If you wish to purchase the full novel, it’s on Amazon.

Current ongoing book on Booknet – One Life Stand

Vampire Teacher – Chapter 14

Jason sighed as he sat in his cell listening to the guard playing a game on a smartphone. He checked his pockets, having forgotten about his phone. It was gone. They must have taken it, but they weren’t too worried about checking for anything else.

“Hey, guard,” Jason called out.

The guard laughed, ignoring him as he played his game.

“Did you guys take my phone?” Jason plodded closer and glanced over at him. “Hey, wait, is that my phone?!” He reached out and the guard swatted his hand. “Ow…”

“Sit back down, and be quiet like a good little hostage,” the guard said.

“But that’s my phone.”

“You think we’d give a hostage their phone?”

“Why are you playing with it?”

“‘Cause I’m the one who picked it up after it fell out of your pocket and being a guard is super boring.”

“My data…” Jason sighed and sat down on the dirty bed.

“No!” the guard cried out.

“What is it? What happened?” Jason gripped the barren bed, afraid of getting close and smacked again.

“The battery died. You can have it back now,” the guard dropped it between the bars.

“Geez, thanks.” Jason picked his phone up. Figuring the guard would be bored enough to talk to him, he spoke up, “Why are you doing this, anyway?”

“Hmm? Doing what? Kidnapping you? We kidnapped you so Sammy-girl would come back to us.”

“But why?”

“We need her power to fight the werewolves.”

“Why are you fighting werewolves in the first place?”

“Because they’re trying to wipe us out! We’re natural enemies and—”

“That’s a load of bull,” Jason scoffed.

“What was that?”

“Do you know what year it is? Shouldn’t you all leave that in the past? There’s room enough for both of you, so just give up the fight and get along.”

“You make it sound so easy, but clans that have been at odds for centuries—”

“You vampires might have been doing it that long, but remember, the werewolves live as long as regular humans, and so they don’t hold the same grudges as those in the past.”

“So you claim, but when one kills someone from the other clan, they end up retaliating and it continues the vicious cycle,” the guard sighed.

“Is it me or are you tired of fighting the wolves?”

“I would be more than happy to stop fighting; after so many years, it does get quite tiring.”

“Have you ever seen the werewolves attacking first or have you merely heard about an incident and then went in a group to retaliate?”

“What are you getting at?”

“What do you think of Evan?”

Will pulled into the parking lot of an abandoned factory. “You sure this is the place?” Samantha asked.

“Fairly certain.”

Samantha took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she focused on her senses.

“What are you—”

“Shh!” Will hushed Roy. “Samantha has better senses than the average vamp so long as she’s well-fed.”

“Oh…” Roy made a zipping motion across his mouth.

She tried to tune out the sounds around her and focus on the factory. Come on, Jason, say something and I might hear you.

“Samantha…” a breathy whisper caught her ears, but it wasn’t whom she wanted to hear.

“They’re here…” Samantha swallowed. “At least Evan is.”

Will shuddered. “Definitely not the voice you were searching for.”

“If he’s here, then I’m assuming so is Jason.”

“They know we’re here?” Roy asked.

“Yeah…”

“So much for a surprise; guess we should’ve parked somewhere else…”

“There wasn’t going to be much of a chance to sneak into this factory anyway since they want us to come here,” Will scoffed and got out of the vehicle. “There’s going to be too many vampires here.” Will texted his werewolf friends where they were and that Evan was there. “We can wait for backup—”

“No; they won’t wait that long.” Samantha stood in front of the car, staring at the factory.

“Um, if we’re not pulling a surprise attack, are we just throwing in the towel so they’ll give Jason back?” Roy asked, setting up his crossbow. “And why hasn’t anyone come out?”

“They’re waiting for me,” Samantha said. “You two find another way in.”

“You’re going straight through the front door alone? No way!” Will reached out for her and she sped away. “Friggin’ hell… Let’s go.”

They rounded to the back of the factory. “Who are you?” Two vampires guarding the back door turned towards them. By the time they were spotted, both Will and Roy fired, each hitting their respective vampires in the heart. Will with his handgun and Roy with his crossbow.

“Good shot,” Roy said.

“You too.”

They exchanged a knowing look and entered the factory.

Samantha walked up to the front door.

“The boss is expecting you,” the guard said.

“I’m sure he is,” Samantha threw one of her daggers, stabbing the guard in the chest.

A group of vampires rushed outside and surrounded her.

