"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. 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 stuckup or bigheaded—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
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.
With a gasp, Emerald veered back until she hit the wall. She couldn't break her eyes away from his. Her heart turned to lead, and her blood seemed to ignite. The Reaper smiled
weakly, and Emerald could've sworn she saw hunger seep into his eyes, but it was gone so fast she wondered if she had just imagined it.
No. A small voice whispered. He was hungry. Not starving, not yet, but he was definitely feeling the effects of no feeding for however long he'd been locked up.
Finally she couldn't take it. Against all rational thought, she turned her back to him, covering her eyes with her hands (her right still holding the knife).
"Stop!" she gasped. "Stop looking at me!" she growled angrily.
"Why not?" he asked in a calm voice. There was some strain behind it, but anyone who wasn't listening hard enough wouldn't be able to detect it.
Taking a deep breath, sticking her dagger back inside her pocket and readying herself for the shock of a lifetime, she slowly turned and faced him again. Narrowing her eyes she
appraised him carefully. She did a slow circle around him, looking at him from all angles before coming to face him again, this time closer. Like, facesinchesapart, closer.
Emerald could tell he was struggling with her being this close, but at the moment none of that really mattered.
Reluctantly, without a word, Emerald reached up with both hands. One took The Phantom of the Opera mask off while, simultaneously, the other pushed back his curly, goldenbrown
hair and fedora. The items dropped to the floor resoundingly.
Emerald shook her head. "No." she whispered. "No way."
Storm snorted softly, shaking out his dark, cherry wood colored hair. "Now you know how I feel." he said.
She stopped her pacing briefly to glower at him with those stunning eyes of hers. Those beautiful eyes that changed color in the light. At first glance they were pure amber, but
when the sun shone at just the right angle they looked ambergreen, and if the light illuminated her face completely they turned a dazzling emerald green. But it didn't stop there, if
you looked closer, no matter what color they were, they always had a thin ring of deep, twinkling sapphire blue just on the outside of her irises, and a jagged ring of hazel
surrounding her pupils.
"You do have
beautiful eyes." Storm commented vaguely, thinking back to when they'd first met in the alley after she'd just killed a vampire.
Emerald flushed and turned away before she started pacing again.
"What are you doing?" she asked harshly.
"I wanted to see you, Emerald." he answered simply.
Emerald spun around so quickly, that if Storm didn't know any better he'd think she was a vampire herself, and pointed a finger at him. "Don't call me that." she spat through
gritted teeth. "Don't call me that."
"It is your name." he stated an amused smile playing on his lips.
Emerald narrowed her eyes, but her lower lip jutted out the tiniest fraction of an inch. Her expression was purely adorable and it had Storm's pulse pounding.
"So, what," she asked in a grudging voice, "you decided to just get caught?"
Storm wriggled uncomfortably and winced as the rope dug deeper into his wrists and ankles. "I didn't expect them to keep me so long." he complained.
Emerald shook her head, her dark curls shaking along with her. "You need to man up."
Storm glared at her ruefully.
She flashed a smile, her white teeth showing momentarily.
"Maybe I can help with that." she said, reaching for, Storm thought, her dagger. And for a scary moment he thought she was going to kill him. Instead she pulled out a switchblade,
flipped it open and knelt down. She paused momentarily to mutter, "I can't believe I'm doing this." before she cut through the ropes easily, like scissors cutting paper.
"Sharp knife." Storm acknowledged as she went around to cut the ropes binding his wrists. He brought his wrists forward to examine them. They were red, raw, throbbed painfully
and slowly oozing blood. Storm made a face and stood up, trying to ignore the dull ache in his muscles, from oxygen deprivation. It wasn't bad now, but if he didn't feed soon, it
wasn't going to be very pretty.
Emerald was standing at the door; she had cracked it open and was peering out.
"They're going to kill me for this." she said closing it quietly again.
"Then why not just kill me?" Storm asked.
"You won't let me, now that you're free, I'm sure." she answered with narrowed eyes, an eyebrow cocked.
"I wouldn't want you to get killed because of me."
Emerald crossed her arms. "You're the Reaper." she said shaking her head. Storm nodded. "You." He smiled but it wasn't that charming one he'd used on the dance floor, it had a
twisted, wicked edge to it.
It was quiet for a moment as they stared at each other. Finally Emerald looked away.
"Why haven't you killed me yet?" she asked quietly.
Storm didn't answer. Instead, he stepped forward, toward Emerald and in one swift movement he had turned her around holding her own switchblade lightly against her neck. His
left arm had snaked around her shoulders, holding her firmly to him. Her hands had come up to grab his arm instinctively.
Emerald's heart went wild and she quickly tried to compose herself.
"Do you want me to?" Storm asked quietly in her ear.
Emerald turned her head slightly as if to look at him. "You can try." she murmured back just as her hand shot up and dug her thumb into Storm's wrist. He hissed and pulled back
as Emerald grabbed her switchblade from his hand.
She folded it up and shoved it back into her pocket as she turned to face Storm again. He was rubbing his wrist, but his eyes were slightly glazed over. His jaw was taut, and his
whole body tense.
A pang went through Emerald. A pang she didn't like at all. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
"I better not regret this." she groaned, like she was praying the luck gods or something. Then she looked back as Storm. "Come on, we're getting out of here."
