So, I'm at it again, with another re-write. This time for, as you can tell, my Night World stories. After re-writing my PJO story (Story of My Life →It's the Perfect Story), I read over these stories and didn't like the writing or characterization at all (same thing happened with my PJO story).

A lot of things about me have changed since I wrote and finished Nameless Faces and started Cold Comfort. Because I've changed, so has my writing style. I feel bad for not finishing Cold Comfort, but like I said, things have changed and I don't like my writing or characterization. I will, however, be keeping the other stories up because I'm too attached (though, I may take them off at some later point in time).

So, here I am, doing another re-write. The Emerald and Storm you knew are going to be completely different, and so will the story/plotline. I can't wait to see what you think of all of it!

TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of suicide.

Hope you enjoy!

"No mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore." Sigmund Freud

Scandal

The rumors were false.

This reputation of being easy had started when one of the boys she'd done a project with said she'd slept with him at one point. Most likely because he'd lost a chunk of time during one of their study sessions—a blank space in his memory that started with Emerald going over to his house and ended when he woke up, his mom telling him he'd fallen asleep so Emerald had left. She hadn't slept with him, she'd fed on him. Being a vampire, it was something that was vital to her survival. But wanting a somewhat normal life, she couldn't kill her victims.

Not that she ever wanted to. She'd seen enough killing in her life.

So, Emerald figured that to make himself look good (he wasn't a very popular kid and this was high school) he'd made up that rumor. Now it was her "type"—guys with cute, boyish looks, quite, unpopular, and studious. To be fair, that was who she picked to feed on, for personal reasons, but the rumor didn't make that any less annoying.

The rumors were actually the reason she'd been kicked out of her old school. Some of the guys who weren't "getting any" had cornered her at her locker one day. The leader of the group had pushed her against the lockers and tried to get a hand under her shirt, so she'd broken his nose. She would've broken his arm and maybe kicked him in the groin, too, but seeing as the justice system had come down with a horrible affliction called Victim Blaming, Emerald decided against it. A broken nose she could explain and get out of without too much trouble, hence the expulsion. A broken arm and serious damage to the groin would be a bit harder and include more than just expulsion.

Emerald hated moving schools. It was stressful and taxing. It wasn't really that the rumors bothered her so much, rather, she hated rumors and gossip in general. It was also so petty and vindictive. Did humans honestly have nothing better to do than say nasty things about other people?

In any case, this one particular rumor, she had to admit, did help her feed easier, and made it even easier to lure them into her waiting web.

And maybe this move wasn't so bad, really. She was only changing schools, not districts. To be honest, she was mildly surprised the district had even let her attend one of their other schools after what happened at her last one. Fortunately, she stayed close to home, much to her Aunt's appreciation. Unfortunately, that meant the rumors followed her, like a puppy.

First day of school and there were people already whispering to each other as she passed them in the hallways. Girls and boys alike. With her vampiric hearing, she knew exactly what they were saying. Mostly petty stuff, your average—she's not that pretty, she's a slut, she's easy; bets on who could get into her pants by the end of the day (even with her "type"), blah, blah, blah. She'd heard it all.

A girl to her left, standing next to her open locker with some of her friends (a mix of guys and girls) scoffed.

"Maybe she should get with that suicide kid," she murmured. That made Emerald falter in her steps and slow to stop. That was new. Who was this kid they were talking about, she wondered.

One of the guys laughed. "A match made in Hell."

Emerald turned her head slowly to look in their direction. The group collectively jumped and quickly averted their gaze. The girl who'd spoken closed her locker, hugging her books to her chest.

"Uh…come on guys, class is about to start," she murmured, a little flustered. Her eyes darted up to Emerald, who was still staring at the group. She quickly averted them again and started walking off. The group followed, throwing glances back at the strange raven-haired girl still staring at them with eyes as black as dark roast coffee.

Emerald watched the group go as the bell rang. She made no move to get to class, though, as students started toward their respective rooms. Soon, she was left in an empty hallway, with one or two kids darting into their classroom worriedly just as the second bell rang, signaling the start of first period.

