"Thank god you're safe!" Pacifica's mother, Priscilla, wrapped her arms around her daughter. "When Gideon came running out of the forest and you weren't with him we were terribly worried!"

"I'm alright," Pacifica explained. "Gideon thought he heard something so he ran, I stayed behind to investigate."

"That was dangerous of you!" Priscilla scolded. "Do you know what could've happened to you?"

Could've gotten chased by a vampire, almost killed but not? Pacifica guessed in her head. "Nothing happened, mom."

"But that was still dangerous!" Priscilla continued, shaking a finger at her daughter. "We'll have to speak with your father about this."

"Mom, seriously, nothing happened." Pacifica continued. "I'm not helpless."

"You don't understand how dangerous this town really is, Pacifica. Especially the woods." Her mom started walking her inside. "It doesn't matter now, I'm going to talk to your father about this and come up with something."

Pacifica opened her mouth to speak, but she knew it was no use. There was no arguing against her mom.

As the two women entered the house, Gideon ran up to Pacifica. "Thank god you're okay!" He yelled. "I thought you were dead!"

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence." Pacifica grumbled with a roll of her eyes.

"But what h-happened back there?" Gideon asked. "Was there a monster?"

"No." She lied. "There wasn't."

"Thank heavens for that." Priscilla commented.

"Where is dad, by the way?" Pacifica looked around the shack and couldn't spot her father.

"Went into town." was her mom's reply. "What happened to your ankle?"

Pacifica had almost forgotten about that. She'd sprained her ankle during the chase. "I tripped as I was heading out." She lied.

"Yikes. Sprained or broken?" Gideon looked closer at it.

"Sprained." Pacifica said. "Nothing serious, I should just ice it or something, y'know?"

"Then go sit down in the living room and I'll get you some ice." Priscilla walked off.

"I coulda sworn there was something there." Gideon shook his head.

"Well there wasn't." Pacifica bristled, wondering why she was getting so defensive. Why didn't she tell him?

"Okay okay okay," Gideon rolled his eyes. "Calm down."

Later that night, Pacifica was up in her room, thinking to herself.

What about? The strange encounter in the woods of course. With the vampire, how he didn't kill her.

"Why would it do that?" She murmured aloud. "It's highly unusual a vampire would go against its natural instinct to kill and survive."

If she wasn't bedridden because of her ankle, she'd be pacing the floor, pondering the idea in depth.

"I should just give this a rest for the night." She shook her head.

There was a sudden knock on her bedroom door. Startled, she opened it. "Dad! Where were you!"

"Had a job to do." He replied grimly. "There was a monster sighting."

Pacifica let out a gasp. "You're kidding! Danger level?" She was taught about the danger level when she was a young girl. Ten was the easiest while one was the most dangerous. So far no one in their family had encountered a level one.

"Seven." Her father replied, shrugging. "Nothing too dangerous either, just a ghost."

"Does Mom know?" She asked.

"Yes, she was a bit hesitant." Preston murmured. "Seeing as how we just got here."

They were quiet for a minute. Before Preston cleared his throat, "so, I heard you went into the woods on your own today."

Pacifica sucked in a breath. She should have known this was coming. "It wasn't bad!" She protested. "And I didn't go alone!"

"Yes, you brought Gideon in there with you." Preston shook his head. "That was very dangerous of you, Pacifica. You may have some training on this, but Gideon does not! He could have gotten hurt! And I don't even want to imagine what could have happened to you out there."

"There wasn't a monster out there!" Pacifica lied. "The woods are just quiet and have a creepy atmosphere to them! Nothing else!"

"Pacifica, I know there was a monster out there." Preston sighed. "I used to live here, remember?"

Pacifica nodded numbly. "But Dad he didn't do anything!"

"He?" Preston echoed. "Who?"

"The monster!" Pacifica exclaimed. "He didn't even do anything to me!"

"It was a boy?" Preston frowned. "What kind? Where did you see it?"

"I dunno what kind of monster it was," Pacifica sighed, knowing she was found out. "He looked like a human, but he wasn't." She lied once more.

"Until we catch this creature," he started walking toward the door. "I don't want you to go anywhere near those woods."

"But Dad!" Pacifica stood up. "I'm not a child! I know how to handle myself out there!"

"I mean it, Pacifica Elise," Preston said. "This is far more dangerous than you know, so I want you to stay away from the woods. That's an order."

The door slammed in his wake and Pacifica sat back down on her bed, fuming. "I can handle myself out there!" She told herself. "In fact, I'll prove it to him."

She looked out her bedroom window which coincidently faced the woods itself. "I'll catch that vampire before he can."

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Sorry it took so long to update this! I have big plans for this story and I hope you all will enjoy it!

-Kaori Miyazono <3