How many men did he bring here to take me back? A dagger in each hand, she charged forward. She kicked the vampire in front of her and turned to slash the next one coming at her. He screamed and fell back, the cut in his chest sizzling.

One of them caught her off-guard, kicking her in the back. She fell forward and rolled. With a quick turn, she threw another dagger and killed another vampire. One after another, she took them down with only a few scrapes.

Clap, clap, clap. Evan appeared, clapping. “With all the running you do, I forgot how well you fight.”

“Evan…” Samantha practically growled at him.

“Great to see you in person again, too.” In an instant, Evan slammed into her, sending her flying into the wall.

“Ah,” she cried out as her back hit the wall. He’s stronger than I remember. I need to get close to him…

“I honestly didn’t think you’d bother to attack us since you know we have your boy-toy.”

“Just dwindling the numbers,” she grumbled as she got to her feet.

“We need those numbers.”

“Then you shouldn’t have brought them here; you know I’ve taken out numerous of your vampires in the past.”

“And a few recently.”

She cringed. I don’t relish at the thought of killing, but I’ll do what’s needed.

“You know, you could’ve spared them if you came back home to me.”

“Home? My home isn’t with you.” It’s wherever my brother is.

“Of course it is; it’s where you were born and belong—”

“No, it isn’t!” Samantha yelled at him. A couple of remaining vampires flinched back.

Evan narrowed his eyes. “Yes, it is and even if you don’t see it now, you will in time,” he sped towards her.

She took a swing at him with her last dagger while grabbing the syringe from her pocket. He caught her wrist, the tip of the dagger right in front of his eye.

“Arg,” she cried out in pain as he twisted her wrist. She thrust the syringe at him.

“Prohibere,” Evan said, holding his free hand up.

Samantha froze. No matter how hard she tried, her body refused to move. “What did you do?” she managed to force words out.

“Did you forget I can use magic? And what is this?” he grabbed the syringe from her hand and examined it.

I… failed…

He pushed a tiny bit out, making sure it didn’t drop on his hand and sniffed it. His head twitched away. “Whatever this crap is, it’s no use to you anymore,” he threw it against the wall and it shattered.

Tiny shards of the syringe splattered at her. She jerked away, able to move again, but still in his tight grasp. “Arg…” Pain spread in her wrist.

“I wouldn’t try anything else if I were you; I’ll make sure your lover-boy suffers greatly if you do.”

Jason… Samantha swallowed. “Is he… okay?”

Evan cocked an eyebrow. “Lover-boy? He’s alright for now. I really should make him suffer a bit since you killed a few of my men though.”

“No…” Samantha shook her head. “Please don’t…”

Evan smirked. “Well, if you come along quietly, maybe I’ll spare him any physical pain for now. It seems he’ll be good to keep on hand to control you though.”

“But he’s a teenager! He still has to finish school and—”

“Maybe you should’ve thought about that before starting a relationship with him, knowing full-well that you’d return to me someday, as always.”

He’s delusional!

“Come along and I’ll let you see him.”

“You will?”

“Of course, but after today, he won’t be your lover anymore; that role is mine and mine alone.”

Samantha shuddered, remembering when he caught her decades ago and used her any way he wanted because he could. The thought of his hands on her body again sent a feeling of disgust through her. Every part of her wanted to flee, but she couldn’t, not without Jason.

“Time for your reunion,” Evan started walking, tugging her along behind him. He stopped and turned to one of his men. “What of the other two?”

“No one’s reported anything,” he answered.

“What? Check in with them.”

“001 requesting a check-in, over,” the guard said into his walkie-talkie.

“010, checking in,” Jason’s guard replied. “011 and 012 accounted for, over.”

They waited, but no one else replied.

“005 and 007, are you there?”

Static.

“You two,” he pointed at the two men he had left with him at the front of the factory. “Go find her brother and the other boy.”

They both saluted. “Yes, sir. Do we…”

Evan glanced at Samantha. “Capture, don’t kill. My darling here would be devastated if we did, and I could use more hostages to keep her in line.”

Samantha swallowed. “Isn’t one enough?”

“Nonsense; what if I lose one by accident? I can’t have you running away again because of a slipup.”

He’s still as cruel and insane as ever. There has to be another way to defeat him. The wolves should be here soon, but unless he’s weakened, they might end up being more casualties.

“What are you two still waiting around for? Go find them or I’ll kill you myself!” Evan yelled at them.

