Disclaimer: I don't own the Night World

Deception

Emerald let out a long sigh, sitting back in one of the chairs in her living room, in her suite. She closed her eyes and thought about all the things that had happened that night. In only one night! She couldn't believe so much could happen in so little time. It wasn't even past eleven.

Emerald opened her eyes and looked at the clock. She should get to bed. After all she still had school tomorrow. Now it may have sounded inconsiderate, after Tasha died, but life had to go on. That was the only thing that kept Emerald sane nowadays, the only thing that kept her going. The hope for the future. The hope that there would be a better tomorrow. She was going to mourn Tasha's death. She died saving Emerald's life after all. But things had to keep moving forward.

Emerald walked into her room and was just getting ready to lie down when someone knocked on her door, frantically. Who would be knocking on her door at eleven at night? And if it was urgent, because the way this person was knocking sounded pretty urgent, what could it possibly mean? What news did they bring?

Too tired to look through the peep-hole—which probably wasn't the best idea—Emerald opened the door, only to be engulfed by strong, cold, wet arms.

It was Storm.

And he was drenched in arctic rain water.

Emerald was too stunned at first to comprehend what was going on. Just that, as Storm held her to him tightly, the water running off of him soaked into her own clothes, making goose bumps rise on her arms. Storm's hair dripped and shined with little droplets of water. One of his hands came up to knot itself in Emerald's hair. Storm inhaled deeply, exhaling through his mouth, his icy breath wafting across Emerald's neck.

"Storm, what—" Emerald tried weakly.

"I had to see you." he whispered, not letting go, or slackening his hold on her.

"What—" She broke off again, still getting over the shock of all this. "What happened?"

Storm pulled back, moving his hands to her arms, still holding her tightly. His chest was heaving. "I ran here." he told her. "It's pouring outside."

"But, why?" Emerald asked shaking her head, still not understanding. "Why don't you come in." She said quickly, pulling out of his grasp, closing the door and then taking his hand and leading him into the living room.

"Emerald," Storm said quietly, trying to get her attention.

But Emerald was afraid of what was going to happen. Storm didn't do rash things like run all the way to the Marriott from his house in the pouring rain. Sure vampires didn't get sick or cold, even, but still. This wasn't Storm. She was afraid of what he came here for. She didn't want to face it. Not now. Not after everything that had happened that night.

"Have a seat," Emerald said, taking her hand out of his and gesturing to a chair. "I'll go get a towel for you to dry off."

She started to head away, but Storm wasn't going to let her off that easily. He needed to talk to her immediately. He had run across town in the pouring rain. He wasn't about to wait until Emerald was ready.

"Emerald!" Storm hissed. Emerald stopped and turned to look at him, her eyes wide. Storm walked up to her and grasped her shoulders. "Emerald, please just listen to me." he begged quietly.

She shook her head, her ebony locks trembling as she did so. "I-I-I don't want to do this." Her voice shook and her eyes watered.

"Just listen to me!" Storm pleaded, shaking her slightly. "I know you said that you wanted to be good friends. To work things out. To wait." Storm continued on quickly when Emerald hadn't spoken. "But I can't any longer. I don't want to be friends! I don't want to wait! I love you Emerald! You're my soulmate and I need you." Storm's voice started to shake and tears formed in his own, electrifying, eyes.

"Storm, I—" Emerald broke off as tears slid down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away. "I just don't know." she whispered. "I just… I just—"

"Emerald, losing Tasha was just as hard as losing my mother. She was like a sister I never had. I loved her. And now she's gone. I-I only have you and Dad left—"

"Storm—" Emerald tried.

"No! You don't understand! Life it too short for us to be just friends. I love you. I want to be with you forever and always. I can't lose you too. I've already lost so much in my life."

Emerald blinked and more tears spilled down her face, but she didn't wipe them away this time. "This is too much for me." she whispered, her lower lip trembling. "There is a reason that I asked to just be friends. It won't last. I just need more time. Please."

Storm, his chest still heaving, let his hands slide off Emerald's arms. He took a step back, looking at Emerald. His expression was unreadable, the emotion in his eyes were undecipherable.

"Just say the word," Storm finally murmured. "Just say the word and I will walk out that door and never, ever bother you again. You won't have to see me, you won't have to talk to me, interact with me, or hear from me again. Just say the word."

Emerald looked at him shocked. She opened her mouth and for a scary moment Storm actually thought she was going to tell him to leave and not come back, but to his relief no words came out.

