Jason and Samantha spend the afternoon trying out all the rides and they stopped by a shooting stall. "I'm going to win you something," Jason smiled at her and held the gallery gun. He let out his breath, steadying himself.

Pop, pop, pop. One after another, he hit the targets.

"Winner!" the stall attendant called out. "Pick your prize."

Jason eyed the teddy bear, and then his eyes trailed down to a stainless steel necklace with a small talisman pendant. "The necklace..."

The attendant picked it off the side rack and handed it to him. "Congrats."

"Thanks." Jason held up the necklace and turned to Samantha. "Would you accept this? Or is it too cheap...?"

"I love it." She turned and moved her hair out of the way. It's been decades since I got a gift from a boyfriend.

He clasped the necklace around her neck.

"Thank you," she gave him a quick peck on the lips, holding his hands.

He flushed. "I-I wonder what's going on over there," Jason said, staring at the group of people gathering.

Samantha pointed at a sign for a fireworks show. "It's almost time for the show I guess."

"Want to go?"

"Hmm... Sure, but can we stay in the back; despite wanting to come here, I'm not fond of crowds huddled together like that one."

"Me either." Jason thought for a moment and tugged her over to the trees off to the side in the back to a picnic table he had spotted earlier. "Most of the people are coming from that direction and want to be in the front," he pointed at where they came from. "So it shouldn't be too bad here. What do you think?"

"It's perfect."

They sat down on the bench together, waiting for the firework show to start.

"Thank you for today..." Samantha laced her fingers through his. "I had fun."

"Shouldn't I be thanking you? You were the one who thought of this place. I didn't even know about it."

"Have you ever been to a carnival or amusement park before?"

"It's been quite a while, but my family went with Roy's a long time ago. I enjoyed the rides quite a bit as a kid, but now, I think the company is what matters the most." He kissed her hand, smiling.

Samantha swooned, unable to hold back her smile. "You're so wise for your age, my love."

"I have my moments..."

A long squeal sound sounded as the fireworks started.

Boom, boom, boom. They exploded in the sky.

"So beautiful," Samantha's eyes sparkled.

"Yeah..." Jason trailed off, staring at her instead of the fireworks. A glint of light behind Samantha caught his eye. A sudden fear overtook him and he tackled Samantha to the ground without thinking.

"Oof... Jay?"

Thump. An arrow planted itself into the table above Jason's head. He glanced at it, his heart racing, and acting quickly, he pulled her over to the nearby tree.

"That was an arrow right?" Jason asked her, struggling to fathom the situation.

"Seems so... We have to get out of here... You have to get out of here; they're after me."

"Are you crazy?!" His yelling was drowned out by more fireworks. "There's no way in hell I'm leaving you here!" Jason peeked around the tree and another arrow flew by, nicking his hair. "Holy crap, that was close. We'll have to use the crowd."

"We'll be putting them all in danger."

"That really depends on if they're crazy enough to attack someone in a crowd."

"I'm not willing to chance it."

Jason leaned in close to her. "But I am, and you're forcing me to make the ultimate guy move right now."

Samantha's brows furrowed. "What are you talking about? Oh!"

Jason pulled her over his shoulder and took off into the crowd.

"Oh my gosh, what the hell are you doing?" Samantha stopped herself from pounding on his back. How do you get away from something like this without hurting them?

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm getting you to safety." Jason weaved through the crowd, gaining some questioning gazes as he passed by.

Running away won't fix this... "Jason, put me down."

"Not yet."

"Jason, I have to deal with them."

"How are you going to fight someone shooting arrows at you? I know vampires are fast, but it won't take much of a slip up to end up shot dead."

"And if I run away now, they'll come for me again later."

Jason looked around at the emptying carnival and ran into the house of mirrors before setting Samantha down. "So, how do we catch them?"

"Why'd you pick here?"

"I figured they might attack a mirror instead of us... and give us a chance to see them too."

"Maybe we shouldn't stay at the entrance then."

Hands clasped, they wandered deeper into the house of mirrors. They stopped every few mirrors, examining the extreme stretches in the mirrors.