She turned and opened the door, but was pulled out forcibly by someone. One of the hunters held her arms behind her back with one arm and grabbed a fistful of her hair with the
other. Emerald grunted in pain.
Storm stepped forward ready to help, but Emerald met his eyes and spat, "Don't." And, just like that, she changed. Storm could feel it, practically see it. Her eyes froze over,
crystallized, and it seemed like something passed over her. The air around her altered to something cold, black, sharp. Nothing even close to the delicate, nearly serene feelings
that usually surrounded her.
It was kind of like one of those movie moments, where everything slowed down momentarily.
Storm watched, almost appalled at what he saw.
Emerald didn't look scared, or worried. She turned her head slightly, her eyes moving up to the corner's of her eyes to look at the hunter that was holding her in annoyance and
irritation. Not a moment after she slammed her foot down on his. He howled in pain as Emerald slipped one of her arms free and jammed her elbow into his chin. Finally the hunter
let go, now growling. But she was too fast for him, as soon as his grip became slack Emerald spun around and threw her fist out, crushing the hunter's nose.
He cried out, as blood flowed from his broken nose, and fell to the floor. Storm held his breath and tried not to think of the blood, of his screaming muscles. Swallowing hard he
looked back at Emerald who was now standing and looking at the other hunters gathered around.
Emerald's gaze raked over the group, challenging them.
"Anyone who doesn't agree with my decision," she started in a deadly quiet voice, "answers to me." Emerald walked back, grabbed Storm's arm and then started down the hallway,
the hunters backing up quickly. They exited the building without a hitch.
Storm didn't know where they were going, but he stumbled along dazedly. His muscles were tightening up and cramping painfully. Yellow lights flashed behind his eyes. He needed
blood, right now, but Emerald kept a firm grip—like an iron vise—on his arm, like she knew.
When they got to her suite at the Marriott, Storm nearly collapsed at the foot of one of the beds, gasping for air, his whole body burning and throbbing with shockwave after
shockwave of pure agony. Emerald caught him and got him to sit on the edge of the bed. She pulled all her hair over right shoulder, exposing the pale skin of her neck. Storm could
see the blood pulse through her veins.
"Here, drink." she ordered, her voice slightly quivering. She wasn't looking at him.
Storm shook his head despite all that he was feeling. "No, I… can't." he gasped shying away from her.
"You need this and I'm not going to watch you drink from someone else. My instincts would kick in and you'd be dead." Her voice was hard, but her heart hammering.
Storm shook his head, no longer able to speak.
He heard Emerald move toward him even closer, and gently rested her hands on one of his. He ground his teeth feeling her lifeforce beat against his cold, dead skin. Before he
could stop himself, the hunter came out.
Like a flash of lightning Storm turned and stood, capturing Emerald into his arms, firmly wrapping one of his arms around her waist, one of his hands coming up to cradle her face,
her hair tickling his fingers.
Emerald gasped at the contact, his skin on hers. The blood roared in her ears, her vision became slightly hazy, and her stomach tightened and twisted. She blinked rapidly, the
feeling of giving in to him, overwhelming her. The feeling of being prey to him was horrendous. She was putting her life into his hands. The vampire that was notorious for killing
the most adept vampire hunters.
And here she was, gazing into his eyes, not moving, not fighting back as he slowly tilted her head at the perfect angle, exposing her throat to him. It was really unnerving.
What had made him hate hunters so much? What made him create an alter ego when he hunted them? What was strange, she realized, was that they were alike in a certain
way.
Not just how they wore their disguises, but, she could just feel it, there was anger and pain stored within the deepest depths of his soul.
Before she could think about this, Storm lowered his head. She froze, tensing, her breath coming out in ragged gasps.
"Relax," he whispered, his lips at her ear, his breath blowing across her exposed neck. "It'll hurt more, just relax." he urged.
"That's reassuring." she muttered trying to force her muscles, which were objecting vehemently, to go slack.
Storm tightened his grip around her waist ever so slightly getting a sharp intake of breath as a response from Emerald.
Storm's needlepoint canines brushed her throat and her heart spasmed. And then, just like that, he sunk his teeth into her neck.
At first, her heart fluttered, and she panicked. Her muscles shrieked at her to take out her dagger and stab him through the heart, make it all stop! This was all wrong! She was his
prey; he could kill her if he wanted to. Why had she subjected herself to this in the first place? How could she ever give herself up like this? This was so unlike her! Unlike the
hunter within her, struggling to take control. Struggling to take over her motor controls and rid the world of such an abhorrent vampire.
Her throat ached and stung where his teeth pierced. She could practically feel her life draining from her and the sharp pain become more. Instinctively her hands came up and put
them against Storm's chest, preparing to push.
Just relax. Storm said. But he hadn't spoken his mouth was still at her throat. He had spoken telepathically, his voice almost like a summer breeze, a soft caress.
Relax. She thought letting her eyes slide close slowly. The pain instantly dissipated and Emerald realized just how softly, gently Storm held her in his arms. How his lips felt,
strangely and scarily, soft against her throat.
Then, out of the clear blue sky, something she couldn't even begin to explain happened. It was like she was being electrocuted. The energy—pure, buzzing, warm energy
through her body, before exiting out of the small of her back. This feeling made it harder to breathe, made Emerald feel lightheaded, delirious.
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