He waited another moment and when Emerald still said nothing he said, "Time's up." Before taking her head in his hands and pressing his lips against hers. She responded almost simultaneously, kissing him back; her arms had flown up in surprise as if to push him away, but instead she wrapped them around his neck, knotting one of her hands in his soaked hair.

Her eyes closed and she pressed her overheated body against his: fire and ice.

Emerald pulled away for air. Both Storm and Emerald were breathing hard.

"I love you," Emerald whispered, tears now streaming down her face. "I love you."

Storm smiled and kissed her again, slower. "I love you, too." he said after pulling away. "I love you, too."

Emerald sharply took in a breath, her eyes snapping open. Her heart fluttered and her chest heaved. She slowly sat up, looking around, slightly disoriented for a moment, forgetting where she was for a moment. Slowly it came back to her. Storm had to leave so Emerald had made the snap decision to walk back to his house with him. It had stopped raining (thankfully) by that time.

The night was thick and humid; the streets alight with all of the signs of Manhattan. They walked slowly and leisurely back to his house in a comfortable silence, holding each other's hands, like any other teenage couple. No worries. No death. No reputations that could get you killed at any moment of any day.

Storm had dried off and changed when they'd gotten back to his house, Emerald having fallen sound asleep on his bed.

Emerald looked over at Storm's alarm clock. It'd only been an hour since she'd fallen asleep. Her shoulders and eyelids drooped just thinking about how much sleep she'd gotten in the past few days. She was so tired, so tired that she felt she was no longer able to sleep.

Especially after a nightmare like that—

Emerald slipped off the bed, careful to not disturb Storm and quietly opened the door to the balcony. The air was cooler, and a breeze blew through, making Emerald shiver. She crossed her arms, hunching her shoulders, and walked out to the railing, looking out over at the sky and for once, she yearned to see the stars, the moon. Something about seeing such a beautiful sight comforted her. Alas, in a place like this, a city that never slept, it was next to impossible.

One of the French doors opened slightly and Storm stepped out.

"Emerald?" he asked quietly cautiously coming to stand next to her. She looked away, still haunted by the vivid dream she'd had not even moments ago. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." she answered just as quiet, a little too quickly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Storm asked.

"Not really."

There was a pause. "You'll feel better."

Emerald rolled her eyes and looked at Storm. "They just say that." Emerald took a deep breath. "I've tried. It doesn't work. I just don't see why talking about something painful to someone else is going to help? I mean it's like opening old wounds. It's unnecessary and just… and just causes more pain." Her eyes tightened and she looked away again.

"I know about the dreams." Storm finally admitted.

Emerald froze. "How? When?"

A smile pulled at Storm's lips. "I'm your soulmate, we have a connection." The smile faded. "I don't have all the details, but… stuff filters through the connection. Not… images or anything, but emotions. Horror. Fear. Disbelief. They always came when I was sleeping so I kind of filled in the rest and assumed you were having nightmares. You can tell me anything. I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you."

"I dream," Emerald confirmed. Storm waited. "About me and you." Storm prepared himself for the rest. This obviously wasn't going to end in fluffy bunnies. "And you… always… Well I… I mean—" Emerald broke off, unable to say it out loud. Like it would just make it more tangible, and she wished they'd just stay in her mind, locked with all the other little monstrosities. "I die." she finally stated quickly before she lost her nerve. "Because you kill me."

"You know—You know I'd never do that to you. I mean, I'm your soulmate. I couldn't live without you. Why would I ever want to… to kill you? That just doesn't make sense. I don't understand—"

"Storm, Storm," Emerald urged, taking his head in her hands and forcing him to look at her. "I know. I know you'd never do anything of that sort. But…" she trailed off letting her hands fall to her sides. "It just feels so real. I can't get over it." she whispered, her lower lip trembling.

Storm took her in to his arms, gently stroking her hair. "It's okay," he assured her. "You're okay. I promise, I won't let any harm come to you. We'll figure this out together."

Emerald sighed. I hope so. She thought silently.

"What are we going to do about Anthony?" Emerald asked, switching her books out for her next three periods. "I mean, you don't just attack someone like that for no reason. He has to be working for someone in the Night World."

"Are you even sure this has anything to do with the Night World. I mean, it could be part of some gang initiation, or something." Storm suggested. "We can't just jump to conclusions."

Emerald closed her locker and slung one of the straps of her bag over her shoulder. Both her and Storm started walking to the cafeteria.

"Okay, first of all gang initiations are seeing if you've got what it takes to kill someone on command." she stated.

"How would you know—" Storm started looking at her crazily.

