Disclaimer: I don't own the Night World
Disturbance
"How was school?" Adrian asked as Storm came in. However, Storm didn't answer because he was lost in thought and hadn't heard his father.
He closed the door and started for the stairs.
"Storm," Adrian called. Still no reaction. Looking around, Adrian took a pen from the small table he was standing next to and threw it at his son. It hit him in the back of the head.
"Ow!" Storm exclaimed, his hand reaching up to rub where the pen had hit him instinctively. He turned to look at his dad. "What was that for?"
"How was school?" Adrian repeated.
"Fine." Storm muttered turning back around and continuing his ascent up the stairs.
"Are you all right, son?" he asked. Storm stopped again and looked down at his dad.
"I'm fine." he answered before turning.
"Is there something you want to talk about?" Adrian persisted before Storm could take another step.
"No." he stated flatly not bothering to look at his dad this time.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Storm—" Adrian started.
"Dad, I have a lot of homework that's due tomorrow. I don't have time for Twenty Questions." Storm interrupted pivoting around to look at his dad. When Adrian didn't say anything Storm headed upstairs once again.
"I know about the human girl, Storm." Adrian finally said stopping Storm dead in his tracks.
Storm spun around. "Did Tasha—"
"No." He didn't elaborate.
"Then how—?" Storm started.
"I am your father. Now, are you going to come down here and explain what all is going on, or do I have to ground you for the next month?"
With a heavy sigh, Storm descended the stairs and followed his father into the living room. Adrian rolled his eyes and muttered, "Teenagers." under his breath as he sat down in one of the chairs. Storm dropped his backpack and overdramatically fell onto the couch opposite of his dad.
He stared moodily out one of the windows.
"You're eighteen, act it." Adrian said slightly exasperated. "Now, what's this about a human girl?"
"It-It's nothing, Dad." Storm told him unconvincingly. It didn't help that he was averting Adrian's gaze.
"Now, son—"
Storm's head snapped up and he met his father's penetrating brown eyes. "What is there to talk about, Dad? She's human. She's… she's a… a hunter." He snarled the word, his hands clenching into fists.
Adrian sat back and stared at his son calmly. "Do you want to talk about it?" he finally asked.
Storm stood. "Frankly, no, I don't want to talk about it." He picked up his backpack. "And I wasn't just making an excuse. I do have a lot of homework I need to finish tonight." He slung one of the straps over his shoulder. "So, if you'll excuse me." With that, he turned his heel and walked back upstairs to his room.
Adrian sighed heavily and pinched the bride of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. "Teenagers." he hissed.
They were screaming and shouting. Emerald couldn't tell why, but she wished they'd stop!
With a heavy sigh, she rested her head into her arms and stared glumly ahead at the white walls of the cafeteria as her friends continued along with their excited shouts and talk.
"Isn't this great!" Carter exclaimed looking at Emerald. Emerald didn't respond.
"Anybody home?" Danny asked waving a hand in front of Emerald's face. She didn't blink, didn't budge.
They all sat back down, crowding around Emerald finally realizing something was wrong with their friend.
"Maybe she's asleep." Danny suggested.
"With her eyes open?" Mackenzie pointed out.
Danny shrugged defensively.
Carter tapped Emerald's shoulder. "Hey, Emma," she said knowing that'd get some response out of Emerald. And she was right… sort of. Emerald simply turned her head to glare at her friend.
"Don't call me that." she said in a monotone.
Carter would've laughed but the look in Emerald's eyes stopped her.
"Are you all right?" she asked concerned.
Emerald turned her head back to the space on the wall. "Fine." she muttered.
"Um… listen," Mackenzie started slowly, not believing her at all, and hoping this news would cheer her up. "Shaun White is going to be at Air Skate and Air Jump Corporation. We're all going, including Anthony."
Before Mackenzie could invite Emerald she said, "Well you can count me out. I'm not going." Just then the bell rang. "I'll see you guys later." she mumbled getting up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and sulking off to her next class.
