TRIGGER WARNING: discussion of suicide.

ALSO, I have never even considered suicide, so I apologize if I've mischaracterized and/or misrepresented (spoiler alert) Storm and his thoughts.

I realize this is a super, super slippery slope, so if I write anything that's offensive or wrong, please feel free to tell me (civilly is preferable) and I will promptly take the chapter down and discuss solutions with you.

Also, also, I am SO SORRY this took so long to get to you. I thought I'd be able to write two stories at once, and well…as you can see, that didn't happen. More post-chapter. Onto the story! (God knows you've waited long enough.)

Snare

The rumors were true.

Storm wasn't sure how someone had found out. Or maybe, because this was a rumor, it was just speculation that people decided seemed plausible and ran with it. (Wearing long-sleeved shirts all the time probably wasn't helping his case.) Who really knew with rumors? Either way, it was irritating at best. At its worst, it made him want to drop out of school altogether.

Yes, it was true, Storm had attempted suicide. For reasons that he'd rather not think about while at school, because it only increased the likelihood of his going to the rooftop of the school and jumping from it. He knew just where to go to get there.

After that attempt, his mom and dad had signed him up for therapy and put him on suicide watch. After being taken off suicide watch, but still in therapy that didn't seem to be working, his parents had carted him up to New York to live with his Aunt Lula and Uncle Isaac. Lula was a lawyer and Isaac was a detective, so both of them weren't home often or at all. So, it was lonely quite a lot. Which really didn't help like his parents had thought it would.

It was really only on bad nights did they stay home. If Storm told them, that was. At least there was that going for them.

For that reason, he staved off the thoughts of suicide. It wasn't easy, sometimes he'd stand out on the balcony of their penthouse suite and look down at the passing cars below, thinking about how it would feel if he were to just…fall.

In any case, he did love his parents, and he knew they were doing the best they could, but sending him off because they couldn't cope with their suicidal son seemed contradictory. The other reason was that they thought changing his surroundings might help with his depression. While that's not how it worked, it did help. Slightly. Only, very slightly. If only because Vegas held memories that he wasn't ready to face. New York, specifically Manhattan, was different, held no memories, but had the same buzz of city life that Storm could get lost in for at least a little bit.

So here he was in Manhattan, at a school that had no respect for other people's lives or the fact that suicide was a serious subject, and shouldn't be used in a joking manner like the kids here were using it as. It was always different when it wasn't happening to them, wasn't happening in their lives.

Somehow he'd managed to make a few friends, mostly oddballs, outcasts, loners like he was. He didn't mind. Despite dreading having to get out of bed in the morning, having to interact with people, he found that he enjoyed their company. They expected nothing from him on his bad days.

On his bad days, they didn't expect him to talk or engage in the conversation during lunch, they didn't expect a smile as they passed through the hall. They didn't expect him to be happy or not suicidal all the time. It was a change from all the gossip.

After a month, he'd finally fallen into somewhat of a pattern. Something that felt like normalcy after what happened, what had led up to and resulted in his attempted suicide.

"Hey, you heard about this new kid, yet?" Tasha asked, breaking Storm from his thoughts as she leaned up against the lockers to Storm's left. He was currently standing, staring into his locker, having meant to pull out his things for AP Psych.

And then there was Tasha. One of his friends. They had an…interesting relationship, to say the least. She was the only one here that Storm felt he could truly be himself with. If he was feeling up to it, she was the only one he'd actually smile to when passing her in the hall. It wasn't that his other friends weren't nice, it was more like him and Tasha shared a special connection that not a lot of other people could share with them.

Storm snorted as he grabbed his book and notebook before slamming his locker closed. "Who hasn't?" He looked around, to check if anyone was in hearing range of their conversation as he turned his back to the lockers so he could lean on them. "I bet you she's a vampire," he murmured to Tasha.

And there it was, the reason why she was one of his closest friends. Usually hunters didn't reveal their identities to each other (and they didn't exactly), but Storm had honed his skills so well, when he'd seen her at the school he knew. Knowing he could somewhat trust her—at the very least, she hated vampires as much as he did—was comforting to him in a way. So he'd gone and introduced himself, immediately telling her he was a hunter and knew that she was, too.

Despite this, some things still had to stay secret, so they didn't know who each other was while they were hunting. It was just nice to be able to talk about it to someone at school every now and again. You'd think it wouldn't be easy to keep up, what with voice-recognition, but it was surprising how much the brain failed at that when it was dark and everyone was wearing ski-masks or something similar. Not to mention focusing on not dying.

Tasha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You always think the new kid is a vampire."

"I do not!" Storm exclaimed, offended. "Haven't you been listening to the rumors going around? Easy girl, picks out the nerds, geeks, outcast kids. That's textbook vampire hunting in the school scene. I mean, maybe a little reversed since she's a girl, but the same basic principle is there."