"Secondly," Emerald continued not letting him finish. "He is not that strong. Lean, yes. Soccer player, yes. But they run around a lot, they work their whole body out. You know, their muscles are… just aren't like a wrestler's or a boxer's or a football player's. I mean, I'm not saying anything bad about soccer players, I'm just saying I really don't think they have that much upper body strength."

"But, you were a little out of it. You said he did have chloroform, right? Maybe you just… weren't as strong then." Storm offered.

"Why are you trying to protect him?" Emerald exclaimed frustrated. "Do you have some kind of bro-mance going on that I don't know about?"

Storm made a face. "No, of course not! I'm just… trying to give him the benefit of the doubt is all. Everyone deserves that, right? Besides, you said that he'd always been the quiet kid."

"Fine, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt." Emerald muttered, stopping just outside the cafeteria doors and looking through the windows at all the teens sitting with their friends or standing in lines, waiting for food. "So, where are we going to start, then?"

"If you mean information on him, then I'm not really sure." Storm said truthfully. Then he spotted Mackenzie, Danny, and Carter. "Hey, maybe Carter knows. She did date him, right?"

"I suppose… but why would Anthony tell her anything about the Night World?" Emerald asked wary.

"He may have not told her about the Night World, but there had to be something she noticed that was off, or some conversation she overheard, or something she saw, you know?" he suggested.

"Okay… let's say that did happen. How would I get it out of her? She took that break-up really hard and is still getting over it. I don't want to push the knife in deeper. I'm her friend, I'm supposed be there for her and do my best to not make things worse."

"Girl talk," Storm suggested shrugging.

Emerald looked at him weirdly. "Girl talk?" she mimicked. "What… what is girl talk? How do I do that?"

Storm's eyebrows raised. "You're a girl. But you don't know how to girl talk?"

Emerald rolled her eyes. "Is there a difference between talking and 'girl' talking? I don't get it. I'm confused."

"Emerald, this isn't rocket science. Keep up with me, here. All you have to do is talk to her to get the information out of her." Storm explained slowly.

"But how?"

"Were you not listening? Girl talk. You know… do whatever girls do. Talk about… clothes and shoes and make-up and stuff. I don't know! I'm not a girl."

"Thank God." Emerald muttered. "And since when have you ever thought that I was some kind of girly-girl?"

"I-I don't know—" Storm started.

"Okay, all right, Mr. Smarty Pants. Because you seem to know so much about how this works why don't you tell me how to 'girl' talk."

"Well… Pretend I'm a girl with information that you want. What would you do?" he asked.

Emerald looked at him exasperated. "You want me to beat it out of her?"

Storm groaned. "Just ask her to hang out with you and just talk. Take her to the skate park sometime, skate a little and then hang out with her at your place."

"Whatever," Emerald sighed. "Let's just get this over with." Storm opened the door for her and she walked in muttering, "I don't see why we can't just jump to conclusions. It'd be so much easier to just knock him out, tie him and then make him squeal."

Storm rolled his eyes and followed her inside.

"I can't believe you're letting me do this!" Carter squealed hopping onto Emerald's bed, next to her. "I never thought I'd see the day that I'd get to give you a manicure."

Emerald plastered a painful smile on her face. "Well… you know me. Always surprising my friends."

"I just never pictured you as a paint-your-nails type." Carter stated taking out all the torture devices from a small purse.

"I'm not." Emerald muttered pouting.

Carter rolled her eyes and held out one of her hands. Emerald groaned and slowly brought her hand forward. When Carter took it she jumped like she'd just been bitten by a snake.

"Oh, you complain too much." Carter sighed examining Emerald's nails before shaking her head. "My, my, my, what have you been doing to your poor nails!" she exclaimed.

Emerald pulled her hand away and looked at them. "Are they really that bad?"

"Nothing I can't fix. They're actually, really not too horrible. I like your nails." Carter sighed. "They much longer than mine." She held up her hands to look at her own. "I have a bad habit of chewing on them sometimes…. Anyway, you'll have beautiful nails when I'm done."

Reluctantly Emerald let Carter take her hand again and with that she got to work. While Carter did this they chatted about trivial things, just the break the ice: English homework, the scandals going on around school, Mackenzie and Danny's blossoming relationship, some funny jokes Carter had heard lately.

"So…" Emerald started, trying to think of a way to bring up Anthony. "You… you seem happier lately." she commented, looking down as Carter cleaned out all the junk from underneath Emerald's nails, sneaking a peak to see her reaction. She didn't seem to notice where this was going just yet.

"Yeah, I'm usually a happy person." Carter shrugged.

"I admire that," Emerald murmured. "How are you feeling?"

