by Harold Wall
as her lungs screamed for air, and started praying that he'd let it drop and go back to class.
Finally, after another couple of scary seconds, the teacher stepped out.
"Is there a problem out here, Mr. Kallahan?" the teacher asked.
Storm didn't answer at first. "No, it's nothing, sir." he said quietly.
"Then, please, this is important for tomorrow's exam." The teacher gestured for Storm to return to class.
He did without another word and the teacher followed suit.
Emerald finally uncovered her mouth and dashed, board in hand, to the Marriott. She'd just wasted three of her five minutes.
Thankfully she somehow managed to make it to the front of the Marriott with twenty seconds to spare. Emerald looked at her watch and just as the numbers changed a black car
pulled up to the curb, right in front of Emerald. If Anthony didn't happen to be an evil Night Worlder he and Carter would be perfect for each other, seeing as they were both
punctual.
The car parked at the curb and four vampires stepped out, including Anthony. Two stood behind Emerald like bodyguards, except they were doing the opposite of protecting her.
"Where are they?" Emerald asked as soon as Anthony stepped out.
"Straight to the point, huh?" Anthony asked like nothing was happening, like he wasn't threatening three innocent lives for one that didn't deserve to live.
Emerald glowered at him. "I'm not going anywhere or doing anything until you let me see them. Until you let them go. And they had better not have a single scratch on them, or so
help me, you will regret it."
Anthony dropped his charming teenage boy façade and met her glare evenly. Without looking away he said, "Bring 'em out."
The other two vampires walked back to the car, opened the doors and folded the chairs back. Mackenzie, Danny, and Carter stepped out. They all looked frazzled with their faces
smudged with dirt. The two vampires lined them sidebyside on the sidewalk and stood between them.
"I'm sorry," Emerald apologized. "I never meant for any of this to happen."
"I should've known you'd be involved in something like this." Danny sneered.
"Don't say that!" Carter exclaimed standing up for her friend. "You guys are so horrible! I thought she was our friend!"
"Yeah, so did I." Mackenzie shot back glaring at Emerald. Then she shot daggers at Carter. "But look what she got us into."
"It's not her fault! She said she didn't want this to happen—"
"But it did, Carter! It did! And we can't ever go back!"
"Why are saying that! That's not fair to her!" Carter took a step forward and the two vampires standing next to them overreacted, reaching forward and taking hold of her.
"Don't you touch her!" Emerald growled lunging toward them. The two behind her however had anticipated this and quickly grabbed her arms. Emerald was about to beat them up
but Anthony intervened.
"Guys! Let them go. That's an order." Anthony barked. All four of the vampires let go of Carter and Emerald and stepped back into their places.
Emerald turned toward Anthony.
"You'd better watch it, Winters." she hissed threatening. "You don't know the things I can do. You don't know how I was trained. I can break bones and crush tendons. I could drive
your ribs into your lungs. I could rip your trachea right out of your throat. Touch them one more time and you'll find yourself wishing you were dead by the time I'm through with
you."
Anthony's jaw worked as he gave Emerald a black look. But he wasn't the first one to talk.
"You disgust me." Danny spat. "You're clearly not the person I thought you were."
"How could you ever say anything like that to anyone?" Mackenzie asked appalled. "It's horrifying. Why would you ever want to learn such a thing? That's not human. You're…
soulless."
To Emerald's surprise Carter still stood up for her. "Guys, don't say that!" She had tears in her eyes. "I'm sure that she had her reasons for that kind of… training."
"Looks like theirs some friction between you and your socalled friends, Emerald." Anthony commented smugly.
"Don't listen to any of them Emerald. II'm still your friend." Carter said weakly.
Emerald shrugged. "They're right, though." she said, her head down, lifting her hands to examine them. "I'm nothing but a coldblooded killer. All I do is kill." she whispered. She
dropped her hands and looked back over at Carter, Mackenzie and Danny. "You guys need to go now." Danny and Mackenzie left without a word but Carter was more reluctant to
go.
"Emerald, I can't… I can't leave you here." Carter whispered as tears spilled from her eyes. She was brave, Emerald had to admit that.
"No. You're out of danger. Just go." Emerald ordered.
They stared at each other for a moment before Carter got a determined look in her eyes. She nodded once and ran off down the street. For some reason Emerald didn't feel
comforted now that they were away from any immediate danger.
When Carter disappeared around a building, Emerald turned to face Anthony again.
"Let's go." she said.
Anthony smiled and opened the backseat door for her.
"Ladies first," He gestured.
Taking a deep breath, Emerald walked forward and got into the car.
The last bell had rung and Storm headed out of his English class with a horrible feeling. What had Emerald been doing standing outside his classroom today? Why did she run when
he saw her? Why didn't she come out and talk to him when he came out? Storm's stomach sank as he thought of all the possibilities that could've happened that would lead Emerald
to act like that. None of them were good.
Storm was just closing his locker when his name was called, frantically and breathlessly. He turned and looked around the crowded hallways, scanning for who could've called his
name.