They flinched back and ran off as fast as they could.

“You know, your people would be more loyal and stick around if you weren’t so quick to jump down their throats and kill them if they screw up,” Samantha scoffed.

“What was that?” he yanked her towards him, twisting her wrist.

“Arg,” she gritted her teeth. “You heard me!”

“Yes, but I was giving you the chance to take it back,” he leaned in until their noses were almost touching and stared into her eyes. “It’s probably not a good idea to piss me off.”

Samantha glared at him, holding back her screams of pain.

Taking her silence as a sign of giving in, he released the pressure on her wrist.

“Ah…” she couldn’t hold back completely.

Evan smiled and kissed her wrist. “Be good and I won’t hurt you.”

Tyrant.

He led her downstairs and was greeted by two of his men. They walked deeper into the basement, down a dark hallway, and stopped in front of a cell with a man sitting outside of it on guard.

“Sir,” the guard stood.

“Jason?” Samantha’s eyes widened as she saw him in the cell, blood mashed into his hair and down the side of his head. She tried to run to him and got yanked back, stumbling into Evan’s solid body.

“No…” Jason’s heart wrenched. They caught her. He slowly approached the cell bars. “Samantha… Are you hurt?” He reached out.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Samantha tried to reach out for him again and Evan tugged on her, keeping them apart.

Evan tilted his head as he eyed Jason. “I thought you’d be unconscious right now after the beating I gave you. You must be tougher than I thought.”

“So, now what?” she glared up at him.

“I need to find the other two before we can leave. Has anybody checked in?”

“No, sir.”

“You know what, I’ll give you two a moment together while I go hunting. Don’t say I was never kind to you.”

Will… Roy… please stay safe.

“I’m sure it won’t take me long.” Evan nudged his head towards the cell and the guard opened the door. “I’ll see you soon,” he kissed her cheek and shoved her into the cell.

Jason rushed to catch her and held her tightly in a hug. Never before had she felt so small and delicate.

Evan slammed the door and walked away.

“I’m sorry…” he said.

“You’re sorry? For what?” She wrapped her arms around him, relaxing a bit in his comforting touch. This feels right and wrong all at the same time.

“For being careless and getting captured.”

“You only got captured because of me. Everyone seems to end up in danger and hurt because of me…” her fingers dug into his back slightly.

“That’s Evan’s and his backwards way of thinking’s fault, not yours. I don’t blame you one bit,” he kissed the top of her head.

“You two are so sweet…” the guard trailed off and sighed. “I miss my girl,” he mumbled, leaning against the back of his chair.

“You’ll see her soon, dude,” Jason assured him.

Samantha pulled back, her brows furrowed as she stared at Jason, who shrugged.

“Seeing as this is your last moment together, I’ll give you two some privacy,” the guard turned away and put on headphones to listen to music.

“He’s not such a bad guy,” Jason said, talking about the guard.

“You befriended your guard?” Amazing.

Jason led her over to the bed to sit down. “Kinda, but not enough to let me out. To be fair, Evan would murder him for it, so I can’t hold it against him.”

Samantha touched the blood on his forehead and he didn’t flinch. “Did your wounds heal? Did you…?”

Jason nodded and pulled out the vial of her blood. “Will gave it to me just in case.”

“He definitely thinks ahead… They didn’t search you?”

“Guess they figured they didn’t need to take anything other than my phone, being human and all.”

Samantha’s face lit up.

“What? What is it?” Jason asked.

Samantha glanced at the guard to make sure he was still looking away while listening to music. “I could kiss you right now…” She trailed a hand from his cheek down his neck to his chest and he shuddered.

“I wouldn’t mind at all,” Jason’s heart raced at the thought. He leaned in and she pushed him back a bit. “What? I thought that’s why the guard—”

Samantha grabbed his face. “Jason, hold on a moment.” He nodded. “Do you have the syringe Roy gave you this morning?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Evan kinda caught me and broke the only other one we have.”

“Crap… How do we hit him with it? I mean, you already tried and we can’t exactly hand it off to Will. I know the guard’s giving us a moment, but he’s too afraid to chance something like that—”

“Jason, stop for a second.”

“Okay, shutting up now,” he made a motion to zip his lips.

“We won’t hit him with it, I’ll take it.”

“What? No way! You can’t!” Jason protested. “You know what that stuff—”

Samantha slapped a hand over his mouth. “I know it’ll weaken me… to probably a normal human woman, but my blood can be what transports the serum to him and then… Will can take him out.”