"Feeling about what?" Carter asked slowly still focusing mostly on Emerald's nails.

"Um…" Emerald took a deep breath. "Anthony." As soon as his name came out of Emerald's mouth Carter gouged underneath her nail with the tool, thankfully it didn't bleed. Emerald flinched and Carter pulled way.

"Fine." she told Emerald tightly carefully setting aside the tool and picking up another. "Hand, please." she requested. Taking a deep breath, Emerald handed one of her hands back to Carter. "Why do you ask?" she finally queried as she began to file her nails.

"Well… he's been acting… off lately. Have you noticed?" Emerald quickly came up with a explanation, cursing herself silently for not having a back-up story before bringing this up.

"No, not really." Carter's answer a brisk and to the point.

Emerald knew that she really didn't want to talk about this topic, but it was important.

"Oh, well… he has. And I was just wondering if… maybe you noticed while… while you guys were together." Emerald mumbled almost incoherently.

Carter slowed with her filing and sighed heavily. Her brows scrunched together as she thought.

"Well, I do remember this one time…. I, kind of, overheard a conversation he was having on the phone. He was speaking really low so I wasn't really sure, but your name… your name came up a lot and it didn't sound too friendly." Carter stopped and sat back, looking up at Emerald. "I don't know what's going on, Emerald, but I don't think you should be messing with this stuff. I'm really worried about this, about you. I don't want you getting hurt."

Too late. Emerald thought bitterly. On the outside she smiled. "I'm glad I have a great friend like you." she said.

"Awe! I'm glad we're friends too!" Carter squealed before leaning forward and engulfing Emerald in a hug. When she pulled away she wiped her eyes. "Okay, let's finish your manicure."

Emerald made a face. "Yay." she cheered half-heartedly.

Carter ignored this and brought out a small bottle that she sneakily concealed the color of. After giving it a good shake she twisted the cap open and asked for Emerald's hand once more. But as she took the brush out Emerald pulled back.

"Hot pink? Can't it be, like, skin color?" she asked disgusted.

"It's not hot pink! It's ruby red." Carter objected.

"No, no, I'm pretty sure that it's hot pink."

"And I'm pretty sure that is ruby red. You're just seeing things."

"Are you sure you're not messing with me right now?" Emerald narrowed her eyes. Carter smiled innocently back. Finally, very slowly, Emerald let Carter take her hand and start painting.

The paint was surprisingly cold and looked weird. Emerald didn't like it or the smell. How did girls do this all the time? Why did they have to paint their nails anyway? What was the point? Did it make them look more attractive? Did guys even like painted nails?

When all was said and done, it actually wasn't bad. They did look nice, and it had made Carter very happy. So, in the end it was worth it.

"Thanks again, I had such a fun time!" Carter said as Emerald walked her to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow as school?" Emerald asked.

"Always." Carter confirmed smiling.

Only, she wasn't and neither was Mackenzie or Danny (mysteriously). And the day after that, still a no-show, and the day after that. After the third day, Emerald started to get a really bad feeling about this.

Every time she called any of their houses though, their mom's or dad's would pick up and they'd say they were sick. For some reason that wasn't comforting. Emerald wanted to hear her friend's voices for herself. She wanted to hear straight from her friends that they were sick, but whenever she asked for any of them, their parents would suddenly make up an excuse to hang up.

Finally, on the fourth day the office called her in—in the middle of class, mind you—saying she had a phone call for her. At first Emerald thought it was going to be Alan or Alecia about something she'd done wrong, or about some family thing they were including her in just because they felt bad, something normal. But Emerald should've known by now her life was never going to be normal.

Ms. Greene led her into a small office with the phone unhooked, lying on the table, waiting for her.

"Thanks," Emerald told Ms. Greene before she headed out. Emerald picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"E-E-Emerald?" a small whisper came.

"Carter! Oh my God! You haven't been to school for three days! Neither have Mackenzie or Danny. I was so worried—"

"P-p-please, listen to m-me." Carter interrupted. It was then did Emerald hear how shallow and jagged her breathing was and that she was sniffling like she'd been crying or was crying at the moment or both. "Y-y-you have to help us. He's… he's got us locked up in here—I'm so scared. I just want to g-go h-home."

Emerald's blood ran cold. "Who, who has you?" Emerald demanded her voice tight, one hand gripping the phone rigidly, her other hand around the cord.

"Anthony."

Sorry! I just couldn't help myself; I just love cliff-hangers… as you can tell. I'll try to update tomorrow (because I have an awesome three day weekend!). Hope you enjoyed!

.happiness.

~ See you at the Millennium!