"You're just being paranoid," Tasha scoffed.

Storm rolled his eyes, trying to think of a snarky comeback when he saw the new girl coming down the hall, in their direction. Too far away to tell right now, but she was coming closer.

Storm nudged Tasha with his elbow.

"Ten bucks says she's a vampire," he said, nodding in the raven-haired girl's direction as she ghosted forward.

Tasha looked as well, her lips pursed. "Fine."

Storm pulled out his phone to fiddle with, so as to not get caught just staring at the new kid. If she was a vampire, there was no doubt she'd be able to tell, and he didn't want her to even know he existed. Yet. It was easier that way, easier to trap her, kill her later. He had strategies for vampires who tried to feed in his territory. He didn't particularly like most of the students here, but he hated when vampires killed innocent people more. When putting it into perspective, reminding himself why he'd become a vampire hunter, it made it that much easier. As much as he disliked the student body, they all had loved ones somewhere who would care if they died….

The new girl was slow-going, every step deliberate, but she was finally close enough that Storm could determine whether or not he was right.

Untrained eyes wouldn't be able to tell that she was a vampire, but Storm could. The way she looked, the way she practically glided across the floor, was a dead giveaway (pun intended). Not only that, but vampires had inhuman beauty. Her light-brown skin was smooth, perfect. Her hair was pin-straight and glossy. Her eyes, though dark brown, almost black, twinkled in the terrible fluorescent lighting. She looked like she'd just come off the runway or stepped out of a fashion magazine. Definitely a vampire.

"Pay up." He grinned, looking at Tasha and holding his hand out.

Tasha glared at him and made a growling noise, but pulled her purse from her backpack and produced a ten dollar bill. She grudgingly slapped it into Storm's hand, but he struggled to wrestle it from her grip.

"Am I sensing a sore loser?" he mocked, as the girl drifted past them. Storm pretended to ignore her when in reality he was hyper aware of every single step she took. He could never be too careful.

Tasha snorted and rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Kallahan," she snapped, throwing her backpack back over her shoulder and looking around the hall.

Storm smirked. "Or what?"

Tasha paused, keeping her gaze elsewhere, anywhere but Storm. Her face flushed and she cursed herself silently at the involuntary bodily reaction. Storm may be a skilled hunter, but that, by no means, meant he was good at detecting signs of a crush.

Tasha still couldn't decide if this was beneficial to her or not. Since her time knowing him, he never really was one to get involved romantically, she'd noticed. What would he say if he found out she had a crush on him? What would he do?

The bell rang, startling her from her thoughts.

"I'll see you later, Tash," Storm said with a dazzling smile before getting lost in the river of students as they went to first period.

Tasha watched as he disappeared in the mass. "Bye," she whispered, even though Storm was long gone.

Storm kept his head down and quickly made his way to his seat, settling in and taking a deep breath, but quietly. He set up his notebook and pencil before sitting back and waiting for the second bell to ring. When the lights went out, Storm sat forward and picked his pencil back up, ready to start taking notes.

Only, before the Mrs. Grant could start the lecture today, the door to the classroom opened and the new girl stepped in.

Storm stiffed, inhaling sharply, but he quickly tried to relax, hoping he hadn't just given himself away. Of all the rotten luck, the new vampire girl had to be in his first period class.

Storm started tapping his pencil eraser against his notebook in annoyance, looking around the room as the girl and Mrs. Grant exchanged some words. The lights flickered on and the empty desk next to him caught his eyes. He froze again, his tapping stopping abruptly before his eyes did a quick once over around the room before going back to the empty chair next to his—the only empty seat left.

Giving up, Storm rolled his eyes and dropped his pencil down. Today was not going to be his day.

Slumping in his seat, he tried to keep his eyes on his blank notebook as the girl made her way down the aisle to the empty chair. Her gracefulness was actually starting to irritate him. Her act of being this quiet, new student only made him angrier, knowing what lied underneath: a cold-blooded killer. The face of an angel, turned into a demon the instant the blood-lust started. How could she act so normal?

Yeah, maybe she didn't kill to feed. Storm knew that most vampires in the school scene didn't kill their prey. They weren't stupid. But there was still the fact that her kind masqueraded around, pretending to be human, when at night they killed innocent people. It made his skin crawl, it made him sick, it made him want to leap up and shove a stake through her chest right then and there.

Gripping his pencil, Storm tried to force his mind to focus on the lecture that was actually beginning this time. He would get his chance, he would. He'd make sure of it. The only good thing to come out of today was the fact that he was just her type.

Storm took ten deep breath, quiet enough that no one—maybe the vampire next to him—would hear. His rage slowly, but surely dying down enough he could focus on the day ahead. It was comforting to know that soon, he'd be able to rid the world of another blood-sucker.

