Rose flicked through the channels listless, bored out of her skull. She was going to have to get up and cook dinner soon, which meant she was going to have to try to not set the smoke alarm off this time.

There was an abrupt knock on her door.

"Come on in," she called. She looked up as Kain walked in.

"Hey," Rose greeted him, sitting up, a curious expression on her face. "What are you doing here?"

He smirked knowingly, and she recognized the expression as he had something planned for her. "You haven't tried any Nosgothic dishes, have you?"

Rose blinked at him a long moment. "No, I haven't. Why?"

He pointed at her. "You sit there and stay. I'm taking over your kitchen for a short time."

"Ah . . . okay . . ." She watched him head through the little hall to her small kitchen. She continued blinking long after he had left. First of all, she hadn't known he could cook (although the abominable snowman could cook better than Rose could—she seemed to have picked up her mother's ability to cook) and second it was slightly bizarre to have Kain actually doing something for her.

"You really don't remember much of what I did for you when you were little, do you?" she heard his voice come from in the kitchen, Kain having read her thoughts. "I used to cook for you all the time. Granted, I was usually feeding you cereal, but . . ." She felt him shrug through her mind.

"I wondered why I have a strange avoidance of cereal these days," Rose muttered to herself. Kain laughed.

"No, that would probably be your vampire and Soul Reaver heritage taking hold. It seems you are capable of subsisting on normal human food, and probably blood and souls."

"Do you know that for sure?"

A low, dark chuckle issued from the kitchen. "By tonight we'll know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she inquired worriedly. Kain's trademarked laughter was her only answer. She proceeded to worry.

After a while, Kain finally stepped back out and grinned with that same mischievous smile that bordered on malevolence.

"Everything's ready."

He quickly brought out a covered plate and set it down on the table in front of her. He quickly lifted the top off, and she saw underneath it was a large amount of some type of meat that had been expertly cut and set for eating. She could smell and see that it was just barely touched by the heat of cooking, and blood still ran down it. He easily set down two wineglasses and a nondescript wine bottle next to it. Surprising her, the scent ran across her nose and as she inhaled it, she found the smell quite pleasant. Obviously, her stomach did as well, as it promptly rumbled in annoyance for not having eaten yet. Kain sat down next to her, quickly cut off a slice, and handed it to her before taking one himself. She blinked at this, having never seen him eat solid food. He smirked when he noticed her gaze.

"I can eat normal food. I just can't process it, so I do not get any nourishment from it."

"Ah."

Rose cautiously nibbled on the food and found it to her liking. She quickly ate through the piece she had and cut herself another piece. Kain smiled, having known she would like it, and pulled the cork out of the wine bottle and poured a dark, heady mixture into two glasses. He handed her one and as she eyed it suspiciously, he took a sip of his.

"Judging by the fact that you're drinking it," Rose stated carefully, "I'm assuming it's either alcohol or blood. And I don't like alcohol."

"And you like blood?" Kain responded with a smirk. He nodded his head toward the glass. "Drink."

She eyed him a moment longer, then placed the glass to her lips and tipped it back. Even before the liquid had reached her tongue, the smell had weaved its way into the back of her head and the depths of her soul. The drink touched her tongue and all thought was forgotten in the explosion of pleasure that surged across her body. The liquor seemed to have a beat, a pulse to its own, and her heart sped to match it. This must be what liquor was like to people who could get drunk. A warm blanket of burning desire wrapped her entire body and when the rush was finally gone, she found the empty glass knocked over on the table and she was currently straddling Kain's waist, her lips against his passionately. She pulled back, panting.

"What was that?" she demanded. His grin was pure chaotic evil.

"Liked the taste, eh?"

"What was it?" She already knew what it was, but she had to make sure, had to know that this was what kept his kind moving from night to night.

"Blood."

