"What are you so happy about?" A guard asked Edele as he came to visit her in solitary confinement (just to bring her lunch; he wasn't stopping to chat.) "You're in jail just like every other prisoner here."

"Well, the thing I got put in jail for is close to happening, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it!" She burst into laughter, took her food, and once the guard was gone, she waited until the only other person who ever came to visit her showed up: A daughter of a friend of hers, named Sarah.

"You're such a sweet girl to come and visit me," Edele told her. "Would you do me a favor and check on this curse of mine?"

"Sure," Sarah replied, pushing her long, chocolate brown hair out of her eyes. "How should I do it?"

"Well, the girl I put it on is being closely guarded by my nephew as she's his half-sister, you remember," Edele explained. "Fortunately, you're a pretty girl and he's as vulnerable to feminine charms as any other man. You remember what he looks like?"

"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "I do. I'll keep a close eye on him for you."

"Thanks," Edele replied. "I couldn't ask for a better helper."

"You're welcome," Sarah smiled. "And I won't fail you, I promise."

Sean was eating alone at his house when he heard the doorbell ring. He went to answer it and found Sarah standing on the other side.

"Well, well, well," he said as he invited her in. "Sarah Matthews. It's been awhile since I've seen you! Want a drink?"

"Sure," Sarah replied. "Although I actually just came cause my car broke down a little ways from here and I'm not so good at fixing it, so I wondered if you wouldn't mind helping a woman in distress. I wasn't sure you'd remember me. It's been a long time."

"Not long enough for me to forget you," Sean replied. He pulled a chair out for her, got her a drink, and when she was settled, started the usual chatter. "So…what are you doing with yourself now? Do you…have someone special in your life?"

"Nope," Sarah shook her head. "I just got off the market. Bad break up and all. I'm not really in the mood for anything serious."

"You know what? Me either!" Sean replied. "My friend says I should date, but with the whole mess my sister's going through, I don't want to have anything that takes up too much of my time."

"What's going on with your sister?" Sarah asked. "I'm a little slow on the news. Is it something bad?"

"Yes," Sean nodded and stabbed at his dinner. "My aunt Edele put a curse on her because her mother was human. I thought it was supposed to be enacted when Mary was sixteen, but it must've been eighteen, cause she just had that birthday, and she ran off. Didn't even let herself have time for cake."

"Well, that's horrible!" Sarah cried. "Do you…do you know where she is? Will you be able to find her?"

Sean sighed. "I'm afraid that if I went after her, it wouldn't do any good. The witch government has someone tracking her, someone she'll be more than willing to let talk some sense into her, I hope. And since I know that, all I can do is sit back and hope everything is okay."

"I know this might sound sort of forward, and if it is, I'm sorry," Sarah apologized, putting a hand on Sean's, "but I'd be more than happy to wait with you…if you want company, that is."

"I would love some," Sean replied. "I just told myself that I was going to start dating, but I wouldn't have had any idea of where to start. It's a good thing you showed up when you did. It's made things a lot easier for me."

"I'm glad," Sarah smiled.

"Do you want to come outside with me so we can have a look at your car?" Sean asked as he zapped his dinner away.

"What?" Sarah asked, pulled out of mentally composing the news of her success that she would send back to Edele. "Oh, yeah, my car." She nodded. "Sure, let's go."

They went out and Sean fixed Sarah's car (which wasn't too messed up in the first place) and then Sean encouraged her to park it in the garage and go pick out a room.

"You know, you're very generous," she commented. "I don't want you to feel like you have to put me up. I'd be more than happy to stay at a hotel."

"Oh, no, don't be silly!" Sean smiled. "I have a lot of room here. I'd be glad for some company."

"All right, if you insist," Sarah smiled. "Thanks!" She began walking around and the first room she stopped at was Sean's. "Who sleeps here?" She asked. She stepped inside, picked up the Dalmatian on the bed, and said, "do you have a child who comes to visit sometimes? Is this dog theirs?"

"No, that's mine," Sean replied, snatching it out of her grip a lot quicker than he meant to, which caused her to look at him strangely. "It's something a girl I like gave to me a long time ago."

"Is it?" Sarah asked. "Is it anyone I have to worry about?"

"Yes," Sean nodded immediately. "I'll introduce you so you can be on your guard."

"You sound like she's some sort of lunatic," Sarah smiled.

"She's really not so much," Sean replied and put the dog back on the bed. "She's just very…enthusiastic about me and doesn't like being neglected."

Sarah's eyes widened and Sean could see her shiver a little. "But you don't need to worry," he said quickly. "Once I make it clear to her that you're to be left alone, I'm pretty sure she'll listen. You have nothing to worry about. But I'd look over my shoulder every so often, just in case. Now, why don't we go find you a room?"

"Sure," Sarah nodded. "All right."