"Storm!" It called again from his right. He locked onto a small girl, pushing through the crowds faster than Storm thought possible. Her fiery, copper curls bounced as she ran and
her eyes were wide. Her clothes looked ruffled and worn and her face had smudges of dirt.
Storm stepped forward just as Carter broke through a crowd of freshmen boys and girls and crashed into him, gripping his arms for support.
"You… you have to come!" she gasped out of breath. "You have to… help!" She was also sobbing.
Storm helped her to her feet. "What, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Storm asked frantically looking down at Carter.
"Please, you have… to come." she sobbed gasping for air, barely able to talk.
"Carter, maybe you should sit down and—"
"No! No! There's no time for that!" Carter yelled suddenly finding strength to grab Storm's wrist so tight it cut off his circulation, and jerk him forward, toward the exit. "She needs
our help!"
By the time Storm could compose himself and stop Carter they'd already burst through the doors and stumbled down the steps. "Carter, you need to tell me what happened. We
can't go running into the darkness. It's dangerous. You need to tell me what's going on." he argued.
"Emerald! They… they took Emerald. It was our fault. They used us as bait. I wanted to stay but she… she wouldn't let me. We have to go help her!" Carter quickly explained.
"No, I need to go help her. You need to go home and rest. See your family. Emerald would kill me if I dragged you back into danger again." Storm told her calmly.
Carter's eyes blazed with fury. "No! I'm going. She is my friend. She's been loyal to me. She's been there for me. She's always had my back. She saved my life. I'm not going to let
you tell me what to do. I'm going whether she likes it or not."
"You have visitors." Anthony called, stopping Emerald in her tracks. She'd been pacing every since they'd thrown her in here. It wa
s a relatively small room with cement walls and a
small rickety bed frame holding about a fiveinch cot. There was a small bathroom which had the same, dull, dank, cement walls.
The door opened and Emerald looked, blinking at the white light filtering through the open door, illuminating the prison she was being kept in.
What did he mean by visitors? Who could it possibly be? Two figures were thrown in, but the light behind them was too bright, and inside was too dim. She couldn't tell who they
were.
But after the door slammed closed and Emerald's eyes adjusted her mouth fell open and her eyes widened even more.
"I can't believe you!" Emerald angrily whispered at Storm. Carter had crawled onto the cot and was sleeping now. Emerald and Storm were having a heated discussion on the other
side of the room. "You brought her with you! What were you thinking? I didn't give myself up to have her land back here!"
Storm put his hands on Emerald's shoulders. "Emerald, calm down. Just listen, please—" Emerald shook his hands off and started pacing, letting out a frustrated sigh.
"You just don't get it! She is too fragile for this stuff. She won't know what's going on here. How am I supposed to explain this to her? I'm not going to let you wipe her memory. It's
just so risky…." Emerald trailed off biting her lip.
"Emerald, you don't give Carter very much credit. She's a lot stronger than you realize. I mean, she's endured three days here. She ran back to school to find me for
explained.
"So? You can't expect her to be able to go through these next few days. Things are going to get messy." Emerald warned. "My father—" Emerald broke off and cringed. "II can't let
that happen to Carter." she whispered tears filling her eyes. Emerald turned away her stomach tightening into knots, and quickly wiped her tears away.
"He's been biting you again, hasn't he?" Storm asked quietly.
"No, it's fine. I'm fine." Emerald's voice shook.
Storm took a step toward her, grabbing one of her arms and pulling her sleeve up, to reveal several bite marks on her wrist.
"Emerald—"
Emerald jerked her hand out of his grasp and pulled her sleeve back into place. "I'm fine." she repeated. "It's not like I haven't gone through this before."
"Emerald—" Storm tried again.
She spun on him her eyes rimmed red and bloodshot from all the rubbing and tears. "You don't understand! Carter will never be the same after this! It's going to be too much for
her! I don't even know how I'm going get out now. You ruined my whole plan, showing up like this." Emerald started pacing and babbling on. "And I can't even believe that you'd
purposefully put yourself in danger just to see me. I would've found a way out, or you could've at least thought of a way to get me without getting caught. There's just so much to
think about now. I mean, Carter's life for one, and then you and me, and—"
Storm cut Emerald off just as she turned back toward him by pressing his lips against hers. He wrapped his arm around his waist and knotted one of his hands in her silky hair. Her
eyes slid closed and she kissed him back, greedily, selfishly enjoying the moment of being with Storm again.
There were more noises but they weren't small like the ones heard previously. Talking? Was it talking? The noise was deep, low, and continuous. The small noises started up again,
louder this time, broken yet melodic, like a heartbeat. It suddenly spiked the sound snapping Emerald out of her haze. Her eyes snapped open, but drooped immediately. She could
barely keep them open.
Worse still the room was hazy and fractured. Like she was only sensing the things around her but her brain didn't perceive them; wasn't turning them into meaningful objects and
sounds.
Something beneath her was cold and uncomfortable. The small noises continued sometimes overrun by louder, stronger noises. The room was dim but she couldn't distinguish any
objects' outlines.