“We don’t know where Will is; you can’t make a plan about him without him knowing.”

“He’s in the factory somewhere with Roy, probably taking out Evan’s men while trying to find a shot at him.”

“How do plan to tell him what to do?”

“What’s there to tell?” Samantha smiled. “Will will know what to do…”

“How are you going to get him to bite you?”

Samantha swallowed. “I know Evan; once he struggles with Will, he’ll either use me to bait him or bite me to use my blood for the extra power boost. Either way, he won’t want to leave until Will’s taken care of.”

“You trust him a lot, don’t you?”

“Of course; don’t you trust Maggy?”

“Well, yeah, but… Oh my gosh, Maggy!” Jason’s eyes widened. “What if—”

“Roy’s father is guarding her.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Jason sunk into the bed, a sense of relief washing over him.

“We’re probably running out of time. Give me the syringe.” She held her hand out to him.

Jason hesitated. He wasn’t sure giving it to her was the right thing to do. What if she took it and he bit her, but because it was diluted by her blood, it didn’t work? Then she would be helpless against him and they still didn’t stand a chance. “I… won’t… I don’t agree with this plan.”

I have no choice. In an instant, she was straddling him and pinning him to the bed. “I’m sorry, Jason,” she leaned in to look him in the eyes, her eyes glowing red.

“No!” He closed his eyes.

Samantha acted quickly. She patted him down, grabbed the syringe from his pocket and distanced herself, zooming over to the opposite corner of the cell. “I’m sorry, Jason.”

Feeling her weight gone, he opened his eyes and sat up, looking for her. She was in the corner, the syringe pointed at her neck.

“Samantha, don’t! We don’t know what will happen to you…” he trailed off as she plunged the syringe into her neck, forcing the serum into herself. “No…” He felt himself go weak for a second.

She tossed the syringe aside and wobbled. Jason rolled off the bed and lunged to catch her. “Sorry…” she mumbled, her breathing ragged. Her face flushed as her whole body overheated. “Whoa, this… is… like having a super-strong drink of alcohol.” She clung to Jason to stay standing as the room spun and her body grew weak.

“I can’t believe you did that!” Jason snapped at her.

Samantha flinched back. It’s the only way…

“Here, sit down,” Jason led her over to the bed. He kept an arm around her waist, holding her close as they sat together. “Now how do we get him to bite you?”

“Now, we wait.”

---

To be continued in Chapter 15.

If you wish to purchase the full novel, it’s on Amazon.

Current ongoing book on Booknet – One Life Stand

Vampire Teacher – Chapter 13

Jason woke up on a cold, hard floor, his whole body aching. “Ugh…” he touched the scrape on his forehead above his right eye. “Ouch.” Blood left off on his hand. He stared at it for a moment and then his eyes focused on the metal ceiling above him. “Where…” He groaned as he sat up and his eyes widened. He was in a small, cement room with a tiny window at the top of the back wall. On the other side, metal bars blocked his way. “I’m in a cell?”

“The boy is awake,” a man with long black hair, standing outside his cell said.

Another man approached his cell from the darkness, his red eyes glowing. He stood in the light and stared down at Jason. “What does my woman see in you, boy?” he scoffed, running his fingers through his golden locks.

Jason knew who he must be right away. “Evan?”

“The one and only.”

“She not your woman,” Jason spit on Evan’s polished shoes.

“Tch, you think it’s wise to spit on your captors?”

“I can’t do much else from in here,” Jason remembered he was a vampire and mentally cursed himself for letting his anger get the best of him.

“You think you could do anything even if you weren’t behind bars?” Evan flicked his wrist up and Jason flew to his feet.

“What the…” Jason wobbled, struggling to stay standing.

“You are nothing more than a fly to me.” The door to his cell flew open and Evan stalked towards him. He stood in front of Jason, towering over him.

Swallowing hard, Jason glared up at him. “At least Samantha wants to be with me and I don’t have to chase her around the country to even have a moment in person.”

Evan growled at him, baring his fangs. “It doesn’t matter what she wants. She is a valuable asset and will be coming back with me to the clan permanently.”

“Seriously, dude, what’s wrong with you? Can’t you go after a girl that actually wants to be with you?”

“You have quite the mouth on you.”

“Only when I can’t contain my rage.”

“Oh, I’ve enraged you, have I?” Evan laughed.