They found her a nice room near his and after they got her things from the car (cause of course she had things) and she was unpacked and settled, Sean left her for a bit. Once he was gone, she got out some paper from her bag, and wrote a note to Edele, assuring her that she'd gotten close to Sean very easily, and he wouldn't be a problem. She didn't feel the need to write anything about Sean's stalker. At least not until she met her anyway. And once she did, Sarah was sure she'd be able to tell if this woman would cause unnecessary trouble and need to be gotten out of the way. When the note was done, she sent it off to Edele and pulled out a book to read before she went to bed.

Eva was out having lunch with Vivi the next day when she noticed Sean and another woman coming into the same restaurant and sitting a few tables over. Her eyes narrowed and a harsh, guttural noise briefly escaped her lips before Vivi said, "Eva, are you all right?"

"Yes," Eva nodded and quickly turned away. "Listen, do you mind switching tables?"

"All right," Vivi nodded. "But what table are we going to?"

"That one," Eva replied, gesturing at Sean and Sarah. "I think I should introduce myself to Sean's friend."

And before Vivi could stop her, Eva stomped over to the table, took a seat next to Sean, and told Sarah, "Hi, I'm Eva. Who the hell are you and what are you doing with my boyfriend who's not really my boyfriend, but will be once he gets through some stuff?"

"Oh, my god, is this your stalker?" Sarah cried as Sean blushed furiously. She got some pepper spray out of her purse and sprayed it in Eva's face.

With that, Eva let out a hiss and bared her fangs, saying "I'm am not a stalker!" before zapping both herself and Sarah out of the restaurant so they would have room enough for what Sean feared would be a knockdown, drag out fight.

"Sorry about Eva," Vivi apologized as she walked over to him.

"It's not your fault," Sean replied and pushed his hair back out of his eyes as they ran out of the restaurant. "I knew something like this would happen once Eva met Sarah."

When they got outside, they found that Eva had pinned Sarah to the ground and taken a bite from her neck. "You come near Sean anymore and I will reach into your mouth and pull out your liver!" She cried. "I will crush your heart and rip off your head! And that's a promise!" She then punched Sarah in the face as Sarah hit her with some brain pain, and then, while Eva was swearing and gritting her teeth from the pain, her mother and Sean pulled her off of her adversary. Vivi then held her daughter in a tight grip as Sean helped Sarah to her feet.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Yes, I'm fine," Sarah nodded. "I mean, I hurt a little bit, but nothing horrible. I don't think I'll need to be taken to the doctor." She glared at Eva, who met her look with a self-righteous gaze of her own. "Just get me the hell away from her and I'll be fine."

"That won't be a problem," Sean assured her. He helped Sarah into the car and once she was locked in, went back to Eva. Vivi stepped away and let Sean do with her what he saw fit cause she knew that would be a more effective way to fix Eva's behavior than anything she could have done.

His eyes were cold as he looked into Eva's. "Why did you do that?" He asked. "What's wrong with you? We talked about this: Just because I can't be with you right now doesn't mean you can stop me from being with anyone else. Don't I deserve to be happy?"

"Well, yes," Eva nodded. "But I'm not sorry for what I did. She gives me a bad feeling and if you were paying attention and not so desperate for company, she'd be giving you a bad feeling too!"

"Oh, nonsense!" Sean snapped. "Sarah's not bad. She's a family friend, she's staying at my house, and you'll just have to deal with it, do you understand? If you don't, I won't want anything to do with you. You'll have to choose between your jealousy or me. I hope you'll make the right choice."

"Okay," Eva nodded, her expression sour. "But when she does something bad to you, don't come crying to me."

Sean just scoffed at her, got in his car, and drove off. Eva then turned around to stare at her mother. "Give me your extra set of car keys," Vivi said firmly. "I'm keeping them for a week. If you want to go out, you have to run it by your father and me first, and then we'll drive you. And I'll be putting limits on your magic as well. Maybe a week of house arrest will teach you to treat people with respect even if you don't like them."

"But Mom, then how am I supposed to have a life?" She whined.

"I don't know, but that's not my fault," Vivi told her firmly and snatched away her set of keys. "You should have thought of that before you hurt Sean's friend." They got in the car, drove home, and found her father waiting for them in the living room. When Eva told him what had happened with Sarah and Vivi's subsequent punishment, he told her firmly, "I'm sure your mother did right. What you did was perfectly wonderful behavior for a vampire, and I'm very happy you're living up to your family name, but if your mother thinks you should have behaved differently, than that's what you should have done."

"Oh, I know," Eva pouted. "I know it was wrong, but what's the point of being a vampire if I can't act like it?"

"I let you act like it!" Vivi replied. "You go hunting all the time!"

"But I-" Eva continued before Vivi cut her off.

"Never mind," she said firmly. "Go to your room."

"Oh, all right," Eva replied and stomped off, leaving Vivi with her father. She waited for him to say that she should be easier on Eva, but he didn't. Instead, he just patted the seat beside him, and when she sat down, he gave her a hug and asked her about her day, something surprisingly normal for an average father, but definitely not something she'd expected.