Her mind still pondering the kid they'd mentioned, she slowly made her way to her first class—AP Psychology.

She opened the door as the teacher opened her mouth, just about ready to start the lecture. The lights were already turned off and she had a clicker in her hands so she could move around freely and change the slides.

The woman, Mrs. Grant, closed her mouth and looked at the girl coming into the classroom.

"Do you mind if I turn on the lights?" Emerald asked. Mrs. Grant shook her head. Emerald turned and flicked the switch before going up to the teacher. "I'm sorry for the interruption. I'm Emerald Song. I just transferred here."

Mrs. Grant's confusion cleared and Emerald could see the frost form in her eyes.

"Oh, yes, I've been made aware of your arrival," she said a little crisply. Clearly it wasn't just the students who gossiped here. "You're five minutes late to class. Not a very good first impression, Miss Song." The class snickered, some kids leaned across the aisle to whisper to their friends.

It was your standard, cookie-cutter set-up, with rows of desks with the chairs connected to them, facing the front of the room. The teacher's desk was across from the door, in the corner.

Emerald smiled easily, ignoring the whispers, used to this. "I apologize, I got lost. It won't happen again."

Mrs. Grant blinked like she was expecting more trouble or a snappy comeback. "Well, why don't you take a seat so we may begin our lesson?" She gestured to the rows of chairs. Emerald nodded and turned toward the classroom, looking for an open spot. She found one a little past the middle of the room, between a strawberry blonde with perfect make-up and on-point winged eye-liner, and a guy with shortish wavy, dark hazel hair and startling electric blue eyes.

She made her way back carefully, stepping over backpacks and past people trying not to hit them in the face with her backpack.

"Caleb, could you get the lights, please," Mrs. Grant asked as Emerald slid into her seat and got out her notebook.

Emerald's next two periods were quiet. She went along, unassuming. Of course there were whispers here and there, but they weren't serious. No one went out of their way to introduce themselves or befriend the new kid (or, rather, the easy girl). She didn't go out of her way to make friends. She preferred being a loner, it made things easier with feeding—not getting too attached to her prey…actually more like her prey not getting too attached to her. If she needed to move on short notice, she wouldn't feel bad or hesitate because of friends made.

Lunch was always easy. Since she never ate, she never went to the cafeteria. She liked finding little nooks in the library to hang out in. She liked being surrounded by books. She always had. Sometimes she'd read. Sometimes she'd do homework. But most of the time, she just sat and enjoyed the company of a million different stories and the silence. It was soothing.

However, today was a little different.

As she was heading to the library, someone approached her with a nervous smile. She was a little taller than Emerald, with deeply tanned skin, deep brown eyes that seemed to spark and twinkle with a gentle light that reminded Emerald of a fire on Christmas Eve. Her hair was a shade darker than chocolate, short, and wildly curly.

She was wearing a tank-top with the band name that Emerald couldn't read. Probably a band from another country. A short, puffy skirt, and worn converse.

"Hi," she greeted.

Emerald blinked and stared at the girl before her before turning to look behind her to make sure this girl was addressing her.

The girl laughed, her smile becoming more comfortable. "Yes, I'm talking to you." She held out her hand. "I'm Carter." Emerald hesitantly took the girl's hand, giving the girl a strange look. "We have AP English together. I wanted to introduce myself then, but there wasn't really much time to. And you left so quickly!"

"Okay," Emerald said, still not sure what to do or how to respond. People didn't usually approach her. For more than just the rumors. She was a predator, and whether the silly little humans knew it consciously or not, their subconscious, the primal part of their brain that had kept them alive this long, knew it. So most people naturally avoided her. Either this girl had no instincts or she was ignoring them.

"Would you like to join me and my friends for lunch?" Carter invited. "I know it's always hard to get to know people when switching schools. So I thought maybe I'd help out a little."

