Hana stared at the novel emptily. The words swam out of the page, weaving together to form nonsense as thoughts of thematic allusions and the author's use of subjunctives clouded her mind. Her highlighter hovered over the page without moving and her eyes flicked back to the packet to remind herself of what the question was.

She relaxed when a ding sounded on her laptop. Books and school supplies were shoved away instantly as she answered the call. "Hey B."

Benny's face popped up on screen with a cheeky grin. "Hey H," he greeted. Chip bags peeked out at the corner of the camera's view, to her interest. "Head over to E's house pronto. It's party time." The short call ended and she lifted herself out of her desk chair.

Her soft steps down the staircase were muffled by her mismatched cat and bear socks. As she headed towards the door, slipping on her sneakers, Hana called out to her mom. "Maman, I'm going over to Ethan's house tonight, d'accord?"

The woman hummed out in response from the kitchen, disinterested. "Be safe," she merely said before continuing to bustle around with clanging pots.

Hana's smile died down slightly at the clear dismissal. Even though she knew most teens would be thrilled to have the same freedom she did with her parents, she couldn't help but find their waning interest in her over the years odd. Whatever, she shook off the negative thoughts and swiftly hustled out.

As she stepped out into the chilly weather, cold breezes pushing her bangs back gently, that familiar drowsy feeling settled over her once more and she burrowed into her grey hoodie. Steps slowly turned to trudging shuffles while her jaw seemed caught in a perpetual yawn. It was only the sight of her friend just a bit ahead of her that let her hurry up slightly and catch up to them. "Do you need help with that?" she asked, gesturing to the pile of things in his gangly limbs.

Benny startled, before turning his head to her and grinning. "Thanks," he said and passed the bags of chips over to her. She yawned again, making him raise a brow. "If you're cold, you can just borrow my hoodie," he tried to offer casually, though his red ears betrayed him.

Hana waved him off stubbornly. "I'll stay awake for once," she promised. "So long as you let me eat most of the food."

He sputtered incredulously, expression distorting comically. "That's not a fair trade at all."

"Boo hoo," she deadpanned as they reached Ethan's front door. The door swung open dramatically with a simple push of her hand and she shuffled in casually, Benny beginning to ramble behind her.

"Okay, so I brought the first season of the Bloodsucker Diaries and a shit ton of-" He cut himself off at the sight of some girl pointing a pointy umbrella at him. "...I didn't even do anything this time."

Hana on the other hand, merely ignored them both and moved on into the kitchen. She started pulling things out of cabinets here and there without a particular order. Jane followed her in excitedly, bouncing in place. "Are you making hot coco?" The younger girl asked, squealing with delight when she nodded. "Can you make me some too? Please please pleaseeeeeee~"

"If your mom asks, I was never here," Hana replied simply, although she still got out a second mug nevertheless. From somewhere behind her, she heard Sarah - at least, she thought that was her name - go into the bathroom absentmindedly but paid no mind to it. The boys followed soon after into the room and she briefly glanced up. Her gaze faltered when she saw a brown stain on the front of Ethan's pants.

"-says the guy that looks like he shat himself from the front- ooo, hot coco!" Benny beamed a goofy grin, cutting himself off. "Can you make some for me too?" She handed him her own completed cup and pulled out another mug, pouring in the ingredients again before pausing and glancing at Ethan. He caught her eye and just shook his head, so she shrugged and continued on.

Benny started on his usual pizza order and she eyed him curiously. "Do the workers at our usual place hate or love you for always pulling that shit?" She asked, intrigued. He winked back at her cheekily.

"It's half and half, honestly." Huh. Figures.

Hana stirred the mug with a spoon, taking a small sip and humming happily when the warmth filled her and gave her a bit of an energy boost. Dragging a stool over to the island, she sat down and rested her head.

"I thought you said you weren't gonna fall asleep," Benny pointed out with a frown.

Sarah happened to walk out at that moment, pausing. "What, wait- why can't you fall asleep?" She directed the question to Hana.

"I've got circulatory issues that makes sleeping in the cold dangerous for me," Hana drawled slowly. "And when I sleep in the cold, I kinda look dead since I barely breathe and my heart rate goes down a lot." Despite what she thought was one of her finer explanations for her condition, Sarah still seemed to be a bit perplexed. "Benny calls it my hibernation mode," she added as an afterthought.