Rose let her head drop to his shoulder where she breathed shakily for a time, letting her heart slow to a normal tempo. This was what it felt like for vampires when they drained a human of their life's blood? This pleasure was their gift for the feeding? Heavens above, did it feel wonderful. She could feel that side of her course as the blood made its way through her system. She could feel that part of her soul demand more to satiate itself. Rose had never killed to feed before, and Kain knew it. He was cultivating her for her first try.

She would have demanded to try her first hunt then and there, but Kain knew she wasn't ready, and he knew that was what was on her mind judging by the predatory gleam that radiated from her eyes. This one was more like him than she was willing to admit. To stop her from such foolish nonsense, he caught her chin and kissed her again, curving the vampiric hunger for blood to a hunger for physical pleasure instead. She pressed herself against him, her fangs nipping him ever so slightly. He leaned her back across the couch. She felt her legs snake around his waist, pulling him closer against her.

The phone suddenly rang. She growled under her breath and picked it up, putting it to her ear as Kain slid back and pulled her up to a sitting position so she was still pressed against him.

"Hello, Rose," a voice greeted her out of the phone. Rose winced.

"Hi, Dad."

Kain's eyes widened as he looked in surprise at her and the phone.

"How's everything over there? How are your classes? And how are you doing with Kain? If he's being a trouble . . ."

"Everything's fine," she replied. "Classes are great, and Kain's actually not bothering me."

"Really?"

Kain had been drawing away, a slightly distressed expression. The last thing he needed was for Raziel to find out about his relationship with his daughter. Rose, noticing his worry, waved a hand at him in a soothing gesture, telling him silently she wouldn't say a thing. Reassured, he suddenly was gifted with a very mean idea. As Rose answered questions from her father, he pressed her back again, his lips running across her neck. To add to the effect, he nipped every so often. He felt her curve up against him underneath him and her voice became a bit strained as she tried to keep a grip of her desire.

"Are you all right?" Raziel asked.

"Uh, yeah, Dad, but actually, you kind of caught me—"

"Here, your mother wants to talk to you."

Rose winced slightly at her luck. Kain's fingers had slid beneath her shirt and were massaging her breasts, breaking her concentration even more. She tried to squiggle away from him and only ended up turning his attention to teasingly unbuttoning her pants. She managed a few answers to her mother before Kain slid her shirt up over her head and kissed down the skin of her chest. Rose had finally hit the point where she could not pay attention to her mother any longer.

"Sorry, Mum, I accidentally left the water running in the shower. I gotta go turn it off. Talk to you later!" She quickly hung the phone up and turned a glare on the master vampire pressed against her.

"You're a lot of help."

"You expected me to be?" he responded before kissing her again and pressing her back. Her arms slid around his neck, pulling him closer to her.

"Keep in mind," Kain was saying the next day as he was handing out little slips of paper. "These grades are just a third and can change. Those of you with As and Bs—" He handed Rose hers which said 'A'— "you can settle down and get comfortable as long as you keep up what you've been doing. Those of you with Fs—" He released three pieces of paper into the air and each landed in front of one person each, all who happened to be football players— "might want to start applying yourself."

"Now, Mr. Kain," one of them started. "We have a lot to deal with, going through training for football session, and—"

Kain wheeled on him, golden eyes narrowing in a glare.

"I do not care," he enunciated slowly. "English is far more important than a stupid game where you jump and run around, sweat like swine, and run around after a pig-skin ball. So sit down, shut-up, and get working!"

The football players glared at Kain while Rose, Becca, and a few others applauded. Kain sat back down at his desk as the bell rang. People plowed out and Rose sat on the edge of his desk. She sighed, smiling.

"You are a mean bastard, you know?"

The door shut as the last student went out and Rose abruptly found herself in his lap, legs wrapped around his waist. He grinned and kissed her passionately.

"You realize there are already whispers going around the school about you and I sleeping together," Rose pointed out after she pulled away from the kiss.

"I'll make sure it dies quickly."

She pointed a stern finger at him, admonishing him quietly, "No killing anyone."

"Oohh." He snapped his fingers, then pressed his lips to hers and pulled her against his body. She nipped up his jaw line to his ear and bit it lightly.