All three of her friends exchanged worried looks.
Emerald took her usual route home, but wasn't on her skateboard. She was still thinking about last night. She was angry with herself, angry with Storm, angry with those stupid feelings she got whenever she was near Storm, angry with how horrible she felt when she came to the conclusion that she was going to kill him if she ever came across him again.
He was a vampire. She shouldn't feel bad about killing him, but she did. She dreaded thinking about killing him. Sometimes she'd even wish she'd never see him ever again. That way she could avoid the inevitable.
Emerald walked slowly with her head down, not noticing the other person, who was also moping, head down as well. And they were on a collision course, too busy to notice each other until they crashed.
Emerald gasped, dropped the books in her hand and quickly pulled back.
"I'm so sorry—" she started until she looked up and saw who it was. She froze for a second before bending down to pick up her things and rushing off in the direction she came and decided to take the long way home, through all the foot traffic.
When she opened her door though, the first thing she saw was her three friends: Mackenzie, Carter, and Danny standing in the far corner of the small living room-like area of her suite. A large banner was hanging above them that read: INTERVENTION. They were all holding letters in their hands.
Emerald made a face, swiveled around and started to walk back out but her friends rushed up to her and blocked her path.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Carter objected. "Just here us out."
"How did you get in here?" was Emerald's response.
"That's not the point now," Mackenzie said. "Just come in and sit down. You can't run away from your problems forever."
"Guys, come on… I don't need an intervention." Emerald complained as Carter took Emerald's hand, Mackenzie the other and led her in while Danny closed the door.
"They're right you know," Danny commented as Emerald sat down on the couch.
"I don't have issues and I'm not running from anything. What made you think that anyway?" Emerald asked staring at her crazy friends.
"You love Shaun White." Carter pointed out.
"Okay… and," Emerald beckoned for them to continue.
"You don't want to go see him when you have the chance." Mackenzie said.
"This is, like, a once in a lifetime chance and you're not going!" Danny exclaimed. "You could talk to him! Get his autograph on your board or something! How can you turn something like that down?"
"I'm just not in the mood." Emerald said shrugging like it was nothing.
"We're your friends, you can tell us anything." Carter said softly, sitting down next to Emerald on the couch.
She shook her head. "I can't tell you, sorry."
Mackenzie sat down on Emerald's other side. "Like Carter said, we're your friends. Talking about it makes everything better." she coaxed.
Emerald sighed quickly thinking of something she could tell them. "It's just… a boy." she blurted.
"Oh, great." Danny groaned making a face, while both Mackenzie and Carter simultaneously said, "Aw, honey," sympathetically.
"It's not that big of a deal, jeez." Emerald frowned.
"She's right, let's move on to the subject we were really here for." Danny quickly interjected.
"Oh, shush!" Carter reprimanded giving him a hard look before turning back to Emerald. Danny rolled his eyes and fell into a chair opposite of the couch, with his arms crossed.
"It is a big deal though! Who is he? What's his name? When did you guys meet? Does he go to our school? Why didn't you tell us about him sooner?" Carter bombarded Emerald with questions.
She looked at Carter her brain freezing up because of all the questions it'd been hit with.
"I…I-I-I…I—" Emerald stuttered. "I can't answer any of those. I really shouldn't have even told you about him." She stood. "You guys should leave. I… have a bunch of homework I need to finish and a big project due Friday." She took the banner down. "Thanks for your concern, but there's really nothing you need to be concerned about. I'm fine. And I'd love to join you." Emerald turned and smiled at her friends reassuringly, folding the banner up with her arms.
Three pairs of curious, slightly uneasy eyes looked back at her.
"I'm fine, really." Emerald told them in a very convincing tone.
They got to the old building in no time flat. As Hal (a bulky, tall guy with a mop of curly brown hair) got within inches the buzzer went and both him and Emerald slid inside, heading to the top floor without hesitation. All the hunters were tense, eyes wide. They held their weapons like a mob of vampires was going to burst through the doors any second and claim back whoever they'd kidnapped.