Lunch finally rolled around and Storm was grateful for the break it provided. Though he thought an hour wasn't near long enough for him to recuperate before enduring three more hours of classes. Five minute breaks in between just weren't sufficient passing periods. Then again, he thought most of the school system in America wasn't up to par with how humans developed.

He met Tasha at her locker. She was still bitter about losing the bet.

"I am not," she huffed, slamming her locker and turning to glare at Storm. He tried to hide his smile and stifle his snickers. This only caused Tasha to glare at him more, but she was also pouting, which only made it that much funnier.

"I'm just good at what I do, what can I say?" Storm finally managed with a grin.

Tasha turned on her heel, her white-blonde hair nearly hitting him in the face as she did so. "Come on, we should go or we'll be late for lunch."

Storm followed with a shake of his head, easily falling into step beside her. "We can't really be late to the cafeteria."

"But we can be late to lunch, the period, and I'd rather spend as much of this meager hour as I can actually relaxing."

Tasha sped up her pace and Storm sighed, rolling his eyes, though a small smile rested on his lips, before speeding up his own pace.

As Storm entered the cafeteria he found himself looking for that girl. He wasn't sure why, though, it wasn't like she was going to attack someone on the spot, she seemed smarter than that. He hadn't spotted her when they'd sat down at their usual table, and was irritated with himself for one, not spotting her, and two, being irritated he was irritated.

"She's over there," Tasha deadpanned, pointing to his right. She had an eyebrow raised. "Is someone crushing?" she mocked.

Storm made a face, forcing himself to keep his eyes on Tasha. "Don't joke like that. I just wanted to know where she was for safety purposes."

"See, if I believed that, then my paranoid comment would be true," Tasha stated, pulling out her food from her lunch bag. "At the same time, if I were ignore it and not believe you, I have a feeling you'd be cross with me."

Storm scoffed, pulling out his own lunch. "Too late for that now, I am cross with you just for that commentary."

"Oh, are you two having a couple's spat?" Kasey joked, sitting down, throwing his sack lunch onto the table. He was wearing a lime green shirt with nothing on it. It stood out against his black skinny jeans. So did his shoes, neon blue, pink, with green laces that matched his shirt. The only non-colorful thing was his hair: simple brown cut in an undercut.

Both Tasha and Storm straightened up in their chairs and looked over at Kasey like they'd just been shocked.

"We're not—" Tasha stuttered as Storm said, "It's not like that—"

Kasey held up a hand, laughing. "Wow, calm down, guys, I was joking. You…you do know what those are, right?"

Both Storm and Tasha started stuttering again, something about, "Yeah, of course we know what a joke is, are you kidding?" as Dana arrived to the table. She was wearing a black skirt over leggings with cats on them, with black, glossy flats and a small bow at the end to match. She also wore a midnight blue off-the-shoulder tunic top. Her long, wavy hazel hair was pulled over her left shoulder and held there with a clip on the right side of her head.

"She giving you a hard time?" she asked, putting a hand on Kasey's shoulder and giving Storm and Tasha a sympathetic smile.

"Oh, it's 'he' today, Dana," Kasey informed his friend.

"Is he giving you guys a hard time?" Dana corrected easily, removing her hand from Kasey's shoulder so she could pull out her lunch.

"Always," Storm muttered, giving Kasey a pointed look.

"Hey, can't start the meeting without me, guys," Ed exclaimed, throwing down his lunch tray and plopping into a seat. He had a simple band-tee on with jeans, and blue high-tops. His dirty-blond hair looked messier today.

"We're in high school, Ed," Kasey reminded him. "You're not a CEO yet."

"Besides, it's not like you missed anything," Dana added, pulling out her lunch. "From what I gathered, these two"—she gestured to Tasha and Storm—"are having a domestic."

Storm snorted. "'Domestic?' You've been watching too much British TV."

Once they all had gotten their lunches out, they did a swap. It was almost like a tradition they'd started doing just to add a little fun in their monotonous days. Sometimes they even bartered for food they particularly liked in the other's lunch box.

About half-way through the period, Storm finally snuck a glance over at the girl, the vampire. She was sitting in a throng of people near the middle of the lunch room. She didn't look comfortable at all. She sat stiffly in her chair, watching all the people at her table chatter and talk. She didn't even have food in front her. Not very good at keeping up appearances. And he thought she was smarter than the ones who'd come here looking for food.

Then again, she wasn't very smart for having come to this school at all.

"Her name is Emerald," Tasha murmured, making Storm jump slightly. He quickly turned and looked at his fellow hunter. The rest of his friends were deep in conversation about something else.

"What, no, I was just scanning the lunch room—" he tried, but judging by the look on her face, he wasn't fooling anyone.