Emerald found herself nodding. "Sure, okay." Which was probably a mistake on her part. She didn't eat. Being a lamia vampire she could if she really wanted to. But she'd never actually tried to before, she'd been raised on blood her whole life, so it was her go-to. Besides, just because she could eat food didn't mean it nourished her, gave her the oxygen she needed like human blood did.

Still, she followed Carter to the lunch room.

"So, why don't we just get the standards over with? No need to ask. My name is Carter Torrez. I like skateboarding and all kinds of music. My least favorite subject is history. My favorite subject is English—I mean it should be, I'm taking AP English." She laughed. "My future job is to be an editor at a book publishing company. And if you have any questions about the ins and outs of this school, I'd be happy to help. I try to keep in the know about things around here." Carter turned to face Emerald as they walked. "But don't let it make you think I believe everything I hear. I try to be open-minded about people."

Carter smiled, but Emerald could tell she was nervous.

Emerald blinked again trying to digest the information and determine what was up with this girl. Never, in her entire time at all the schools she'd gone to had someone been this friendly. Her open-minded outlook on life would explain why she'd approached Emerald in the first place, though perhaps not the instincts part.

"Uh…well, I'm Emerald Song. I like skateboarding, too, actually. I'm willing to listen to anything as far as music goes. I actually love history. I'm taking AP English because I like challenges, I've always been pretty terrible at English. I don't know that I have a future career plan right now. I'll be sure to keep that in mind. And, I actually do have one question…." She trailed off thinking about that boy that'd been mentioned earlier.

"You don't sound sure," Carter pointed out as they entered the lunchroom.

"Um, you get your food. I can ask after we've sat down." Emerald told her. Carter's eyebrows furrowed.

"You're not going to eat anything?"

Emerald shook her head. "No, I…I'm not really hungry right now. You know, nerves." Emerald tried for a weak laugh.

Carter didn't seem convinced, but didn't bring it up. "Okay…well, I'll introduce you to my friends real quick, then. If you feel like your appetite is coming back, I'll be happy to share some of my food with you." She said as she scanned the lunchroom. Carter smiled and waved when she saw them. Emerald jolted when Carter grabbed her hand and started pulling toward the table in the middle of the room. The voices were almost overwhelming, but Emerald swallowed hard and pushed it all out. She's faced much, much worse before. She could handle a room full of teenagers.

Though, this was one of the many reasons she liked spending her lunches in the library.

The table was large, but there were only a few people sitting at it. Emerald had a feeling, though, more would soon join them.

Carter introduced Emerald to her friends currently at the table—Danny, Mackenzie, Arnold, Felicity, Jack, and Sandy. Emerald wasn't sure how important it was to remember all their names because she wasn't even sure if she was going to be hanging out with them for the rest of the year. She wasn't even sure if she was going to be here at the school for that long.

Emerald sat down a little awkwardly, trying for a smile, not sure how well she was succeeding. Carter ran off to get her food and Emerald tried to make small talk with the other people. They weren't as friendly or welcoming as Carter was. Emerald wasn't sure if it was because they'd heard the rumors or if they were just wary of the newcomer. Or both. Or maybe their instincts were screaming at them.

When Carter arrived back, the tension diffused a little. She started chattering excitedly, which got everyone talking more animatedly and easily. Emerald just sat back and listened to their conversations, watching them talk. As Emerald had suspected, more of Carter's friends showed up with their trays of food as well.

Humans had always fascinated her. It wasn't like she was centuries old or anything, she was as old as they all were—sixteen, seventeen. But she could stop aging when she pleased, which meant if she wanted, she could be immortal. Of course, as a vampire, she was basically immortal. As a lamia vampire, though, she could blend in with the humans much better than a made one could. Which made feeding much easier. She never had to risk going out on the streets and being attacked by hunters.

At one point, when the students had filtered out and it had gotten quieter, Carter turned toward Emerald.

"Oh, I forgot, you wanted to ask me about something?" she asked.