“When you don’t get your way, you set your croonies on innocent people and take lives like they’re nothing. You intentionally hurt the woman I love. You kidnap me because I’m the one she’s interested in. How can I not get mad at a man-child having a hissy fit?”

“What did you call me?”

“A-a… man-child! Arg.” Evan punched Jason in the gut, sending him flying into the back wall. “Ugh…” Jason coughed blood as he curled up on the ground.  “So manly… picking on a human…”

Evan grabbed Jason’s hair and lifted his head. “I don’t know what she sees in a little shit like you, but if I didn’t need you as a hostage, I’d rip you to shreds.” He shoved Jason into the wall, bashing his head against it, and walked out of the cell.

Jason could hear the cell door screech closed and Evan’s footsteps as he walked away. Struggling to move, Jason checked his pockets and pulled out the vial of Samantha’s blood. He got lucky; they didn’t bother to search him. He took a sip of blood and put the rest away. His hand ran into something else in his pocket. A syringe he forgot Roy had handed him earlier that day. It was supposed to be a concoction to dampen both witch and vampire powers.

His wounds started to heal and he could move enough to sit up.

He glanced at the syringe, careful to keep it out of the guard’s sight, and hid it away in his pocket again. He couldn’t do much against Evan, but that concoction could be his only chance to help once his friends once they’ve found him.

He closed his eyes and fatigue took over.

Samantha and Roy stood in his basement in front of a slew of weapons and a bubbling chemistry set.

“Should that be left unattended?” Samantha asked, pointing at the bubbling liquid.

“Don’t worry about it; it needs to cook for hours before it’ll be of any use,” Roy said. He grabbed a syringe from the table. “This is what I have to work against your vampire-witch. It’ll temporarily rid him of his magic and dampen his vampire abilities.” He held it out to her.

“Seriously? How’d you make it so fast?”

“As much as I’d love to take the credit, it wasn’t me. My dad did, and apparently, he’s been working on this for quite a few years.”

“How do we know it’ll work?”

“He said he was sure, but I have no idea if it’s been tested. I kinda doubt there are many vampire-witches around.”

“He’s the only one I’ve known in all my time.”

“I wonder if he’s the reason my dad made it.”

They exchanged wondering glances.

“I suppose it’s possible they’ve met… since he’s a hunter and all,” Roy said, nodding. “Before they had me, he used to travel around the continent.”

“How’d he end up settling in one place? From what I’ve heard, hunters generally stay on the move.”

“How else do wanderers end up sticking to one place? He fell in love.”

Samantha smiled. “That’s sweet, but he ended up continuing as a hunter even though he has a kid… and trained his kid?”

Roy laughed. “Yeah, he couldn’t stay away from it for long and it seemed to find him anyway. He really does like continuing the ‘family business’ it seems.”

“And you’re okay with it?”

Roy shrugged. “Ended up saving my best friend, so I can’t really complain.”

Samantha bit her lip and stared at the syringe. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I’m the reason he’s in danger right now and the reason you had to save him in the first place—”

“Save it, Miss G; I know how much he cares for you and he wouldn’t stand by and let you face this all alone. Besides,” Roy scratched the back of his head. “If he didn’t go after you romantically, I would’ve.”

“I thought you were only after me as the ‘hot teacher’ you’d love to have an inappropriate relationship with?”

“Did he tell you that?”

She tapped her ears. “I’ve heard you two talking about me before… on many occasions actually.”

“Oh,” he laughed. “I should’ve known with the whole… vampire hearing… thing…” Even though he knew she was one, he always seemed to forget.

“What are you two lumps standing around for?” Will appeared behind them, scanning the room.

“How’d you get in here?” Roy asked, certain he had locked the door.

“Not all that hard; your house isn’t warded or anything and unlike in the movies, vampires don’t have to be invited in.”

“Right… That would be handy though. I wonder what stops vampires from just entering peoples’ houses then.”

“Can’t say they don’t break-in, but if we brought too much attention to ourselves then we’d be hunted more.”

“Even though your stronger, faster and have better healing abilities, vampires are still afraid of humans?”

“You have the numbers on us, and it’s not just the humans we’d have to worry about if we did something like that.”

“Oh…”

“Can’t say there haven’t been issues with vampires breaking into houses though… Most of the time, when a vampire attracts too much attention either another vampire – sometimes their own clan – a hunter or a witch goes after them.”

