While Noelle was currently having a show down with her step-father, in a villa with in a gated community that only the super rich could gain access to, a young man in a polo shirt and a paid of black chino pants stood at his office door looking a the man sitting at his desk that looked similar to him self.

“Asher, welcome back.” The man sitting behind the desk clasped his hands together and smiled at the young man. “Care to explain this?”

“Explain what?” Asher narrowed his eyes. “Brother, care to explain as to why you are in my house unannounced?”

“I can’t be here? Or are you trying to hide this girl from the family?” Asher’s brother expression turned serious. “You do know our Knight family is not just business tycoons. We are hunters… Vampire Hunters.”

“Are you still talking about that old tale? Since when has a vampire last appeared? From what I know they were hunted down a two hundred years ago. Every last one of them. Our family has not hunted a single vampire since the great extermination. We only focus on the other races now and only when they get out of line. This girl may seem strange but what she did can be done any anyone well trained enough. I think you are just over reacting.” Asher walked over and unplugged is computer. “Also, going through my computer with out my consent is an invasion of privacy. That girl is just someone I took an interest in nothing more.”

“So the young prodigy of the Knight family is a pervert?” Asher’s brother grinned as he stood up. He had a faint lazy smile on his lips.

“I rather be a pervert than someone tied to the old ways. We are no longer the Knight family of the past. We are nothing more than police for the unknown. Even if this girl happened to be a one thousand year old vamp that our ancestors missed it would not mean a damn thing. Killing any race be it human or vampire is no longer something we can do with out permission from the higher ups.” Asher snorted in response. He looked at the black haired man who was wearing a black trench coat and back clothes form head to toe and shook his head. He know his brother would never understand.

Asher had built up Knight Global on his own ignoring the old ways since he saw no meaning in it. He did not see why any race should be watched over by his family any longer when there was no point. Most just lived out their days in peace. Those that committed crimes could be dealt with by the police.

“You are a disgrace to the Knight name! We Knights are hunters. You better hope this girl never shoes any trace of being a vampire or I will personally hunt her down and and pierce her heart right in front of you.” Asher’s brother grinned as he unsheathed a sword made of pure silver and rested it on his shoulder. But that smile did not last long. He suddenly found himself slammed against a wall and the same sword he was holding now pressed against his neck.

“Leon, I will say this here and now, if you even think of harming her I will kill you myself. Innocents should not be brought into family fight. You also have no proof that she is a vampire. You have seen my reports. All of them show that she is just a normal girl. I will be sure to tell Grandfather about this as well.” Asher slowly let his brother go. He flipped the sword in his hand around a few times before tossing it at Leon. “Remember, ever since I was old enough to hold a knife, you have never once beaten me. Just because I do not spend my time dealing with the unknown does not mean I have lost my touch. I swear on my name as a knight that I will not allow you to touch an innocent.”

“Tch… Asher, you never change. I will leave it at this for now but the first signs of her being a vamp and I will be there to kill her myself.” Leon sheathed his sword and fixed his unkempt clothes before walking to the door. “Don’t think so highly of yourself.”

“With your skills you are lucky to win against a goblin never mind a vampire.” Asher sneered. “You need stop peacocking around with those so called skills and maybe looked for a job working in fast food. I think you will get finally get somewhere in your life. Leave. I will be talking to Grandfather about this.”

“Hah! We will see. Tell Grandfather. The most he will do is send to train for a few months.” Leon gave Asher the middle finger before turning and walking out.

Asher narrowed his eyes, the temperature of the room dropping. “Seven…”

“Yes, my liege.” A shadowy figure appeared out of Asher’s shadow.

“Watch over the girl. But don’t do anything unless someone from the Knight family makes a move on hr. I don’t trust Leon. He is someone who bears grudges and is too stuck in the glory of our families past. You can go.” Asher waved his hand and the figure slipped back into his shadow disappearing as if it had never been there.

Asher walked over and sat down in his chair and looked at the silver haired beauty on the screen. He scratched his head feeling a little frustrated. She had only caught his eye due what she did with the pipe to stop the thief he never expected his brother to look so far into it and think the girl was a vampire. He let out a sigh before leaning back and closing his eyes. He hoped he did not bring the girl any trouble.