Sarah shook her head tiredly. "Whatever," she muttered. "Listen, you guys don't really need a babysitter, do you?" Her weight shifted from foot to foot with nervous energy, gaze darting around like she thought something would happen if she let her guard down for even a second.

Everyone chirped out a "no" except Hana, who said "debatable" and promptly was thrown dirty looks to which she just shrugged in reply.

"...Okay, great," the junior said hesitantly. "My friend Erica's in a bit of trouble so I gotta go grab her." With that clear dismissal, she started to turn around to leave them.

"I could come with and protect you," Ethan quickly offered.

She snorted and patted his arm gently, making him stiffen instantly. "Trust me buddy, I think you and your muscles are better off here."

The three of them watched Sarah stride out the door, and as soon as they saw the door close, Ethan whirled around. "Something's off about her," he immediately insisted.

Hana raised a brow at his words. "What, because she didn't swoon when you offered your knightly services?" She raised her warm mug to take another sip, blinking her eyes wider as the wave of warmth woke her up.

"Listen to me," he stressed tensely. "Her reflection was all wonky, and when she touched me, I had a vision or something."

Benny whistled in surprise, shifting his weight onto his arm resting next to Hana on the island counter-top. "You didn't even have the coco, why're you actin' so loopy?" A smug grin spread across his face as he darted his gaze to her.

She smacked his arm and gave him a look. "I stopped using expired ingredients in eighth grade, just let. it. go."

"All I'm saying is, something funky's going on and I wanna know what's going on." Ethan ignored their little side-tracked comments, not even taking the chance to poke fun at them like he usually did.

Hana blinked. "Well if you're that worried, then let's just go look for her." At that, Benny scrunched his nose up and whined, sending sad looks towards his warm mug full of delicious cinnamon coco.

"I didn't even get to finish my coco," he lamented.

"Just leave it out and you can heat it back up when we get back."

He snapped his fingers and grinned at her. "You've got a fair point there." Their eyes connected, her gentle brown ones pinning him without even trying. Intricate patterns hidden in their depths enraptured him- He forced himself to look away.

Ethan insisted again. "We gotta figure out what's goin' on."

"Ugh, you two ganging up on me- fine, I'm convinced. Let's go be spies." Despite his proclaimed reluctance, Benny seemed the most excited of them to try and investigate the situation. Still, he paused for a second. "Wait. Aren't we forgetting something?"

Jane spoke up from behind them in an irritated voice. "Yeah," she bit out. "Aren't you?"

Hana coughed awkwardly at the little girl's anger. "Honestly I thought you went to bed already."

They quickly called Benny's grandmother over, and the teen instructed her intensely on how to not pay for pizza. As he did that, Hana strolled around the kitchen and quietly rummaged through some of the drawers. She slipped a few knives out of their spots, glancing around to see if anyone had saw. However, everyone was preoccupied with someone else, so she took the chance to hide them in various places on her person until Ethan finally clapped her on the shoulder. "Let's go," he murmured and she nodded.

Benny fumbled with the equipment in his arms noisily, testing Ethan's patience. "What is that stuff?" He asked after a minute of silence occupied only by the rattling of metal and plastics.

"Digicams with night vision infrared!" Benny stated as if it were painfully obvious. One of the cameras fell just then, like the world was trying to prove some point. It clattered to the ground noisily and left a trail of wires behind.

Hana stared at the mess he left. "Quit dropping your nerd gear, you're gonna break it."

He scoffed at her in disdain. "I know what I'm doing with my own equipment, H." At that moment, he dropped another camera and it shattered upon hitting the concrete sidewalk. They all stared at it for a second, not moving, before Benny glanced around and kicked it off to the side subtly. She frowned, going over to it to toss it away in some random trash can but he caught her by the elbow. "You're not supposed to dispose of tech like that," he tutted, shaking his head like a disappointed teacher.

"Well you weren't gonna do anything so I figured it was better than littering," she shrugged.

"Not necessarily-"

Ethan groaned loudly, cutting them both off. "Oh my god," he exclaimed exasperatedly. "If you get into the pros and cons of littering again I will literally break one of your cameras over your head." She and Benny exchanged looks, as if to say: yeah noodle boy, of course you will.

He swiftly changed the subject before war could break out. "You said her reflection wasn't all there right?" Benny asked skeptically.

Hana raised a brow. "Like a vampire or something?"

Benny snickered. "Try 'or something.'" He dismissed easily, the mere notion ridiculous to him. "I bet this is a publicity stunt for that Dusk franchise."