"I'm hungry," she breathed pleadingly into his ear, pressing herself seductively up against him. He pulled back and smirked at her.

"Oh, are you?"

"Uh-huh," she whimpered, a carnal gleam in her eyes.

"Oh well, I suppose we'll just have to feed you."

He picked her up, set her down, and headed toward the door, dragging her along with him.

"Wait. Where are we going?"

"To the cafeteria, so we can feed you."

Rose blinked for a moment as Kain continued to drag her, then stated simply, "That wasn't what I meant."

"Oh, it wasn't?" He turned suddenly and pressed her up against the wall, grinding his hips lightly against hers.

"Was this what you meant?"

Rose hesitated to answer, not because she didn't know or didn't want to tell, but because of where they were. She was pushed up against a wall in one of the main halls and it was lunchtime. This situation was just begging to be discovered.

"Is it?"

"You know it is," she responded before biting him on the nose in annoyance. He pulled back slightly, rubbing his nose.

"That hurt, you know, little demon. And just for that—"

Both their supernatural hearings picked up the sound of footsteps coming toward them. A random young man Rose had never seen before walked around the corner and blinked in surprise at them. Kain glared at him and the boy's eyes glazed over.

"You didn't see anything," Kain told him and the boy nodded. "Keep walking."

The teenager walked past, eyes forward and not seeing anything. He rounded the corner and Kain pulled Rose away from the wall and both continued toward the cafeteria as if nothing had happened. Rose quickly ordered her food and sat down next to her friends.

"Hey, Rose," Kairan greeted her.

"Good-afternoon. What are you all up to?"

"Grumbling over the assignment your uncle gave us," Becca grouched from where she was sitting looking over her books. Rose leaned over and pointed at a few lines.

"He'll want to hear about that and that."

"What's he got you reading about now?" Diana asked as she sat down, noticing the books strewn on the table.

"Demons," Rose and Becca said simultaneously.

"Why demons?"

"Because it's an exercise in futility," Becca growled. "I almost thinks he wants us to look it up so he can watch us panic when we can't find enough material for the required twenty pages."

"Twenty pages?" Diana and Kairan exclaimed simultaneously. "That's a lot for mythological creatures."

"Tell you what, Becca," Rose told her. "How about after school you come back to my apartment with me and we'll work on it together. Okay?"

"I'm not sure. I may have class work to do. I may have to do something. But I'll see."

"Speaking of which, Rose," Diana commented, leaning over to her, "you haven't invited us over to see your apartment."

"I haven't, have I?" Rose murmured. "Well, I'd do it today, but if Becca comes over to work, we'd need quiet to work."

"Ah," Becca chuckled, "let them come. I've learned to ignore them. They're noisy, but pretty easy to tune out. After all, they are extremely boring."

"HEY!"

"You're one to talk, Miss Bottle-Cap-Collection."

"Now, we've been through this. It isn't a bottle cap collection. It's the caps and bottles from countries out of the United States that have McDonalds and fast-food places and how Americanized they are. It's my way of reminding myself how America gets into other countries and refuses to leave."

Everyone just blinked at her a moment. In retribution, she stuck her tongue out at her friends. Rose chuckled, then glanced up as the doors to the cafeteria opened. She watched as the three football players from Becca and her class walked in, following none other than the coach. They headed for Kain. Rose waved an indication to her friends and they looked up and watched. Kain obviously saw them coming, as he made a point of flicking one of the crackers he had been eating into the air and catching it in his mouth, looking relatively bored. The room went quiet as the coach's shadow fell over him.

"You must be the new English teacher."

Kain glanced up at him, then dismissed him from mind. "And you must be the 'coach'."

"Now, look." The coach leaned down on the table in front of Kain. "I've heard that you've given my boys grades that they don't deserve in your class, and I think you have to realize that we all have to be team players for everyone to succeed. These boys are under a lot of pressure, dealing with the rigorous training, so everyone here knows to be a little lax on them during this time." He continued as Kain stood, cleared the table, and put the dishes he was using away. The coach's speech was full of subtle threats and artful put-downs—apparently he had practiced it a lot. Then Kain calmly went back to his classroom, the coach following and still giving his speech. Rose and her friends followed behind, curious to see what he was up to. Behind them traveled a large group of students, also interested in seeing what was going to happen. Kain sat down at his desk, pulled out some papers, and continued grading them.