- - -

“Well?” Seeing how my good-for-nothing father was not answering, I questioned him again. But instead of an answer, he raised his hand, and with anger in his eyes, he slapped me across the face. I could have easily stopped him. The action was so slow that I could have danced around him ten times and returned to my normal position before it ever touched me but I didn’t move.

I could feel a slight stinging sensation on my face, but nothing more. It seemed my resistance to pain was very high now. “Heh. So this is your answer. From this moment on, you will need to fend for yourself. The salary you are getting for running the company will be the only thing you can get from now on. Since I am in charge of the house, the funds that are allotted by the estate lawyer to pay for everything every month, plus allowances, are now going to be put into a trust fund. Mr. Thatcher what ever father daughter relationship we had is now gone with that slap.”

“Wait! Noelle, I did that in a fit of anger.” The bastard reached out to stop me as I went to turn and leave. I quickly dodged his grasp and glared at him.

“Fit of anger, my ass. You hit me because your precious wife and daughter suffered due to trying to make my life miserable. Your daughter instigated her friend to slander me and ended up in the hospital. You are lucky I didn’t fucking kill her.

“You need to keep a leash on those two bitches before I really do kill them. Good dogs do not bite the hand that feeds them. Now that I am no longer willing to live under your oppression you better fucking keep your family in check. Always remember, I am the last of the Alastor name. You do not even have my mother’s last name nor did she ever take yours.” With these words, I turned and left. Luckily, the idiot seemed smart enough not to try to stop me again.

- - -

Weston's expression was not good. He had acted on impulse due to Noelle’s words. He hated how he had to suck up to a seventeen-year-old girl until everything was signed over. And only then could he finally act and take everything from her. But now, because of his own stupid impulse, he would need to work even harder. He had to regain the little bitches trust.

“If those idiots did not pick a fight with her for no reason…” Thinking of what his wife and daughter said and how Noelle was acting and just said to him, he was sure this all started with his daughter.

Angered to no end, he stomped off back towards the sitting room where his wife and daughter were sitting and talking as if nothing had just happened. “Maria! From now on you are to stay away from Noelle. Do not talk to her, look at her, or get any of your friends to confront her. If you do, you can forget about getting any money from me from now on. Because of your actions, I now have to work even harder to please the little bitch!”

“Why are you yelling at Maria? She didn’t do anything!” Linda did not like how her husband was now blaming her daughter.

“The same goes for you as well! If you ruin this for me, I will kick you both out of the house! You are not the only woman out there!” Weston looked at Linda coldly. She always spent so much money, but she never actually helped him with anything. She was like a pig on a farm. She ate, slept, and shit every single day, spending money like water. Once he gained the company, he could easily replace her with someone younger.

“What do you mean by that!?” Linda, who had always gotten her way until recently, couldn’t let Weston’s words slide. “Do you want to divorce me!?”

“If you do not start doing what I tell you then yes! Leave Noelle alone! When the time is right we will deal with things but you! You just promised me that you would behave yourself but what was the first thing you do!?”

- - -

I wonder if they know I can hear them with how much they are yelling. But hopefully this will allow me to live a more peaceful life for the next two weeks. I clicked the stop on my recorder pen. I will be able to head to Knight Global soon to do the innovation gathering. I just hope my idea will sell.

Once I have my own company and can begin manipulating stocks, I should be able to make my mother’s company go almost bankrupt. That is when I can swoop in and kick that bastard out. Since he has had control over the company for so long, it will be hard to win over the board. Only by making him look incompetent will I be able to gain the trust of the board members and finally take control.

I might be stepping on his toes quite early, but that is fine as well. It has given me a bit of a bonus reprieve thanks to Maria’s and her mother’s stupidity. Having this extra time will allow me to do many things.

I had just sat down on my bed when a knock came at my door. I couldn’t help but frown. Since I could tell who it was. I walked over and opened the door to my room and reached out with my hand, grabbing the person on the other side of it by the face and dragging her inside before closing my door.

“You did not seem to understand the words of leaving me alone.” My lips curled up as I looked at the fear in Maria’s face.