"Yeah, 'cuz punking one middle class average family without filming it is really gonna rake in the viewers. Clearly everyone's gonna listen to peeping Tom over here."

Ethan glared at her indignantly. "I'm not a peeping Tom," he protested, unsuccessfully trying to salvage his dignity. "I thought she was crying, so I tried to check up on her. Now would you focus for once? I think she was headed towards town." He redirected their focus, pointing somewhere off into the distance.

"Ugh, so far," she muttered.

"Yep, we lost her," Benny snapped before throwing his hands up in the air exasperatedly, nearly smacking the other two in the face. Hana deftly dodged it as Ethan startled away.

She piped up, raising her hand like in class. "I have track practice tomorrow, can we go back home?" Generally, she tried to get plenty of sleep before each practice, which usually wasn't a problem. However, with all this strange business, it was pretty obvious that wasn't going to happen this time.

Ethan glared at them both. "No, I know she's near here. I- I can feel it," he stressed, motioning with his hands.

"Do you feel it in your bones?" She asked.

He blinked, surprised at the insightful observation then nodded gratefully. "Actually yeah," he breathed, looking relieved that she seemed to understand. Normally neither of his two friends were so reasonably empathetic.

"Enough to make your systems blow?" She added cheekily. Benny cackled and offered her a high five that she took smugly before using her hand to push her glasses back up her nose again.

A noise suddenly sounded in the alley near them, startling them all. They looked at each other hesitantly, until Ethan broke the hesitant silence. "What was that?" He whispered. The other two shrugged and Hana took the initiative to walk over and peer in. As she squinted into the dark, she could only vaguely make out a shadowy figure hunched over on the ground. Next to her, Benny lifted up one of his cameras and promptly froze upon looking at the viewfinder.

She frowned and waved a hand in front of his face. When he didn't move, she took the camera herself and raised a brow at the scene that lay before her. Sarah had a squirming rat in hand with fangs hovering over it hungrily, glowing yellow eyes piercing the veil of night. So she is a vampire, she thought. Wait- then how is she showing up on this camera?

Ethan nudged at them impatiently. "What's going on?" He demanded, though they didn't answer fast enough. "I'm gonna check it out."

Benny shot an arm out to stop him in his tracks. "Hell nah, dude," he said in a shocked, empty tone. "We gotta get outta here." Hana passed the camera over to Ethan and he looked into it then did a double-take.

The vampire in the alley finally seemed to notice their presence and hissed at them aggressively. Hana wrinkled her nose in disbelief as the other two shrieked in terror. Ethan flung himself away from there, but quickly doubled back to snatch Benny, who just stood there screaming and Hana, who had leaned forward to try and get a better look.

She groaned at the fact that they had to run, but kept pace with them easily despite the height difference. "Why are we running?" She wondered aloud, no strain present on her voice. "She left us defenseless humans earlier to go eat a rat, so I don't think we're on her menu." The other two paid her no mind, however and Benny started screeching about some battle plan that kind of sounded familiar to her. Something to do with complex footwork, for sure. "I'm already running," she muttered to herself. "That's more than they usually ask me to do, so I'm gonna just let them do that 'evasive maneuver' themselves."

They finally all came to a halt as Benny took a tumble over some giant concrete pot. He scrambled up while Ethan leaned over, wheezing. She straightened him up automatically, going into coach mode. "If you lean over like that, it restricts your airway," she lectured them. "You have to straighten up your posture to make it easier to breathe." Instead of listening to her little lesson, Ethan just smacked her hands away and she pulled a disgruntled face at his back.

Sarah came up behind them at that moment. "What's your problem?" Her hands were free of rat and other rodents this time, though her shoes had a few drops of blood on them. Hopefully it was just their ratatouille friend from earlier.

Hana spoke up. "Well I've been feeling kinda sad lately-"

"If you eat us, that would so not be cool," Ethan cut her off in a terrified voice.

"Nothing about you is cool, you chucklefuck," she grumbled under her breath, irritated that he had interrupted her. Benny took the chance to hide behind her, shaking, using her like a human meat shield.

Sarah sighed frustratedly, evidently put off by their adverse reaction to her... condition. "If I was gonna eat you, I would've done it by now," she pointed out.

Benny did not take that well at all. "See," he hissed to Hana. "She's gonna eat us."

