Fate has a funny way of proving itself. My parents were always strict about their craft, following every guideline past its requirements and taking that even further. They were both hunters before I even knew what that was. They tucked us in at night before racing off to kill the nearest bloodsucker. They put Alis in charge of my little sister, Leila, and I while we slept. Leila never took interest in the leech-hunting family business, but, neither did I really. 

     I didn't believe them and blamed their caution on extreme helicopter parenting and their rituals on paranoid delusions. My parents were weird and embarrassing, my pre-pubescent mind was convinced that they were set on this earth to be overbearing and humiliating. 

    But, then I lost them. 

    I watched the very thing they warned me about drain their life away as if they were nothing more than a glass containing water. One cracked open window is invitation enough for those monsters to help themselves. 

     So, I became what they wanted me to be, needed me to be at the time. A hunter. 

     Honestly, I am pretty damn good at it. 

     My job was to scout out the local schools, write down any suspicious characters or cross them off my list. I moved to every school in the district with hopes of exterminating all of them. Unfortunately, that meant that I was lacking academically and my only option was to attend the local college.

          Adjusting my tote bag strap over my shoulder, I drop down onto the cold metal of the bleachers. My head falls to my hand which immediately rubs at my sore temple where a small headache is forming, the sunlight only making it worse. 

    "Big night?" A familiar voice asks from my right. I laugh into my hand, lifting my head up and shielding my eyes from the light enough to see my best friend, Alex Kilton, grinning down at me. 

    "I could ask you the same, Alex," He laughs, dropping down to sit beside me and taking a massive bite from the red apple in his hand. 

    "This is college, baby. A night spent indoors is a night wasted," He reminds me of his philosophy. I shake my head, moving my bag to my feet to allow Alex more room. "I will get you to come out with me one night, Mic. I would bet my first-born child on it,"

    "Don't procreate, Alex," I laugh, turning to look out onto the field where the college-league football players are training "I'm busy at night, you know that," 

    "Y'know it might stick a lot better in my brain if you actually told me why. Honestly, I'd love to meet him-"

    "There is no him," I dead-pan coldly, leaving no room for him to babble on as he usually does. 

    Alex knows me better than anyone. He knew me before my parents died and even re-knew me when I changed after they passed. He knows they passed, but I can never fully tell him the circumstances surrounding their death. Not that he asks about them, he knows better than to bring them up to me. 

    "Hey!" I hear someone from the field yell. Alex and I both turn to the field where a brunette football player throws his helmet to the ground, so hard the white guard snaps away from the baby blue shell. 

    I narrow my eyes. Thomas Jefferies. He's on my list, his whole family is. 

    My little notebook metaphorically burns a hole in my tote bag, as if the names written there can sense its owner nearby. 

    Thomas aggressively grabs his teammate by the collar, shaking him around and screaming words in his face until one of his friends, Levi Callahan, comes running over and pulls his best friend away from the scared boy. He pushes Thomas by his chest, shaking his head and moving him further away all while Thomas keeps yelling at the other boy. 

    "Tommy used to be such a nice guy. Guess it's true that most people become dicks once they go to college," Alex shakes his head, watching the scene unfold. Most people at our college went to a high school close by, considering Renfield is built on the sad accomplishments of underachievers, most people who couldn't make something of themselves in time for deadlines end up here. Unfortunately, that meant almost everyone knows everyone.

    Almost as if he hears us talking about him, Thomas turns and looks up at us from our position at the top of the bleachers. He doesn't shield his eyes from the sun, or even squint to try and close the distance between us and his eyes. He sees us perfectly as he locks eyes with me and winks, teasing me with the subtleness of his actions. 

    "Did he just wink at you?" Alex questions from beside me. I don't turn to the blonde or even acknowledge him, refusing to be the first one to look away from the baby-blue-clad brunette below. 

    "Smart-ass," I mumble under my breath just as he flashed me a smile and turned away, running with his buddy off to another section of the field. I take out my little notebook of names, opening it and turning it away from Alex's eyes as I underline Thomas's name in red. 

    "Did something happen there? Feel like I just bore witness to the most intense eye-fuck that's ever happened," Alex gapes, laughing slightly in amusement. 

    I ignore him, tugging my bag up and over my shoulder before turning and walking off to the side to get down from the bleachers. I hear Alex making loud noises as he follows after me, jumping down each seat instead of walking down the steps like a normal person would. He finally lands flat on the ground, orange dust flaking his feet as he does so.

    He grabs my shoulders to stop me, looking me in my eyes as he speaks, "Mic. There's a study session tonight at Em's. I need you to come with me so I don't fail,"

    "No, Alex, I-"

    "Please," He yells, purposely making a scene as he drops to his knees in front of me, his hands held together as if I were his higher power and he was praying to me. 

    "Alex, you're embarrassing yourself," I sigh, looking over at the football players now looking our way. "Get up. I'll come for an hour,"

    I hate bringing unnecessary attention to myself, especially with one of my suspected blood suckers so close to me. Attention only means I'm no longer invisible, an advantage I can't afford to lose.

    "Two," He attempts to bargain.

    "One or none," I reply sternly. He thinks for a minute before nodding to himself and getting up, wiping the orange dust from his knees. 

    "You drive a hard bargain, Mic. But- Ow," He's cut off when a football smacks against his face with enough force to shove his head to the side. The ball falls at my feet as Alex cups his red cheek, turning to the field at the same time I do.

    Those fucking football players and their superiority complex, they think they're so cool because they peaked in high school and want to continue living in a fantasy all through college. 

    To my utter dismay, I spot none other than Thomas nonchalantly jogging over to us, an easy smile on his face. He always seems to carry himself in a way that screams confidence and being comfortable in his own skin, as if no one could touch him and he along with everyone else knew it. It's one of the telltale signs of someone being a leech, one he only developed in the past two years. I know he's a vamp, I just need one little thread of confirmation to give to my superiors. 

    "My bad, man," He grins, the humour in his voice only making me angry. He doesn't even bother to look at Alex as he leans down in front of my boots, reaching for the football. Before his fingertips can so much as graze the textured material, I kick my foot out and send the ball toppling somewhere under the bleachers.

    He pauses for only a moment, laughter bubbling from his lips before he stands up straight. His height made it so he had to stare down at me. God, if looks could kill I would be dead. 

    "Think that's funny?" He asked, noting the smile now present on my face and absent on his own. 

    "Maybe," I shrug, tilting my head in an effort to show him I'm not intimidated by him despite what he may or may not be. "You gonna apologise to my friend over there?"

   The sly grin returns to his face, looking more sinister than it did before. I watch the switch in him as it happens, the way his eyes stop conveying wickedness and fall into false innocence just before he turns to Alex and holds his hand out, "That's my bad again. I apologise for hitting you, Alex,"

    Alex looks at me as if asking my permission before reaching his hand out, clapping his against Thomas's in some sort of male bro-hug. "That's cool,"

Thomas lets go of Alex, turning to me with the look of innocence still painted across his face in a calculated way. "Better?"

    "Hmm," I hum in agreement, tilting my head to the side and shifting my eyes away from him, down to his pale arms that show no signs of blue veins or blood flow. I finally drag my eyes back up to him before nodding, "Now go fetch your ball," 

    Then, I turn away from him, bumping my shoulder against his bicep with force and walking away from him with Alex beside me. I ignore the feeling of his eyes boring into the back of my head. 

    I mentally groan, realising my anger and hatred towards the arrogance of his kind got the best of me. I was taught to ignore their kind and not interact with them in an attention-grabbing way. Making him fetch a football in front of his whole team was nothing if not notable.

    I am no longer invisible.