“Let go of me!” Maria tried to break my grasp, but instead, I just tossed her to the floor before placing my foot on her back, making sure she couldn’t get up.

“Maria, oh Maria. You seem to love delivering yourself to me. I do wonder are you a masochist?”

“What do you want to do!? If you hurt me my parents won’t let you off!” Maria’s fear was making her entire body shake as she looked up at me from the corner of her eye.

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you.” I knelt down, sticking my knee into Maria’s back.

“Ah!” Maria cried out, which made me chuckle.

“I only just rested my knee on your back. Why are you yelling? Imagine if I were to really use force. Would you even be able to take it? Now…”

I let my voice trail off as I gently caressed Maria’s face. She no longer had her previous arrogance I was so used to. She was being a very good puppy. “Tell me why did you come here after being told to not look for me?”

“I… I wanted to make a deal with you.” I could see Maria clenching her jaw. She seemed to be very reluctant to even talk with me. But I am sure she is only here to beg for money.

“And what deal can you make with me? It better be good or I might just accidentally do something I shouldn’t.” I gently took Maria’s fingers into my hand and caressed them.

“You are crazy!” Maria tried to pull her hand back, but I held it firm and began bending her index finger back to the top of her hand. “Ow! Stop! I am sorry! I didn’t mean that! I will tell you! I am sure you will want to know this! But you have to promise me not to cut my allowance off! I can’t live off a few hundred a month!”

“Hmmm… so you want your allowance, but what do you have that is worth that amount? As long as what you tell me is worth it, I might be willing to let you have some extra money.” I sat up and let her go. It was not like she could escape me.

I watched as she quickly got up and held her hand. The fear and hate in her eyes was very pleasing. “When I was younger I over heard something when I walked past Father’s study. Something about your mother. Mother and Father were talking and I heard that your mother’s death was not an accident.”

I furrowed my brow. I had a feeling this was the case, but I never had any proof. I will need to look into this. “And why are you so willing to tell me? Just for a few measly dollars, you would throw your own parents under the bus?”

“You don’t understand. I have to keep my image up. I hate you don’t get me wrong. Now that you are in charge of the money and I can only get money from Father, I can only come to you with this.” I raised an eyebrow. Was her image more important than her parents? How stupid was this girl? How stupid was I in my previous life!?

I felt ashamed at my previous self for being so stupid. How could I have been tricked by such an idiot? This girl just used her biggest trump card against me all for a few bucks. Sadly for her, we never agreed upon an amount. I guess I can give her a ten-dollar allowance.

“Alright, get out of here before you are found out. You will get your allowance at the end of the month.” I wanted to relax. Dealing with so many idiots in a single day made me lose a few brain cells.

Maria did not say a word as she left the room. In fact, she left so fast that one would think her pants were on fire. “Maybe she will be more useful than I thought.”

If I can use Maria’s stupidity and lure in her with money I can probably make her fight her own family. It would be very much amusing to see her clawing at Ryan or her mother for a few green bills.

“I guess if I want her to be a knife, I will need to show her a bit of hope.” I would give her a quarter of what she used to get, and every time she does something for me, I will give her a bit more. A carrot on a stick approach.

Feeling a bit better, I decided to go to the kitchen. I had not hired any new staff yet, so the sous chef was taking care of things. When I walked into the kitchen, he politely greeted me. “Young Miss.”

“Your name is Arron, right?” This young man was in his late twenties, but from what I remember, he was the only one nice to me in my previous life. He would sometimes sneak me some extra food when he could. He was honest, which was good.

“Yes, Miss. Is there anything you would like to eat I can have it ready soon.”

“No. I wanted to ask you, while it is just you here…” I walked close and whispered: “Who are you loyal to?”

I looked directly into his eyes. He did not avert his gaze at all. “You, Miss. My family has served the Alastor’s for generations. When my father was fired he had me come in under a different name to assist you with what I can.”

“Good. Make sure all food from the Thatchers is of their standing. Use normal grocery meat. There is no need to use the expensive meat from the butchers to feed a family of freeloaders. As a matter of fact, can you do me a favor?” I good idea just came to mind.

“What can I do for you, Miss?”