Finally the coach wrapped up his speech and inquired, "So what do you think?"

Kain shook his head and looked up at him. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Would you mind repeating yourself?"

The coach swallowed a curse in anger and leaned down near Kain's face. "You will give my boys a break and give them at least a passing grade in the class. They are under enormous pressure."

Kain blinked at him a moment. "Statement looked at and dutifully ignored. No, I won't give them a passing grade when they don't deserve it. Your precious football players are not under any stress. They are merely lazy. And you have scared all the other teachers here into submission so they will not think to stand against what you say. So, no, I will not help them pass a class they are just being idle and lethargic in."

The coach breathed in slowly, trying to hold his growing rage. "You pompous British bastard, you think you're so much better than all of us. Football is a dangerous sport and only those courageous enough do it. You don't see your English pansy-asses out there running after that ball!"

Kain tilted his head back and gave his most chilling laugh. Many of the students shivered at hearing it, but Rose stretched forward as if it were an invisible hand caressing across her body. She loved that laugh. Granted, she never wanted to have it aimed toward her, but otherwise . . .

"We do not put on six hundred pounds of plastic protective gear in order to go out and play rugby. After all, we were the country that invented it! Your players go out safely covered from head to toe. Ours go out in normal clothes, unafraid of having our flesh slammed in or bones broken. That is far more hardcore than any of your games could ever be. Now, you bald, impotent, dim-witted, obese simpleton, get out of my room!"

The coach glared daggers at Kain and pulled back and punched the English teacher. The coach expected to meet soft cloth, a thin layer of skin, and paper-thin bones. What his fist met was marble-hard flesh and bones made of steel. He blinked up at Kain in surprise. Kain chuckled sadistically and a malevolent smile crossed his lips.

"You have no idea how much I was hoping you'd do that."

Rose, who—with her friends and the other students—was the only one with her supernatural hearing to be able to make out the sound of the coach punching Kain. She quickly pulled her friends back from the door, knowing what to expect. The door opened inward toward the class, and everyone watched as the coach opened the door out with his back and it split and shattered away from the man's body. Kain snarled from inside the classroom. The coach shook his head and stood, staring at Kain, then did the most intelligent thing he had done all day; he turned and started running. Kain reached out and broke the flag, pulled the cloth off of it, and ran after the coach with his makeshift spear, shouting, "Don't run! I only want to play!!" Everyone raced after the pair, noting immediately that the English teacher, who were supposedly notoriously weak and not physically-oriented, was easily catching up to the coach. Kain finally overtook him at the football field. The coach managed to find a shovel to battle with Kain. The two engaged in a short fencing game, but it was obvious Kain was the more practiced of the two.

Kain suddenly spiraled in and slapped the coach across the face with the spear, then moved out. Fueled by sheer adrenaline and fear, the coach spun the shovel around, and, by complete luck, actually slammed the flat, blade-like side into the side of Kain's neck. The vampire's head twisted at an odd angle and he fell to the ground. The coach panted, then realized he had just committed homicide in front of a huge group of students. He turned to them, gesturing soothingly.

"This isn't what it looks like!"

Rose watched as Kain slowly drew himself to his feet behind the coach and cracked his neck, stretching it to one side, then the other.

"That hurt, you know," Kain growled in a low voice. The coach's eyes widened and he spun, his face loosing color as Kain lunged forward, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him up a foot in the air. Rose, who stood apart from the group could see red lightning crackling across his form as he slipped back to his old self, fingers turning to talons around the coach's neck and eyes turning from golden to cat-like yellow with slits.

