Authors Note

Hi everyone! It has been an extremely long time, and this fic has been a long time coming; I've been away from fanfiction for quite a while, and I've been thinking about editing stuff and re-doing fics for years.

This week I thought to hell with it, and I've just started doing full-on ret cons of my old fics. I've completely changed my OC - Blanche was not very rounded and she had way too many frayed storylines under her belt. Instead, I'm carrying on my version of the Lost Boys universe with Emma, who you'll meet in this fic.

I don't know if anyone I used to read or write for is still around, but if you are - hi :) And of course, if you're new to my writing - hi :) I hope you enjoy this new fic. Let me know how it is!


Chapter 1

Emma loved summer. Aside from not being in school – and thus not being around the people at school - she had time to do whatever she wanted. Last year she had spent a lot of time outside in the sun. She had been trying to get a tan; that is until she got such a bad sunburn that she couldn't sleep with blankets for two weeks. After that she accepted that her skin was not made for sunbathing. This year she got her fair share of sunlight, but instead of spending days at the beach, she took to visiting the Santa Carla library instead.

She by all means looked like a nerd – when she was reading she wore thick glasses that made her eyes look huge, and until last month she had big wire braces that hurt like hell and looked even worse. At school this meant that she caught hell from most of her classmates. Bookworm, they called her – among a slew of other awful things. This summer, however, Emma decided to embrace her bookworm status, spending hours reading any book in the library that interested her – naturally she got bored of trashy paperbacks over the weeks, and quickly moved to scouring old, dusty leather-bound books. The library had closed a while ago, but Emma hadn't felt like going home just yet; the weather had been nice and she'd been cooped up for hours, so she ended up staying out much longer than she intended.

As darkness fell on Santa Carla, she clutched her bookbag, which was a little heavier than normal – she had worked her way into the old, dusty mythology section of the library, so today her bag happened to contain a large and barely legible book on vampires.

It was a warm night, with a gentle breeze, so she decided to wander on the boardwalk a little. She liked the boardwalk a lot; the people were always laughing and enjoying themselves, and she liked to hear the music from the main stage. However, tonight was probably not the best night for the boardwalk – as she approached the entrance, she noticed that the local gang, the Surf Nazis, were harassing people, grabbing them and yelling incoherently. She had been warned against going near them in the past, and she was more than happy to take that advice. Tonight was no exception. Instead, she wandered across the streets until she came to the beach.

She had never gone this way at night time before, and she was in the mood for a little adventure – but she didn't want to go too far onto the beach, staying within earshot of the street to be on the safe side. Travelling on no particular route, she soon found herself at a large group of trees at the top of a hill. It was much colder up here; Emma pulled her jacket closer to her body, bringing her already crossed arms tighter around her waist, trying to ease off her shivering. Something caught the corner of her eye, drawing her attention to the beach below.

A fight was breaking out, large bonfires drawing out the long, frantic shadows of the fighters. With a gasp, Emma hid behind the trunk of one of the trees, watching the bloody brawl with a fearful interest. Men thrashed and struggled under the vice-like grip of their opponents. Sharp canines ripped through veins and tore already scarred skin, mouths lapped up still warm blood that spurted from arteries and veins. Fresh blood stained the sand at the winning gang's feet as the bodies of their late enemies grew limp and lifeless. As the group laughed, she caught a flash of their fangs.

'Oh my god.' Emma whispered with a repulsed awe. 'They're vampires!'

The bodies had been thrown haphazardly into the bonfires nearby. The group walked away, staggering slightly, tipsy with blood. The shortest of the four made direct eye contact with Emma. She shrank back, eyes wide open. He glowered at her and began to walk over, a look of absolute rage on his face.

She had been discovered. She had no choice - she had to run. She didn't dare look back as she raced off, clutching the straps of her bookbag as she went.

'Hey!' The vampire snarled, 'Get back here!'

She sprinted through alleys chosen at random, avoiding the larger, rowdier crowds. She could hardly breathe and her feet were beginning to ache, but she couldn't stop. The vampire was not too far away, only a couple of metres behind her, and his friends weren't far behind him. If she stopped at all she would no doubt be killed. To get away, she would have to join a crowd. And not just one of those small ones around a lamppost or beside a house. No, she would need a much larger crowd to make an escape possible.

She ran onto the boardwalk, no longer caring about the Surf Nazis. She ran through the larger throngs of the area, masking herself in the crowd. She heard the vampire shout from a distance, his voice faint but still very threatening.

'If I catch you around here again, you're dead!' He barked.

She looked around. No sign of the vampire. She'd lost him.

With a relieved sigh, she hunched over, trying to catch her breath. Her chest rose and fell with laboured gasps as she re-payed some severe oxygen debt. When she got her breath back, she took some time to figure out where exactly she was.