I slide the glass of orange juice over to the other side of the table. Alex sits with his head in his hands, rubbing his temples aggressively. I lightly grin at him, watching as he takes the glass and tips the contents down his throat. 

    "I've never felt this sick before," He groans. 

    "Hangovers aren't usually great," I dead-pan, internally hating the fact that I have to lie to him. But, if he doesn't remember anything leading up to him waking up in my bed, I should keep it that way. It's better for him if he doesn't know. Especially considering he saw how Thomas moved and I didn't exactly want to explain to him how Thomas could disappear like that as well as get a knife through the hand and not have the scar to prove it.

    "That's just it. I've never felt a hangover like this before and I've had a lot of them," He replies, refilling his glass to the brim with orange juice. 

    "Well, you drank enough that you lost a whole day, that's gotta pack a punch," I throw off. 

    "Yeah but... I don't know. Something just feels... off," He ponders, taking small sips from his glass. I swallow, diverting my eyes down to the table in front of me and mentally tracing the wooden lines. "You don't think I was roofied do you?"

    "What?" I almost gasp, jolting my head up to eye my best friend once more. "I doubt it but, maybe you should avoid Yasmin Ward's parties for a while, just to be safe," 

    "Maybe you're right," He signs, dropping his chin into his open palm. "How the fuck did I end up in the woods, though?"

     I stifle a laugh, noting the small smile on his face as if he's finding the humour in even the most confusing and scary situations. "You always run off when you're drunk, Alex. Maybe the roofies gave you super speed,"

    The second I mention super speed, his eyebrows furrow and his gaze drops below, as if the words trigger a memory so close to his tongue he can taste it. "Y'know I do remember one person,"

    "Who?" I ask, a knot tying itself in my gut. I pray to whoever can hear me that he doesn't remember any identifying features of a Vampire. I do not want him caught up in everything. 

    "That guy from school, Levi.... whats-his-face,"

    "Callahan?" I question.

    "Yeah, him. It's not clear but I remember him telling me something I just can't put my finger on it," He shakes his head, beginning to rub at his templates. The second he moves his head, I notice something behind his ear. I can only catch a small glimpse of it but it looks like a flesh wound of some kind.

    Without freaking him out, I reach over and push his hair out of his eyes casually, slightly pushing his head as I did so to see the mark clearer. My blood boils when I see two small puncture wounds, the perfect size for two sharp canines to fit into. 

    I hide my anger, looking into his blue eyes to see him already staring intently at me. "You need another shower. There's still pieces of the woods in your hair," I come up with a lame explanation, lifting my hand to show a small piece of a leaf in between my fingers. 

    "Mic-"

    "I'll handle everything, okay?" I try to reassure him, silently begging him to just listen to me so I can sort out those asshole bloodsuckers once and for all. "Just rest today. You have an exam tomorrow, remember?"

    He looks down, nodding slightly. "You're right. I'm going to go home and sleep. Come over later?"

    "I would but, Alis wants to do family night tonight," I lie, chewing on the inside of my bottom lip. I tell Alex that Alis insists on family night once a week, I throw the excuse under the blanket of my parents being dead, meaning he can't argue or question why my cold sister cares about something as silly as a family night. But, in reality, Alis and I spend all night hunting while Leila stays home with the house sealed. 

    "Ugh, I'm sick of fighting your sister for your presence," He says playfully, pushing his palms flat on the table to steady himself as he stands up. I stand up next to him.

    "I'll drive you home," I tell him, grabbing my keys from the kitchen table and walking towards the front door. 

    The second I open the red front door, the sight of Alex's Jeep almost punches me in the face. I haven't seen that thing since we went to Yasmin's party and last I guessed, it was either still there or in a car yard somewhere. 

    "Did you get my jeep back for me?" He turns to me with a grin. 