Hana decided to just accept her fate as someone the boys didn't listen to, standing there like a lamp post as Sarah tried to calm the others down. She let her eyes wander to watch the streets gently lit by rustic lights, noting the distinct lack of people. Though, she wondered if it was because of the city's disappointing nightlife, or because of people like Sarah. Benny's words from earlier echoed in her head. The rest of that senior was found. Her expression grew solemn, hands fiddling around in her pocket.

She tuned back into the conversation in time to hear Sarah tell them, "Let's go dork squad, I'm not the only one trying to hunt tonight." Thus, the four of them set off in the direction they came from.

"I wasn't paying attention," Hana whispered out of the corner of her mouth, "What's going on?"

Benny whispered back. "She's not a full vamp, just a 'fledgling' since she hasn't drank human blood yet and she's trying to help Erica." He gently grabbed her shoulder and moved her out of the way of a bench as they walked.

"That's actually more backstory than I was expecting," she admitted. "Maybe I should actually start paying attention." They looked at each other wordlessly before scoffing at the same time.

As they re-entered Ethan's house, Jane sighed dramatically. "Finally," she whined. "Gran passed out like five songs ago and I think she needs a new hip." Upon seeing the vamp of the hour, her eyes lit up with devious child delight. "Can we play?"

Sarah immediately rebuked her. "I gotta go, sorry sweetie," she chuckled nervously. To her credit, Jane took it in stride and just shrugged before turning to Hana instead expectantly, who stared back.

"If you make me play, I'll tell your mom about last week."

Ethan frowned. "Wait," he interjected. "What happened last week?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She replied cryptically, refusing to elaborate.

Jane acquiesced reluctantly. "Fine. None of you are cool anyways," she sneered before adding a muttered 'dorks' under her breath. Hana couldn't help but wonder how much of that behavior was influenced by her.

Sarah ushered the teens to the side, staring into their eyes seriously. "You're not gonna snitch to anyone, are you?" She pleaded.

"Don't worry, I'm good," Ethan rushed to reassure her, shoving his hands in his pockets in an attempt to seem more relaxed. "No one believes Benny, and Hana somehow doesn't seem to care that much."

Benny protested instantly, miffed at the roast. "Hey, I will have you know that I am very influential in the chess club." He sniffed his nose up at them, turning slightly and crossing his arms petulantly.

"Quit lying," Hana drawled. "The school year just started and you've never even been to a meeting." He sputtered, then tried to shove his hand over her mouth and shush her but she batted his hands away.

Sarah rolled her eyes and spoke up again before the two could devolve into a cat fight. "I'm serious, and you guys need to be too. And whatever you do, do not let a vampire into your house. It's your only safe haven."

The three nodded sheepishly in sync, waving her off with matching innocent smiles on their faces. As she left, Hana let herself relax once more, rolling out the cricks in her neck with loud cracks that made Ethan startle. "How did you make those sounds?" He asked, disturbed.

The doorbell rang at that moment and Benny practically lit up. "It's the 'za, dude," he exclaimed excitedly, prancing over to the door. "Free 'za is the best and he's so late."

"But isn't it gonna be cold?" She pointed out, brows furrowed.

He looked back at her as he opened the door. "That's what the microwave is for." She pulled a face, nodding in acknowledgement. Benny grinned at the guy at the door cheekily, stepping back and gesturing in. "Come on in, I'm dying for a bite."

"Me too," the delivery boy smirked, but Hana had already zeroed in all her focus onto the pizza and wandered over to grab a slice as both boys screeched. She picked up a slice, frowning when she saw they had stuck a whole clove of garlic onto the slice at some point. How am I meant to eat that, she wondered. Her hands delicately plucked it off, ignoring the other guy until she felt his rank breath hit the side of her face.

She turned her head to glare at him, irritated. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," he purred out, letting his fangs drop and opened his mouth. But she took the chance to shove the clove of garlic into his mouth angrily and forced him to swallow it. Hana strolled off, eating her slice cheerily as the vampire screamed in pain behind her. Unbeknownst to her, he stumbled back up and lunged for her furiously with a fist.

At the last second, Sarah zoomed in and caught him by the wrist. Ethan and Benny took that chance to usher each other, Jane, and Hana up the stairs. Hana hesitated for a second though, resisting. "Why are we going upstairs?" She questioned as Benny dragged her into Ethan's room. "We're just cornering ourselves."

It was too late, regardless.

As they barricaded themselves in, Ethan looked to them helplessly. "I don't think she's winning," he cried. The cacophony of the fight downstairs echoed up into the room, making the air feel heavier with dread.