Emerald herself had almost completely forgotten, too. "Oh, it's…not important." Emerald shook her head and looked away, rubbing her arm nervously. It wasn't so much that she was nervous, but she figured out, from watching them so much, how to act certain emotions, how they were expressed in the body and on the face. And a subject as touchy as she wanted to ask about, she wasn't sure asking outright without even a little hesitation would make Carter answer honestly, or at all.

Carter put a hand on Emerald's arm, making her jump.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized, quickly pulling her hand away. "I'm…I'm kind of, well…" She reached up and scratched the back of her head.

"No, it's fine," Emerald said quickly. "I'm just…not used to that." She forced a nervous laugh.

Carter gave her another strange look, but brushed it off and tried for a smile. "Just ask, I'm sure it's not bad. Besides, I have pretty much seen it all at this point." She laughed, more genuinely this time.

Emerald looked away, biting her lip. "Well…earlier, I heard some people talking." Emerald shrugged and shook her head. "Really, it's not…" She sighed. "Well, I overheard them talking about a boy that goes here. That he…I don't know—they mentioned something about"—she lowered her voice—"suicide."

Carter's smile fell and became solemn. "Oh…that."

"Yeah," Emerald said, looking down. "That."

Carter sighed. "Well, I suppose it was going to come up sooner or later. His name is Storm. He moved here about a month ago. No one really knows if he tried to…you know…but you know how rumors are. They get started and there's just no way to stop them and they just kind of spin out of control. What I've heard is that his parents moved him up here to get a fresh start from Vegas after that whole incident. They had to stay in Vegas, so he's staying with relatives. That's what I've heard, I don't know it's any of that's true. At least, the reason why he moved up here, anyway."

Carter looked around the lunch room, her eyes stopping on something across the room. Emerald followed her gaze to see the boy she'd sat next to in her AP Psych class—with the dark hazel hair and electric blue eyes. He was sitting with a small group of people. They were talking and laughing, but not as loudly or boisterously as the rest of the people in the cafeteria.

Emerald looked back at Carter, who was still looking at Storm.

"He kind of keeps to himself," Carter said. "I mean, as you can see he has friends. But…he's a quiet kid. If any of those rumors are true, I wish him the best. He seems really nice. People can just be so mean sometimes." She rolled her eyes and finally turned back to face Emerald. "Just don't listen to those stupid rumors. He's a good kid from what I've seen."

Emerald nodded silently and looked back at the boy. Storm, what an interesting name. Definitely unconventional. She couldn't get that rumor out of her head, though.

And then there was Carter, wishing the best for someone she barely even knew. How strange was that? Even as humans that was beyond Emerald's knowledge of how she saw them. Nothing compared to where she came from. Not just the Night World and vampires, but who her family was. Who they associated with. It was such a huge difference, she almost felt dizzy.

The bell rang and everyone who was left in the lunchroom started to grab their things and their trash as they stood. Emerald slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"Um, thanks for inviting me to sit with you," Emerald told Carter as the girl stood too. "But I don't think I'll be sitting with you again." She glanced at the people that were left, also packing up their things and grabbing their trash. "I don't know that the others like me so much and I wouldn't want to encroach on your group."

"You wouldn't be encroaching at all," Carter ensured, grabbing her trash. "But if you really don't want to, that's okay, too. We can hang out during lunch by ourselves if that'd make you more comfortable. And you're welcome to join us at the skate park, too."

Emerald stared at the girl trying to form words. Why was she being so nice to a total stranger? A predator, no less.

"Um…thanks for being so kind." Emerald finally stammered. "I guess I'll…see you around."

All right, there you have it! First big change: Emerald's the vampire and Storm is the human! Surprise! I have much more in store for ya'll.

Don't know if I'll be able to get onto a posting schedule, but it's summer so you shouldn't be waiting for too long for another chapter. I am working full-time and I have, like, no idea what I'm doing, so my posting schedule may not be very consistent, nevertheless.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed! I can tell you, next chapter we'll be learning more about Storm and his new characterization!

Thank you for reading,
TheBrightestNight