“I want you to bleed out all the meat in this fridge and put it into a food container that no one can see into. When your done send it to my room. I have a use for it.”

“I will do it right away, Miss. But what about the meat?” While there was confusion in his eyes, he still did not ask more than he should.

“You can cook it for the staff. Or feed it to the stray dogs. But none of it will be going to the Thatchers. I have already fed them enough over the past ten years.”

I returned to my room and sat down on my bed. Maria said that her father and mother had something to do with my mother’s death. If that is the case, that would mean everything was premeditated. They had planned things out from the beginning. But my mother did not seem like a stupid woman. Why would she marry Weston, of all people?

She was a businesswoman. Unless… she never planned on dying, no matter what tricks they pulled. I tapped my chin. My mother had the same looks as me. Red eyes and fangs. When I was young, I never thought much of it. She even had to cover up under the sun.

So if she was really a vampire and is like me and can heal quickly, then didn’t that mean that when she died, it was just a fluke?

“Fluke or not, they still were the cause of it all.” I licked my lips. Once I have enough money, I will start looking into things. Sadly, everything came down to money.

About an hour passed when a knock came at my door. I opened it to have one of the maids standing there with a thermos in her hand. “Miss. Arron asked me to give this to you.”

“Thanks. Tell Arron I said thanks as well.” I smiled at the maid, who blushed slightly before saying goodbye and running off. I am starting to think that Sophia was right about my smile. I wonder if I should put on the cold beauty facade to stop people from staring at me.

At any rate, in my hand was a thermos of gold. I have no idea how much blood he was able to drain out of the meat, but I do hope it is enough for me to stop my craving.

Even earlier, when I held Maria down, thoughts of sinking my teeth into her neck right along the vein that was barely visible under her skin floated through my mind. I had to restrain myself.

I locked my door to make sure no one could intrude on me before heading to the bathroom, and to make sure things were double safe, I closed and locked that door as well.

Once I double-checked the lock, I sat on the floor, leaning against the door itself, and took a deep breath. I looked at the thermos in my shaky hands and gulped. My mouth was already salivating.

I slowly twisted the top off, and what awaited me was the sweet smell I had been craving since last night. “It smells so good!” I licked my lips and brought the mouth of the thermos to them. I did not hesitate at all as the sweet smell permeated into my nose, and then the chilled, syrupy texture coated my tongue. I could feel the fluid flowing down my throat, quenching that craving that had been welling up inside me.

A feeling of euphoria spread throughout my body, but before I could fully enjoy these new sensations. I sucked up the last drop from the thermos. I even used my finger to clean the sides as far as they could reach.

“Gone already?” I couldn’t help but whine as I patted the bottom of the silver metal thermos over my mouth, trying to make sure I got it all. “Maybe I can get the rest if I swish some water around inside.”

You can say my mind was pretty much consumed with the thought of blood. One thing I did realize, though, when I looked into the mirror, was that my eyes were currently glowing red, and my fangs seemed to have grown a bit more.

But that was beside the point as I filled the thermos up and swished the water around, getting all the blood I could off the sides before downing it and doing it again until the water was completely clear.

“This is unfair…” I sighed as I stared at myself in the mirror. I actually felt satiated. But I still wanted more. “If I were to tie Maria up in a room with an IV to pull a pint of blood out of her she should be fine by the next day right?”

My mind was spinning with ideas of how I could turn Maria into a blood bank. But I am not sure If I would want to drink tainted blood. Well… to be honest, with how bad my craving was this time, I would probably drink any blood. I mean, I just drank the blood of many animals, all mixed into a single cocktail.

“I should clean up and just take a shower. I will probably have a long day tomorrow.” With David now in the picture and how he acted today I do believe I will end up needing to deal with him sooner rather than later. At least enough to get him off my back.

The next morning, I woke up feeling very refreshed. I didn’t even feel hungry, which was a good thing since I did not wish to even see any of the Thatchers. I was already in a good mood so having to meet with one of them would just ruin it for me.

Yes, I could leave if I wanted and stay at a hotel or something, but the thought of letting them have free reign over my house did not sit well with me at all. It would be too good of an opportunity for them to change the locks and squat.