    I try to stop my mouth from gaping open in surprise at the site of his vehicle, instead, plastering a humble smile on my face. "Yep,"

     "Have I ever told you how much I love you, Michaela?" He asks rhetorically, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and pulling me into his side. "Platonically, of course,"

    "Of course," I repeat, walking down the steps with him and towards his car. "You should still not be driving today,"

    "I know the drill," He sighs, opening the door and climbing into the passenger seat of the jeep. I move to the back of the car, opening the back doors and pulling the motorbike hitch out that he keeps just for me. I install it onto the back of the car before moving over to my bike and pushing it over the hitch. "Hey, Mic!"

    "Yeah?" I call back, dusting my hands off and walking over to the driver's side of the car. 

    "There's a note in here with your name on it," 

    I furrow my eyebrows, getting to the driver's side door and opening it. Alex sits in the passenger, holding the note out for me to grab. Inspecting the folded-over note, I see my first name written in old cursive. I flip the note over, inspecting the single sentence written on the page.

    You know where to find me
    - T

    Instantly, I crumble the note up in my hands before tossing it behind me and into the back seats. Alex eyes me sceptically but doesn't say a word. The keys for the Jeep sit snuggly in front of the gear selector, all additions to Alex's keychain intact. I reach for them and start the car, pulling out of the driveway and onto the street.

    "So..." Alex trails off, tapping his thighs awkwardly. "Who's T?"

    "No one," I dead-pan.

    "Is it Tommy?" He asks, a sly grin on his face. 

    "Probably," I reply, not listening to any more of his questions as I get closer to his house.

    "What's the deal with him anyway?" He asks once more, lifting his foot up until it's resting on his seat with him. "He's so weird. He became such an asshole out of nowhere and now it seems like he's everywhere," 

    "Tell me about it," I grumble, turning into his driveway. I don't want to talk about Thomas or anything else to do with him and that world. I can't answer some questions without answering the others and I don't want to lie to him more than necessary. 

    We both climb out, closing the doors behind us as I toss the keys to Alex. He catches them and follows me to the back of the car, standing beside me as I unlatch my bike from the hitch. 

    "Is everything okay?" He asks in concern. I nod, taking my bike off the hitch and tucking the metal back into the back of his car. 

    "Yeah, why?"

    "It seems like something's bothering you lately. You've always been kind of distant and secretive and I'm used to it. But, I don't know, something's different," He rambles, watching as I climb onto my motorcycle and hold my helmet in front of the handlebars. 

    "I just have a lot going on at the moment, Alex," I dismiss him, looking down at my helmet, and rubbing my thumbs over the old stickers plastered on the helmet. The black and white stickers stare back at me, everything from a girl with 4 eyes, an arm reaching from a cloud, a realistic heart and a realistic angel, all of them reminding me of a time Alex and I pasted it on the protective device. 

    "So just tell me," He grins, standing in front of the bike and bracing his hands on the front, leaning forward to get closer to me. "It can't be that bad,"

    I look down at his hands, a mark on the top of his left hand catching my eye. I'm not sure how I didn't notice it earlier, but now, the hot pink mark is almost impossible to miss. My mind goes back to the shitty photo Constance took. Despite the horrible quality of the photo, the colour is unmistakable. 

    Two letters sit in the middle of a circle: Y and W with the ends of the W shaped into points. Although smudged and faded, I can still make out what it looks like.

     Those initials only point to one bloodsucker bitch. 

    "I hunt Vampires," I say truthfully, no expression on my face as Alex rolls his eyes and laughs. Even though it is the truth, I know he won't believe a word I say, especially when it comes to something like this.

    "Very funny, Mic. I'm being serious, though. I'm your best friend," He attempts to reason. 

    "Just," I sigh, dropping my shoulders in defeat. "Give me space, Alex,"

    He stares at me for a second before standing up straight, a hurt look on his face. "Space is all I give you, Michaela,"

    "I know," Is all I say before placing my helmet over my head and riding away from him and this conversation. 

    Maybe it's for the best if I distance myself from Alex for a while. The closer he gets to me, the closer he gets to the dangers of a hidden world, one he should never have to be a part of the way I was. 

    The wind rips against my exposed arms as I barrel down the road, thinking about that note left for me. 'You know where to find me'. 

    My eyes narrow in my helmet, feeling determined to figure out what the hell is going on.