"All right," Emerald stopped in the doorway. "Either it's so urgent that you interrupted me in the middle of school to come over, or it's so unimportant that we don't need to wear masks and protect our identities. Which is it?" she asked crossing her arms.
"It's… complicated." Hal answered beckoning her inside. Emerald didn't move a muscle. "You'll know what I mean when I show you. Please, just… come inside."
Unwillingly, Emerald stepped inside. Hal put a hand on the back of her shoulder and led her down the hallway and to the third door on the right. It was closed.
Hal stepped in front of Emerald and opened the door. It was an empty room except for one person… or rather, vampire. He was sitting in the middle of the room in a chair with his wrists and ankles bound with rope (his arms laced through the bars of the back of the chair). No doubt bast, the rope made with wood. If tied tightly and in the right position, it'd definitely stop any vampire's attempts to escape. If not that, it'd slow them down long enough to stake him (or her).
He was slumped in his seat, but his look was unmistakable.
"You guys caught the Reaper?" Emerald asked disbelievingly. "That's not possible." she said shaking her head. "That's not possible. He's the Reaper for goodness sakes."
Hal rolled his eyes and shoved her playfully. "You're not the only skilled vampire hunter here."
Still, it didn't make sense! Not trying to sound stuck-up or big-headed—she has killed the most vampires in the state of New York. She's bested five vampires at once without breaking a sweat. If she couldn't beat him by herself, how did they manage to catch him?
It just wasn't adding up!
"So what? You caught him last night and you decide to tell me now? In the middle of school? Why not last night? Why not after school ended? Why not wait until I just showed up tonight?" Emerald asked ready to get back to school.
Hal's smile faded and his forehead wrinkled. "He… asked for you, specifically, when we caught him."
"You mean, me, as in, the Vigilante?"
His face hardened. "No. You, as in, Emerald."
Emerald shook her head a smile pulling at the edge of her lips. "No, that's not possible. I know he doesn't know my identity. He would've killed me by now if he did."
"You do realize how bad this looks, don't you?" Hal asked totally ignoring her.
The faint smile dropped, she straightened up, and her eyes flashed, becoming frozen. "What are you saying?" she asked her voice sharper than the blades they used.
Hal swallowed visibly. "It's just… a vampire asking for you, by name, looks—"
"Suspicious?" she challenged. "What are you implying?"
"Well, no one knows a lot about you—"
Emerald stepped closer to Hal, meeting his eyes. "Exactly." she said in a dangerous, low voice. "You don't know anything about me. You don't know what their kind have done to me."
"Then you wouldn't mind killing him?" Hal asked slowly, carefully choosing his words.
Emerald knew that he was baiting her. They all still thought that she had some kind of deal with this guy. If she killed him, she'd prove her loyalties. If she didn't, couldn't (which was highly unlikely), or refused that'd give them confirmation that she was working with him. But she hated it when people ordered her around. Or when they questioned her with something as big as this. Why did she have to prove herself to them?
"Fine." Emerald spat coldly. She stepped inside, pulling out the knife in her pocket, and slamming the door closed.
Without a word, she stood in front of the Reaper, her knife in her right hand, her left hand holding the back of the chair for support. She positioned the knife right in front of the heart and got ready to stab. But something stopped her. It all felt wrong. All of this. She'd never staked a vampire that was subdued. (Not even awake in this case.)
She looked up at the wall opposite of where she was standing, gripped the hilt tightly, and closed her eyes for a moment, centering herself. She could do this. He was the Reaper! He needed to be taken off the streets. She did tell him the next time they met one of them wasn't going to be leaving alive, after all.
Taking a deep breath, she looked back down to make sure her knife was poised just right (now was not the time to make a mistake) only to meet his eyes.
Those brilliant blue eyes that flashed like lightning.
Hope you enjoyed!
.happiness.
~ See you at the Millennium!