“And I suppose if vampires went to take over, it’d ruin a lot by limiting the blood supply,” Roy laughed.

“It would.”

Roy swallowed, having not expected him to agree.

“Besides,” Will sighed. “Can you imagine how rundown and desolate the world would be if the vampires took over, treating humans like cattle? Wasn’t there a movie like that…? Anyway, that’s not important. I got talking to a werewolf friend who agreed with us on the whole ‘purposely causing strife’ and they’re currently getting in touch with their clan, who knows the ones fighting with Evan.”

Roy shook his head. “Kinda lost me there, dude.”

“I’ve figured out the most likely location and they’re going to check out the other two in case I’m wrong. Once they’ve checked their places, they’ll come to us as backup.”

“And hopefully we’re okay?” Roy’s voice hitched.

“Since when are you afraid to run into a vampire’s den?” his father asked from the doorway. “We’ve done it more than once already.”

“Dad…”

“You’ve always been reckless, running in head first, so what’s the difference now?”

“Now Jason’s life is in our hands.”

Roy’s father’s eyes widened. “Jason was taken? Then I should—”

“Don’t,” Will turned to Roy’s father. “We can’t have any more humans caught in our war.”

“I’m not any human; I’m a hunter and one that’s survived long enough to reach my age.”

Will thought for a moment. “You might slow us down with your old age, but could you do Jason a favour?” Will asked, mentioning Jason to urge him to agree.

“Depends on what it is, but if it’s for him, I’ll try to help.”

“Can you go to Jason’s house and keep his little sister safe?”

“Maggy…” his face paled. “Is she okay?”

“She… doesn’t know about Jason being kidnapped… yet… But I want to make she’s safe.”

“I can do that,” he walked over to his weapons and took a few smaller ones he could easily hide on himself. “But what excuse can I have to come over?”

“Just bring some snacks with you and say it’s from either Roy or Will and guilt her with loneliness to let you stay,” Samantha suggested.

Roy and Will turned to her. “What?”

Neither of them knows she’s crushing on them… both?

“Trust me when I say it’ll work,” she smiled at him.

Roy’s father’s face lit up. “Oh! I see what you mean… I think I have something she’ll like to see,” he glanced quickly at Roy, his smile growing. He had caught onto Samantha’s meaning and if she was crushing on Roy, then she’d love to see his photo albums.

“Why do I have a bad feeling?” Roy asked, his brows furrowed.

His father wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it; keep your focus on saving Jason. Now, I know we’ve met a number of times before, but is Maggy going to let me in.”

“What if I ask her to keep you company?” Roy asked.

“How about we just tell her the truth?” Will suggested, knowing the pain of being kept completely in the dark himself.

“Are you crazy? She’ll try to escape or—”

“Do you know her well enough to say that?”

“Do you know her well enough to say otherwise?”

“I think I do,” Will pulled his phone out to call Maggy.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Roy lunged for Will’s phone.

Will turned to the side, dodging him. “Doing what no one wants to.”

“You can’t tell her that Jason is in danger; she’ll freak out!” Roy lunged at him again, knocking over a rack of swords in the process.

“I’m not an idiot; I’m not going to be that specific, but I will let her know your father’s going to show up at her house to keep her safe.”

“And you think she’ll sit still?”

“She is acutely aware of how powerless she is in this situation and she’ll understand why he’s there.”

“I promise to be good company,” Roy’s father held his hand over his heart, smiling.

“Shouldn’t you be against this?” Roy snapped at his father.

“It’s not really my place to say what’s right or wrong in this situation. Heck, there might not be an actual right or wrong, so it’s whatever you guys decide is best for her.”

While they were distracted, Will rushed past them all, up the stairs, and called Maggy.

“Tch… He’s just doing whatever he wants without us figuring things out together,” Roy complained.

“You seem pretty worried about her,” Samantha said.

“Of course, I am; she’s like a little sister to me.”

“Ah, I see.” I don’t think she’d like to hear that though.

Will came back a few minutes later. “She understands and will be expecting you, Mr… What’s your last name?” He pointed at Roy’s father.

“Harrison,” he replied.

“Really? I thought it was something else…” Will often only remembered women’s names.  “Anyway, she’ll be expecting you soon and you can stay as long as needed.”

“Sure thing,” Mr. Harrison turned to his son. “Stay safe, kick some butt, and get Jay back.”

