Sam Winchester had moved into the small town only a couple of weeks ago.

The house he rented sat near the end of a quiet street. It was small, simple, and mostly empty—just the essentials. A couch, a table, a bed, and thick curtains that stayed closed most of the day. Sam liked it that way. Quiet. Private.

He kept to himself.

Small towns had a way of noticing things, and Sam couldn’t afford that. Not with what he was.

Being a vampire meant living carefully. He avoided people when he could and kept interactions short. The less anyone knew about him, the better.

But his neighbor made that difficult.

Elena lived right next door, and from the moment he moved in she had been overly friendly. Always waving when she saw him, always trying to start conversations when he stepped outside. She seemed determined to be close with him.

Sam did the opposite.

He kept his replies short, avoided staying outside too long, and made sure there was always some distance between them. It wasn’t that he disliked her.

It was that being around her was dangerous.

He could hear her heartbeat when she stood too close. Could smell the warmth of her blood in a way no human ever could.

And that hunger was something he worked very hard to control.

Sometimes, late at night, he left town to feed. He found someone alone, compelled them to stay calm, took just enough blood to satisfy the hunger, and then compelled them to forget everything afterward.

It was controlled. Careful.

No one ever remembered.

No one ever knew.

That was how Sam intended to keep it.

One Monday morning, the street was quiet as Sam stepped outside to grab the mail from his mailbox. He flipped through the small stack of letters absently before glancing up.

Next door, Elena was standing in her yard watering the flowers along her lawn.

She looked over and noticed him there.

“Hey uh good morning Elena.”

Sam said with a polite wave, not really intending for the conversation to go any further.