Suddenly, the campus police decided to take that moment to show up. Kain dropped the coach, immediately shifting back to his younger form. The police quickly questioned him, but strangely enough, they didn't seem to think it very serious. In fact, they decided merely to take them up to the dean. Rose noticed as they said their verdict that their eyes were glazed over ever so slightly. The police escorted Kain and the coach to the dean's office and the group of students followed, curious to see what was going to befall the two teachers. The group was left outside of the dean's office for a few minutes, then the door opened and the coach was escorted back out in handcuffs, the police dragging him outside.

"You can't do this to me!" he shouted at them as he was taken out of the hall. Kain came out of the dean's office and he shook hands with the old man.

"Wonderful, wonderful," the dean murmured as if they had just finished talking. He patted Kain on the shoulder and went back into his office. Whispering curiously, the students began to disperse and Kain walked over toward Rose. Becca leaned over to her.

"We'll be vanishing now, but you have to tell us what happened, okay? Oh, and I don't think I'll be able to come over today. I realized I have a major test to study for."

"All right, no problem," Rose responded easily. "And of course I'll tell you what happened."

She watched as Kain walked up to her.

"So, what happened?" she inquired.

Kain smirked maliciously as he answered, "You are looking at the new football coach."

"Ack!" Rose made a surprised noise, then shook her head. "I am so glad I am not on that team right now. I wouldn't want to suffer."

"You think this is a picnic for me?" Kain responded. "And so, I've decided I'm not going to suffer this fate alone."

He tossed her a clipboard and walked away. She glanced at it, her eyes widened, and she ran after Kain.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's this?!"

"It's a cheerleading sign up," he replied. "I thought you could read."

"I can," she protested. "But me?! Sign up for cheerleading?!"

"Exactly. If I have to go to hell, I'm taking you with me. And besides, you'll be getting extra credit for my class doing it, and you need it."

"GRRRRR!!" she shouted after him as he sped up. She glared down at the try-outs and swore quite roundly. With a whimpered sigh, she went home. Once she got there, she picked up the phone, dialed a long number, and waited for it to pick up.

"Hello?" It was Raziel's voice that filtered through the receiver.

"Dad," she whimpered, "how do I get Kain out of my life and get him to stop messing with it?!"

". . ." There was a pause. "Here, talk to your mother for a bit."

Once Lara had the phone in her grip, Raziel tipped his head back and roared with laughter, having to sit down to keep from falling. Rose, on the other end, glared at the phone crossly. Lara lifted the phone to her ear.

"I take it, judging by the way your father's laughing, you asked him something about keeping Kain away from you or stopping him from meddling."

"Yeah," Rose grumbled.

"Ah, it seems he's done. Your father wants to speak to you again, Rose."

"Believe me, Rose," Raziel's voice began again. "If I knew how to get him out of anyone's life, I would have used it to get him out of mine long ago. There just isn't a way."

"So what do you suggest I do?"

Raziel sighed. "Well, he hates having his plans used against him, and he hates being manipulated. What's he got you doing that you so despise?"

"Cheerleading."

There was a brief silence again. "You don't know how to use this? Isn't this the sport of girls wearing close to nothing and dancing erotically around, driving the male population into a frenzy?"

"Yeah."

Raziel gave out an exasperated sound. "And you aren't seeing how you can use this to your advantage? Rose, Kain, while being a vampire, is still a male. He's still subject to the hormones that drive men crazy. Are you getting the picture now?"

"Oooh." Rose paused. "I wouldn't have ever thought you'd be encouraging me to basically try to seduce him, Dad."

"If it pisses him off because it ruins his plan, I'm completely for it. Just don't go too far with it, Rose. He's dangerous."

"I know, Dad. But you know what this means? I have to go shopping again." She grinned malevolently, and though no one was there to tell her, the smile was the exact same as Kain's.

From the phone came an annoyed sigh. Obviously, Raziel had put Lara back on the phone again.

"Just keep the spending down, all right?" Lara requested. Rose agreed, said her good-byes to her parents, and eagerly headed out to get some shopping done so she could be ready for the try-outs the next day.