It was already dawn when Jackson decided to leave the house. He left not knowing where he would be going. (Though he’d probably just go back to doing his usual thing.) He just really needed to get out of the house.

Youngjae was in his room, Jaebum was out probably getting more blood for them, and Bambam was laying on the floor in the living room plaything with the various silver objects he liked to collect. Jackson guessed he played with them all the time to boast about his immunity to silver, not that he cared anyway. Compulsion was a more valuable power. Jackson was lucky to have it.

He had his hands in his pockets as he weaved through the trees to stay in the shadows even though the sun hadn’t risen yet. One downfall to being a vampire is the sunburns. If a vampire stayed in the sun too long, they’d get badly sunburnt. Any longer than five minutes and their skin would bubble with pus and potentially catch fire. The sun is one of the main reasons Jackson preferred not to leave the house, but he’d rather not sit through another lecture from Youngjae.

The one thing about Youngjae’s lectures was the fact that he knew if you were telling the truth or not. That’s his power. Jackson had to learn a way around Youngjae’s truth power so he wouldn’t have to tell the truth. He didn’t want to reveal all of his secrets to the other vampire. No one needed to know that he had been going to the hunter’s headquarters and spying on a certain female hunter. No one had to know the plans he had for her when they met face to face either.

Jackson pulled the carton of blood he grabbed from his jacket pocket and took a sip when his eyes landed on someone walking down the path. Her features were just barely illuminated by the light in the sky that was missing the sun at the time. The silver katana she held at her side flashed as she walked. A thick, deep red liquid dripped off of the blade leaving a trail of it behind her. She must have run into another vampire, Jackson assumed.

He quickly ducked behind a tree to avoid her seeing him. He knew she was out there to kill him and swore under his breath. Out of everyone they could have sent after him, they had to choose her. Granted, she was the sister of the vampire hunter he was accused of killing. Still, Jackson thought he would have had more time to prepare before getting to be up close to her.

He chugged down the rest of the blood in the carton and peered around the tree to watch her. The sound of her boots crunching against the dirt echoed louder than the insects in the forest could chirp. Jackson in a deep breath as the sound of her heartbeat grew louder the closer she got to where he had been hiding. Her heart beat rhythmically with her breathing that almost pushed Jackson over the edge. He shook his head to shake it off and tried to concentrate on the music of the forest with no luck.

He clenched his fist, crushing the carton he still held in his hand. Don’t you dare do this, Jackson. You can’t attack her. You can’t, he continued to tell himself over and over.

Jackson’s eyes followed her as she took a turn headed toward the river. His face suddenly crinkled in annoyance. Of course she was headed for the river. Vampires can’t cross running water or so was the stereotype. Though Jackson couldn’t blame her. Being raised safely in the wards of the vampire hunter’s headquarters and only taught about vampires, you were bound to believe any of the crap they told you.

Jackson stayed within the shadows as he followed her quietly to the river. He didn’t know if she noticed or was just acting like she didn’t. Either way, Jackson had started to grow bored and not to mention hungry even if he already had blood. The sound of her heart beating and the blood rushing through her body made him hungrier every second.

She sat on a rock at the riverbank and stuck her sword into the water.

Jackson sighed. She was resting and cleaning her blades. Now, it was definitely boring.