Emerald rolled onto her back, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to get her brain to work properly. Something was wrong. She could just feel the emotions in the air. Someone
was in trouble or… or hurt. She needed to help them! But in this state there was no chance she'd be able to even tell where they were in the room.
The sound spiked again. It was like getting a slap to the face for Emerald. She gasped as the situation she was in came crashing down onto her again. Her eyes rolled in her head
as she looked around the room again, but this time recognizing the shape of the room, the door to the bathroom, the small cot and two people. One was cowering on the cot in the
far corner while the other stood over: a looming, villainous shadow.
The red of the girl's hair stood out against the stark background and Emerald realized it was Carter. She realized the small noises had been whimpering and the spikes had been her
screaming. The low bass had been Anthony.
Emerald's heart fluttered in her chest seeing her friend like that. Her muscles tensed getting ready to jump up and pull Anthony away and beat him up, but they weren't responding
to the commands her brain was sending to them. Her limbs wouldn't budge, like she was paralyzed. Emerald fought to rid her body of this strange Night World toxin probably
flowing through her veins right now, mixing with her blood.
Carter was in trouble. She needed to be helped immediately!
Carter let out a yelp.
"Anthony," Emerald managed to mumble.
"No, Emerald… II'm fine." Carter said, though her voice shook and tears stained her cheeks.
Emerald took a breath. "No," she said weakly. "Don't… listen to her, Anthony. She's too scared. You wouldn't have… any fun." Emerald coaxed.
Anthony stepped back from the cot and started toward Emerald.
"No! No, don't do this! Really, II'm fine." Carter tried.
Emerald forced her head to turn a faction of an inch. She met Anthony's eyes.
"You know you want to." she whispered. Anthony was at her side, kneeling over her in an instant. Emerald relaxed slightly now knowing her friend was out of danger, for now at
least.
Anthony smiled and chuckled.
"You make a convincing argument." he told her pointedly, reaching out to stroke her cheek.
Emerald turned her head back toward the ceiling. "Just get it over with and leave my friend alone." she whispered.
Anthony reached forward slipping one arm underneath her waist and lifting her off the floor, then he gently grabbed some of her hair and pulled her head back, arching her neck. It
was different. The feeling was different. She'd never had a vampire feed off her like this before. Not even when she was with her father and his buddies.
It felt wrong. Emerald didn't like it. All her instincts were screaming at her do something, but even if she could move her body, she wouldn't. Not if it kept Carter safe.
Not if it kept Carter from getting bitten, because after that first bite; the first time you see the person you thought was normal transform into some demonic monster from horror movies; the first time you see the liquid silver ignite their eyes; the first time you see their long, deadlysharp fangs; the first time you connect with something so monstrous, so
heartless, soulless; the first time you feel the life literally being sucked from your body… nothing is ever the same after that.
Just as Anthony's canines sunk into the soft flesh of her neck, Emerald realized two things: How did she not know that Anthony was a vampire and the other, that Storm was
nowhere to be seen.
"What's your father like?" Carter asked simply out of curiosity.
Ever since Storm and Carter's arrival, they'd added two more cots which were welded to the floor, as some kind of precaution Emerald supposed. Carter was sitting on one
perpendicular to the one Emerald and Stor
m were sitting on.
"He's arrogant and immature. He lacks any taste or refinement. He's a sadistic, egotistic thing that has the mentality of an eighteenyearold and runs away from responsibility and
commitment." Emerald stated simply and monotoned.
The vaulted door swung open with a clang making Carter and Storm jump slightly. Emerald merely turned to look over her shoulder as if she knew he was going to come in at the
exact moment.
"I take real offense to that." her father's voice came as he stepped in with Anthony and some his other goons. The door closed behind them.
"You should." Emerald responded standing up to meet them, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
"Now, young lady, that is no way to talk to your father." Jonathan reprimanded. It was horrible how much Emerald and Jonathan looked alike. Of course, Emerald had inherited all
her mother's looks (although this man did have black hair as Trinity and Emerald), but Storm could blatantly see this man was her father. The way he stood with superiority, his
head lifted high, the way his eyes raked across the room, freezing everything they saw. Emerald stood exactly like that, her eyes did exactly that when she got angry or let the
hunter inside her come out.
"I've been over this with Trinity before." Emerald told him meeting Jonathan's eyes, which—Storm hated to admit—looked exactly like Emeralds, right down the sapphire ring on the
outside and changing of colors. "I don't see a father, I see a poor excuse of a man who ran away from commitment to join the Night World."
"Emerald," Storm warned quietly.
Anthony stepped forward. "No, it's good to talk about our issues. To clear the air and say what we feel. Isn't that right, Emerald?" he asked in a mocking tone with a demeaning
smile.
Emerald didn't answer as he walked past her. She turned following his every move. He was going toward Carter whose eyes were wide and stricken. Her hands were balled up into
fists and her jaw taut. As Anthony approached she backed up until she hit the wall.
Emerald lunged toward him, ready to stop him, but Jonathan came up and put a hand on the base of her throat, grabbing one of her arms as well.
"I don't think so," Jonathan sang smugly.