The middle-aged vendor sent me occasional glances as Khloe looked through the assortment of pastries through the glass case.

I just stood silently by the cash register, waiting for her to decide what she wanted.

I had planned on visiting the pharmacy after this to restock on certain items once we were done here.

However, it seemed like Khloe was having difficulty deciding what she actually wanted.

If she wanted to go here out of all the places in this city than I guess it's understandable for her to take some time to decide exactly what she wanted.

Seeing that she would be looking for quite a few more minutes, I folded up her leash before placing it in my pocket.

I had taken it off a few minutes ago, knowing for a fact that she wouldn't dare try to run if I had my back turned.

Part of me wanted to go ahead and say that the idea had never even crossed her mind.

I looked back up seeing as she stared at the little piece of paper that sat in front of one of the pastries.

A sad look crossed her face followed by a quiet sigh before she shifted her gaze to another set of pastries.

"What are you doing?" I asked, curious about her actions.

She looked up at me cautiously, like I had caught her doing something she shouldn't have been doing.

"I'm uh," she turned back towards the baked goods, "Making sure I don't get anything too expensive."

I just blinked at her for a moment.

Of course.

"The price doesn't matter, Khloe. You can get whatever you want."

Her eyes widened before they practically lit up.

"Really?" Her excitement was evident in her voice.

I just nodded.

Money really wasn't an issue.

Plus the fact that I haven't even sent a negative glance to the vendor that was looking at me like I had just killed his daughter should have been payment enough.

God, humans annoy me.

My thoughts were turned away when one of the only exceptions to that spoke up to the vendor.

"Id like one of these, please!"

~~~

I had left Khloe to eat her apple fritter on the bench outside while I browsed through the pharmacy grabbing everything that I needed.

Even though I had discontinued my job as a doctor, I still liked to have certain things on hand.

I handed the cashier the appropriate amount of money after she had scanned all of my items.

It was about time that I had to get back to the collection.

I grabbed my receipt from the cashier who had failed in making any sort of eye contact with me and began to head out.

The stuff I bought should be delivered to my room tonight, so I just stuck the receipt in my pocket.

I paused however once I heard a familiar voice speak.

It was Khloe's, followed by another voice, one that I had never heard before, saying her name.

My eyes narrowed.

So instead of walking straight out the door, I walked closer to the one-sided mirrors this pharmacy used as windows, being barely amused by what I was seeing on the other side.

The other voice that I heard turned out to be the same boy that Khloe had recognized in the line.

The same boy that she told me that she didn't want to talk to.

Her statement held out to be true if the way she was pushing herself back against the bench meant anything.

But he didn't even seem to notice how uncomfortable she looked, he just sat down on the other side of the bench and kept talking.

I knew I should have gone out there to stop whatever was happening, but I kind of wanted to see how this was going to play out.

"Oh my god, I knew it was you! What are you doing here?" the boy asked her with his eyes wide.

He partially sounded relieved.

"I-I uhm..." Khloe was slow to answer, giving the boy another chance to barge in.

"Oh it doesn't matter," the boy started hastily, his voice now hushed " I saw the vampire that you were with. If we hurry, I can get you far away from here before he comes out."

Khloe's eyes went wide almost immediately, showing that she didn't even take time to consider what he had said.

Smart girl.

"Wh-what?!" She exclaimed.

The boy quickly shushed her, leaning towards her a bit.

"He might hear you if you're too loud, now come on." He said hastily.

Wow, this kid must really like her if he was going to try to do something this stupid. Not to mention his apparent lack of knowledge when it comes to a vampires sense of hearing.

I found it partially amusing that Khloe didn't even budge as he stood up.

Apparently, the boy didn't find it nearly as amusing.

"What are you doing? Let's Go!"

Sure, he could try to take her away.

Id let him think he got away with it before easily hunting both of them down and show him step by step exactly what happens when you steal from a vampire.

I was surprised to see her eyes flicker to the front doors of the pharmacy like she was hoping that I would be walking out.

She wanted me to get her out of this.

Which I will in due time, but I want to see how she responds.

"I-I don't think that's a good idea." She replied, hugging my jacket closer to her body.

The boy was silent for a moment as he stared at her with disbelief.

"You're kidding me right?" he questioned.

Khloe slowly shook her head, her nervousness now showing more than ever.

Which was understandable once I realized that the boy almost looked mad at this point.

"Are you serious? Khloe, you became a PET! I'm trying to help you! Why wouldn't you want to get away from this?!" his voice rose in volume yet it still stayed partially hushed.

Khloe looked back at the doors once more.

"Samuel I really do appreciate what you're trying to do here. I promise you I'm really ok where I'm at now and I really don't think that-"

"You know what? It doesn't matter." He said, cutting her off before he forcefully grabbed her wrist, "I'm getting you out of this."

Apparently, the pure look of fear she held on her face when he grabbed her was enough for me to stop watching and start intervening.

My grip was on the boy's wrist within a split second, watching as the priceless look of shock and fear flashed across his face.

I even heard an almost silent sigh of relief from Khloe once he let go of her wrist.

"Y'know, when a girl says no, that's not really an invitation for you to keep pushing it." I exhorted, glaring down at him.

Usually humans aren't worth glaring at but something about what he just did really pissed me off.

He seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment, fear stricken in his eyes.

He even tried in vain to pull his wrist free.

His look of fear quickly shifted into one close to bravery and anger.

I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes at the sight of it.

"I was trying to help her!" he snapped back, trying once more to rip his arm from my grasp.

My brows cocked up ever so slightly.

"What you were trying to do was steal from a vampire. At most, you were helping her get herself killed, followed by you shortly after." I spoke casually.

I never planned on killing Khloe, but he didn't need to know that.

His face blanched a pale white as his bravery shriveled into nothing.

Perfect.

I glanced at Khloe for a short moment, making sure that I wasn't scaring her too much.

What I wanted to do to him would definitely scare her more than I want...

I think I got my point across enough.

So, I released his wrist, causing him to fall a couple steps back since he was trying to pull it free.

He glanced at Khloe before focusing back on me.

His body language told me that he was completely terrified.

But why the hell was he just standing there?

"I suggest you get the hell away from us before I decide that a warning wasn't enough for you." I cautioned.

He took a few slow steps back, sending Khloe one last remorseful look before full on bolting in the opposite direction.

I watched as he did, making sure that I was pleased with the distance between us.

As soon as he was far enough away, I turned to Khloe.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

She had only relaxed slightly since I came out here, and her face was still showing some fear.

Somehow I knew that fear wasn't focused towards me.

Thankfully.

After a few moments, she nodded, looking towards where he had run off to.

"Y-yea," She stuttered.

I nodded, taking a single step closer to her.

"Nico I just want you to know that I never planned on going with him I just didn't know how to tell him that without him getting mad at me and I-"

"I know," I said calmly, cutting off her worries.

Her shoulders relaxed substantially after I spoke.

"You do?" She asked, looking up at me.

I nodded once more.

"I do," I extended my hand, offering to help her to her feet, "Now come on, we need to get going."