Tom drove me to school, where I made my way to my class and sat down in my seat. I took out my phone and confirmed the date of the innovation gathering before looking up stocks. I did plan to invest what I could as well. There were a few stocks that gave out quarterly dividends. This would allow me to make some extra cash on the side.

It would not be much to start, at most two hundred and fifty bucks for a stock that gives two dollars in dividends. And that is only if I use a hundred thousand to invest. Now that I am thinking about it, this would really not be worth it. I think it would be better to just day trade for a few days and double my income. But to do that, I would need to be able to access the internet at all times. But I can turn twenty-five thousand into much more as long as I follow the stocks I memorized in my past life.

Of course, this all comes down to my successful bid at the innovation gathering. If it fails, then I will need to come up with a new method of gaining enough money to start a company. Maybe dip into my mother’s company's funds. Hopefully, I will not need to do that.

A noise entered my ears, causing me to lift my head from my phone. At the door stood Billy Harris, who was holding a bag. He was just standing there staring at me in a daze. “What’s wrong? Never seen a girl before?”

“Huh?” Billy snapped out of his daze and blushed from ear to ear. I suddenly realized that this class bully was nothing more than a love-struck fool. Not that I care. I would never give him the time or day.

“Just stop staring. It makes me feel sick.” I said with a snort. He was a person I had no major issues with as long as he stayed away from me. Yes, he did bully me in my past life, but that was mainly instigated by Kelly Carter, Maria’s best friend.

“Oh! Sorry! I didn’t mean to.” Billy became panicky which was kind of amusing. But that was it. Just amusing.

“It’s fine.” I stopped paying attention to him and went back to my phone, but I did not get much peace because not even two minutes passed when my name was being yelled, as if I had killed someone.

“Noelle Alastor! What did you do to Maria!” I looked up to see a face that was twisted with anger, glaring at me as if I had robbed them from head to toe of all their belongings.

“Kelly making such a face makes you look like the scarecrow from that horror movie. You might want to be careful in case your face sticks like that. Although you might have a long career ahead of you if you do not mind long days under the sun strapped to a pole.” I really had to make this girl angry. As long as she attacked me, I could kick her ass in the name of self-defense.

“Hahahah!” Of course there was someone a few seats in front of me laughing his head off. “Scarecrow! It fits! Hahahaha!”

“You!” Kelly’s expression went from being red with anger to being redder from anger and embarrassment. “Billy stop laughing! Didn’t you wish to date me? I will agree if you punch this bitch in the face.”

“Oh? He can try.” I titled my head and smiled as I spoke calmly. I did not mind a little morning exercise.

“Kelly, I don’t date ugly girls. I never once stated that I wanted to date you. So don’t even think of about trying to get me to be your knife. Even if you paid me all the money in the world, I would not touch a single hair on Noelle’s head.” Billy turned to me, smiled his best smile, and winked at me. I gagged and stood up, placing my phone in my hoodie pocket before walking toward Kelly.

“Kelly, do you think I am as easy to bully as before? Do you think you can walk in here and target me and think you can get away with it?” I asked slowly. I was not walking fast. I was taking my time as I walked over to her with my hands inside my pockets.

“You have really turned a new leaf! Do you think I am scared of you? Come on I will teach you a lesson and make you return to how you were befo-Ah!” I watched as Kelly suddenly lurched forward and fell on top of a desk before landing on the floor.

“Get the fuck out of my way! Why the hell are you blocking the doorway!?” I held my head when I heard the familiar voice. Why did she keep getting all the juicy bits? I watched as Sophia walked in with an angry expression. At least it was angry until she turned and looked at me. Sophia’s lips curled up as a smile bloomed on her face. And like a bunny rabbit, she bounced over to me. “Elle!”

I reached out and placed my hand on her head, keeping her from hugging me. “No hugs, you ruined my fun.”

“What!? Why not!?” Sophia looked as if she was going to cry but I ignored it. I guess seeing how I was not going to give in made her decide to turn her anger on someone else because she turned and looked at Kelly, who was slowly climbing up off the floor, and kicked her back down again. “It’s all because of you, isn’t it!”