Hana clicked her tongue in disappointment. "O ye of little faith." She held the door in place with her weight pressed against it, pushing up her glasses that had been slipping down her nose.

"Obviously we're not gonna have a lot of faith," Benny snarked back at her. "She's not even a proper vampire."

Jane piped up then, sounding wildly confused. "Wait what, she's a what now?" Ethan chuckled nervously at that, perspiration coming on as he thought of just how much his parents were gonna kill him for this. "Why's the pizza dude acting so whack?"

"He's mad he's not getting paid," he tried. They all turned to him, giving him a look that told him just how bad that excuse was.

"I'm gonna call mom and dad." Jane grabbed the house phone that was on his nightstand for some reason, already starting to plug numbers in.

Hana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and what are they gonna do?" she pointed out. "Lecture the murderous vamp 'til he goes away?"

"Hana," Ethan hissed furiously.

"What?" She shrugged, plopping onto the bed lazily. "Your sis is too smart to fall for that 'he's mad' bull, might as well use logic with her."

Jane gingerly tugged on her sleeve and whispered into her ear. "Lemme work my magic," she suggested and Hana leaned back in surprise mixed with eager curiosity. Damn, eight-year-olds are advanced nowadays. She watched in fascination and pride as Jane proceeded to extort ridiculous amounts of labor and cash from her brother with Benny snickering at his friend's misfortune.

Steps suddenly sounded out on the stairs and the boys quickly grabbed the bed that she and Jane were on, pushing it in the way of the door. Hana whistled out, impressed. "Damn boys, I didn't know you had it in you."

"Neither did I," Benny wheezed out in reply.

Someone rapped on the bedroom door before Sarah's voice called out to them desperately. "Lemme in." Benny threw his arms up exasperatedly and they dragged the bed out of the way again to let her in, slamming it shut once more.

"How'd it go?" Hana asked casually, popping some gum she had found in her pocket into her mouth.

"Well," Sarah smirked slightly. "I gave him an intro course in metalwork." The others nodded appreciatively and she exhaled heavily, then moved on. "So what do you have for weapons?"

Ethan paused. "Uhhh..." he started.

"I got a knife," Hana suddenly volunteered. She pulled it from her sleeve and handed it to Sarah as the boys gaped at her.

"Since when have you had that?" Benny asked incredulously.

"I've got one for you too," she said instead and pulled one from her other sleeve to hand to a stunned Ethan. The next knife for Benny was pulled from her hoodie pocket and he eyed her, trying to tell where else she had hid them.

They each studied their knives, fiddling with it a bit. "What about you?" Sarah questioned and she wordlessly pulled out another one from her pants.

Jane stared at the blades in interest, her round eyes studying them closely. "What about me?"

Ethan scoffed, "No way you're allowed to have a sharp blade-" Hana pulled out a butter knife and handed it to her. Its dull point shone in the artificial light of the room, the engraved pattern on the handle adding a nice touch. He gave up.

"Why do you always do these things?" Benny sputtered and she shrugged in reply.

Suddenly, the phone began to ring and Ethan dove to answer it as the pizza guy started to slam against the door. He talked for a bit, sounding put out before handing it over to Sarah who tried to speak as casually as she could in the circumstances. "Yeah, they're all okay," she reassured the Morgan parents easily. "Hana's wide awake and sure, I can stay a bit longer." The second they stopped talking, she hung up and tossed the phone away just in time for the delivery guy to punch through the door.

They all dove to stab his hand at the same time, and Sarah quickly directed them towards the window while he was distracted. Hana picked Jane up and handed her off to Sarah, sending them off first then leaping out next smoothly, rolling out of the fall. She reached up and helped the boys out, and Benny clapped her on the shoulder clumsily. "Thanks," he said awkwardly. "I keep forgetting you're athletic."

"Yeah, I know," she replied dryly. They all set off towards the front of the house, Hana picking up Jane as she went but halted when the vamp dropped down in front of them. Sarah popped down almost immediately after him, however, and stabbed through him from the back with a branch as Hana and Ethan covered Jane's eyes. To their surprise, the body crumbled to dust, the remains scattering with the soft night's wind.

"She's a shit babysitter, but that was banger," Benny commented after a brief pause.

Jane turned her head to him, eyes still covered. "You have no morals if you're cursing in front of an eight-year-old."

Hana snickered at his indignant expression.