"This place is crazy," Jason scrunched his eyes closed, finding it hard to look at so many reflections at once. "So how do we find them and retaliate?"

"I'm surprised you're okay right now. You do realize I want to kill someone, right? And that I've killed before..." Wouldn't most people freak out?

"I probably should be, but after Maggy got attacked by a vampire, I think I kinda accepted the whole 'kill or be killed' type of thing that's going on here. And besides, I don't want you to die, so I'd prefer to get rid of them."

"I don't want you to stain your hands, Jason; leave the dirty work to me."

"Maybe we should call Will."

"I know vampires are fast, but we're pretty far away and I doubt he can get here in time, so it's on me to finish whoever's after me now."

Smash. A mirror near them shattered into tiny pieces. Jason automatically pulled Samantha close, covering her body with his.

Crazy boy; I'm the one with super-healing. She glanced up at him for a moment, a cringing look of panic on his face – and grabbed one of the shards. She threw it in the direction the arrow came from and darted deeper into the mirror house, dragging Jason with her.

Samantha sniffed the air. "I smell blood; I think I hit him."

"And yourself; you cut your hand," he held up her hand, blood pooling in the slice.

"Don't worry; I heal fast, especially since I started dating you..."Wait, when did we start dating? Pain spiked in her head.

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"Something wrong?"

"Uh, no, it's nothing." She shook it off.

The cloaked figure following them appeared in the mirror. Their eyes widened as he aimed a crossbow at them.

No... that's a mirror. She tugged on Jason to get him moving again.

Smash. They destroyed another mirror.

"They're going to have massive bad luck with all these broken mirrors," Jason mumbled.

"Superstitious?"

"My grandma always was... I'm not sure I believe it though."

Smash, smash, smash. They destroyed mirror after mirror, tired of the misdirection.

"Stop playing around and come out," the person yelled in a deep voice.

"You can run away fast, right? Super speed?" Jason whispered.

"Kinda, but—"

"Then run, now."

"Jason, Miss G, duck!" a voice yelled from behind them.

Reacting to the call, they both ducked. An arrow shot above them and hit the cloaked figure in the chest. Their pursuer screamed out in pain as the arrow in their chest sizzled. They dropped to the ground and turned to dust.

Jason thought back on the voice that called out to them and froze. It couldn't be whom he thought. Taking his time, he turned to face their saviour. "Roy?"

"Hey... Jay... Fancy meeting you here..." Roy folded his crossbow and tucked it away in his jacket. "You probably want an explanation..."

"You could say that."

"But considering I just saved you, maybe you can hold back the anger and not judge me... You totally have this look of betrayal on your face right now..." Roy waved his hand over his own face.

Roy? Is he a hunter? Samantha glanced at the pile of dust left behind from the vampire. But then why did he save us?

"I'm not... I'm just flabbergasted..." Jason mumbled, frowning the whole while.

"How about we get out of here before we're blamed for the broken mirrors?" Samantha suggested, tugging on Jason's arm.

"Yeah... Parking lot," he said, staring at Roy, who nodded.

They headed over to Samantha's vehicle and Jason almost shoved Roy into the back with him.

Samantha sat in the driver's seat. "Should I drive us home or do you have a ride waiting for you, Roy?"

Roy cleared his throat. "I had someone drive me here... but I can head home separately. I'll text them that I got a ride," Roy pulled his phone out. "And we're good to go."

"Okay, buckle up."

"Yes, ma'am."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"And you just randomly picked up this hobby?"

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

"A hunter?"

"He kills supernatural things," Samantha said.

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

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

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

"Fair enough."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jason nodded.

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

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

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

"I have to ask... Emily—"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Jason?"

"Yeah?" his head perked up.

"Do you trust Roy?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"You want to kill him?"

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

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

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

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

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

"Thanks..."

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

"Sam?"

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

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

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

Roy and Jason exchanged worried glances.

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

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

"So the issue is catching them?"

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

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

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

"No wonder you two just fled..."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"A bit of one."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jason flinched.

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

"As okay as I can be after today."

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

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

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

"Yes, ma'am."

She cringed.

"Sorry; force of habit."