“Of course,” Roy nodded. They hugged and his father rushed upstairs to grab some photo albums, hoping to sneak them out without Roy spotting him.

Roy held the syringe out to Samantha again. “You’re the most likely to get close to him and use it.”

“What is that?” Will asked, reaching out for it.

Samantha snatched it, holding it close to herself. “It’s our way to weaken Evan enough to kill him.”

“I see.” Will clenched his fists and teeth, holding back. Once again, she’d have to be the heroine, but this time, he was determined to help. “Do you have any more of those?”

“I gave the only other one to Jason this morning,” Roy said.

“You what?!”

“I gave—”

“I heard what you said, but why would you give it to him?” Will snapped, his palms bleeding from clenching his fists too tightly.

“Because he’s the most likely to be taken, and hey, guess what? He was!”

“Who’s to say they didn’t search him and take our only other dampener?”

Roy threw his hands into the air. “Who knows what happened?”

“Ow,” the boys both groaned, jerking forward from being smacked in the back of the head.

“Can you two focus? What’s done is done and we need to get a move on,” Samantha huffed, standing between them with her arms crossed. Jason… I can’t have it happen again. I won’t let you suffer the same fate as Nero… Even thinking about him and his gruesome end at the hands of Evan pricked her eyes with tears.

“She’s right,” Roy turned to pick up a few weapons. “Do you vamps want to use anything or prefer your bare hands?”

“Why is there a gun?” Will asked. “Have you managed to make silver bullets that work?”

“Yes, but they’re extremely expensive, so we don’t have a ton of ammo. Plus, we have to make them ourselves and they’re a bit finicky, making them hard to create.”

“So if I give you enough money, can I take the gun and all your ammo?”

Roy remembered their mansion in the woods. “I guess you’re loaded, hmm?”

“Old family money we’ve managed to keep with us through the years, even while fleeing.”

“Would be best to ask my dad if it’s okay, but since we’re on a time-crunch, go ahead.”

“Will do,” Will picked up the handgun and admired it.

“Silver burns you, right?”

“Yes.”

“You’re going to have to be careful with the clips,” Roy handed him two bullet clips. “It’s not much, but you should be able to take out a bunch with a shot to the heart… How’s your aim?”

“Perfect,” Will smiled. Over the centuries, he had trained on all sorts of guns from a variety of mentors from all over the world.

“It’s all yours then.”

“Thanks.”

Samantha grabbed a belt of daggers and wrapped it around her waist.

“Um, those are silver…” Roy warned her. “Might hurt to use…”

She walked over to where they had clothing and picked up a pair of leather gloves. “I’ll be fine,” she pulled the gloves on before checking over his other gear. “I probably shouldn’t bring too much; I wouldn’t want to weigh myself down.”

“You’re a vampire; aren’t you super strong?”

“Yes… but it would also hinder my movements and I’m going to have to move fast.”

“On that note,” Will pulled a blood bag out of his backpack. “You should make sure you’re at full strength.”

“As I have been doing for a while, I fed off of Jason recently…” How long have I been? Pain spiked in her head. An image flashed in her mind of Will staring into her eyes and she could hear him telling her that Jason was her lover. What was that?

“Sam? Are you okay?” Will asked, reaching out to her. She stared at him blankly as he gripped her shoulder.

Did he hypnotize me? She narrowed her eyes, staring at him as she struggled to remember.

“Samantha?” his brows furrowed as he ducked down a little to look at her face.

“It’s nothing… don’t worry about it,” she gritted her teeth. More of Will’s words as he hypnotized her came back. He did, didn’t he?

“Are you sure?”

“Yup,” she moved away from him to the stairway. “Now if you two are set, I think we should go save Jason.”

Roy double-checked his quiver and variety of special bombs and daggers. “Yeah, I think I’m good to go.”

Will held a vial of blood out to Roy. “This is Samantha’s blood; it’s special and can heal you…”

He still has those?

“Right… I’m not so keen on drinking vampire blood—”

“Take it, Roy; it might save you,” Samantha assured him.

“Okay, dude, but I don’t want to come back as a vampire… I’ve killed so many.”

Will scoffed. “So have I, and we don’t want you as one either, but it’s better than absolute death.” Will shoved it into his hands.

“Thanks…” Roy pocketed it.

“Let’s go…” Samantha rushed up the stairs. Please be okay.

“I’ll drive,” Will said, following her.

“Ugh, this is crazy…” Roy grumbled.

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To be continued in Chapter 14.

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