"If you'd been listening you'd know that her name is Emerald."

"Why even give her a name? It's like finding a lost animal. You never name it, because once you do, you can't get rid of it."

Tasha scoffed. "What? Did you plan on calling her 'new girl' the whole time?"

"…yes."

Tasha rolled her eyes. "You're such a dork."

Storm playfully shoved Tasha with his shoulder. "But you know you love me."

Tasha blushed and quickly looked at her food, finding sudden, intense interest in it. Storm couldn't help but laugh, but not because he was making fun of her. And Tasha, once again, was grateful that he was oblivious. Lunch carried on from there, with the five of them enjoying the rest of their lunch as much as they possibly could. Storm tried to keep his mind of that girl…Emerald, for the remainder of the period.

"So, I assume you're going to set the bait, then?" Tasha asked softly, leaning her back against the lockers next to Storm's. It was the end of the day, and he was grabbing what he'd need for homework tonight.

"Of course," he replied, closing his locker, keeping one of his books in his arms. He looked over his shoulder and there, in the midst of the river of high schoolers leaving for the day, was Emerald. Once again making her way, deliberately, at a slower pace than the group, down the hallway. For some odd reason, in the opposite direction than most of the crowd, but Storm didn't mind all that much because it helped him out.

Tasha sighed. "Come on, then." She pushed away from the lockers, merging with the rest of the teens. Storm followed, making sure to put himself in the path of Emerald, but keep next to Tasha. Bless her, she knew what he was planning without having to ask or him having to tell her.

As Emerald got closer, Storm slowed slightly, allowing Tasha to get several feet in front of him. As Tasha passed Emerald, she purposefully dropped her pen and left it there, pretending not to notice. Storm darted forward, then, to pick up Tasha's pen and return it to her. As he did so, his shoulder bumped Emerald's. Quite hard, too. Both their books we flying, but Storm's went flying on purpose.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Storm apologized quickly, grabbing Tasha's pen and his book before quickly grabbing Emerald's book. "Here." He held it out for her.

Emerald stared back at him with wondering eyes for a long moment before slowly reaching out and taking her book back. Storm tried not to show his annoyance. Why did she have to move like that? So fluidly, but slow in a deliberate way?

"Thank you," she murmured, hugging her book to her chest. Was she…blushing? It had to be an act. She was playing him just as much as he was playing her.

Storm forced a smile, hoping it looked genuine. "No problem." With that, they stood in unison, heading off in opposite directions. Storm jogged to quickly catch up to Tasha. "Here is your pen," he said, holding it out for her.

"Bait's set?" she asked, taking her pen back and smirking.

Storm smiled back. "Trap's ready to go."

Okay, so, again, I apologize for how long this took me to get out. I was focusing on my PJO story, and I didn't think I could get into Storm's mindset, then I realized I was probably overthinking it a bit. I was inspired to try and get back into it partly because I just have these great ideas I want to share with you, but also because of the reviews I got. They're absolutely lovely, and I can't respond to them through PM. I felt I owed anyone who's still reading this, so.

My PJO story is still going to be my main story/my main focus, but I'll try and write for this one when I get writer's block for the other. I do have plenty of ideas, so it shouldn't be that hard. *knock on wood* So, I'm not too sure when I'll get the next chapter to you. I hope you'll be patient with me. And I hope it won't be several months from now. *knock on wood, again*

To Guest: First off, I want to apologize to you personally for making you wait so long to get the second chapter to you. I really enjoyed your comment, and I hope, if you're even reading this, that you'll continue to comment. And read, of course. In any case, thank you for the lovely first comment :) I'm glad that the first chapter drew you in. (Rest assured my writing's evolved. Definitely don't go read the other stories ^_^;) I'm glad you think so. I'm definitely trying XD Oh, well, I can see your point. I figured since lamia can grow like humans, they'd fit in better, you know? Oh, and thank you so much for such a compliment (the perfect part). That means a great deal to me ^_^ Yeah…again, I am so, so sorry it's taken so long.

To Anonymous: Wow. Thank you so much for such a lovely comment! ^_^ I'm so glad you think so! It's so good to know that my writing's improved that much! Just…wow! Thank you! Oh, I definitely plan to ;) I mean…maybe not precisely in the way that you're thinking of, but as the story progresses, you'll definitely be seeing them. They're actually a quite important part of the plot I've come up for this re-write. You totally should! It's great fun, and great practice for writing.

I just want you both to know, that your comments are the reason I managed to push through and finally write this.

I hope this second chapter—if you're still reading that is! (^_^;)—is as good as the last one. Comments are much appreciated. My winter break and Jan term break are coming up, so hopefully, I'll be able to balance these two stories a little better in the near future.

Thank you for reading,
TheBrightestNight