Emerson tugged on the sleeves of her oversized sweater, as she sat on the kitchen stool. Richard Paige was standing in front of her, arms crossed.

"Where were you this morning? We were supposed to be having brunch with the Lemmington's!" He demanded, slamming his fist on the counter, making Emerson flinch.

"I was looking for Tamara--"

"Of course you were!" He shouted throwing his hands into the air. "She's a helpless case! Let the lost stay lost. It'll help with population control."

"Father--"

"Now, I'm going to ask you again. Where were you this morning?"

"I was out looking for Tamara when I got attacked by some man in a dark cloak," she mumbled.

"I've had it up to here with you and your lies! You better shape up, your interview is two days from now. Martin will go over the information, don't embarrass me," he growled firmly.

Emerson looked down and nodded her head softly, still tugging on her long sleeves.

"Would you quit it?" Her father asked.

She didn't say anything, and out of habit did it again. Richard let out a loud sigh and left the room, mumbling something about disappointments under his breath.

"Hey kiddo," Martin said giving her a sympathetic smile.

"Martin," she breathed out.

He held a stack of papers and tapped them lightly on the counter twice to make it all line up.

"Lets brief you on the possible questions, shall we?" He asked, and waited for Emerson to nod before continuing. "You should be expecting questions like how are you feeling about the sudden disappearance of Tamara Phillips, what happened at school, you and your brother's relationship, and so on. Now how would you answer those questions?"

"Truthfully unless it's something that could harm my social status and all that jazz," she said automatically.

Martin gave her a look, and she sighed.

"What? I'm doing what you're telling me to do!"

"No, you're not. You answer everything you are comfortable with honestly. If they ask a question that you don't know how to answer, we'll come up with a safe question. Basically if they ask anything you don't want to answer, ask them a question. It'll give them a second to answer, and time for me to redirect the conversation to a different, more comfortable topic. So what do you want the question to be?" Martin asked with a small smile.

Emerson drummed her fingers on the counter, "I don't know."

He let out a sigh, "Okay, so what types of questions do you not want to answer."

"I don't know. I'll come up with something if it gets to be too much. Are we done?" she asked hopefully.

"I guess, but Emerson?" Martin called out.

"Yeah?"

"I'll be rooting for you, always," he smiled giving her two thumbs up.

She gave him a toothy smile and left the kitchen.

~~~

"Get ready, we are making an appearance at the Stevens," Richard thumped on Emerson's door.

"We are?" She asked.

"Yes we are! Now, get ready! Your dress is on your bed, and for god's sake, don't  ruin this for us!" He demanded.

She gulped and looked at her bed. Neatly off to the side, was a ashy gray, one shoulder strap, floor length dress.  A lacy flower fabric intertwined with tiny jewels wrapped around the bodice. The only problem was the fact that it revealed the mark on her wrist.

She slipped on the dress and it fit her perfectly. However, it didn't really go well with her firey red hair. It kind of made her look like a cigarette. Underneath a drawer she found her long elbow length gloves. It wasn't exactly the same shade of grey, but it would have to do.

Her father pounded on her door right when she twisted her hair into a piecey bun.

"What are those?" He sneered looking at the gloves.

"What? It might be chilly, plus I think it makes it look more expensive," she shrugged, trying to make the lie more convincing.

"It's half a shade lighter," his face contorted in disgust.

"Do you want us to be late or not?" she asked desperately. 

He sighed exasperated, "Don't screw up. We're hoping to find some benefit from this."

Emerson let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and then they were in their fancy limba. It was an old fashioned flying limousine.

~~~

Emerson went to open the door, which lead to collective gasps.

"Emerson! What are you doing?" Her father whisper hissed.

"Opening the door?" She said confused.

"They have people for that!" He sternly said.

Her mouth opened to form words of apology, but her father just shook his head.

"Just get out!" He said.

With a small frown, Emerson took the arm of the guy who was supposed to open the door, and surveyed the crowd. Everyone was dressed to the nine's, and all were giving her dirty looks. She rubbed her arm, looking down, and standing off to the side.

Her brother climbed out of the car, following her parents. He gave her a dirty look, and she sagged into herself, wishing she could disappear. 

"Emerson," a voice laughed in her air.

She stepped away quickly, and said curtly, "Luther." 

"Not going to smile, are we?" He asked darkly, stepping closer to her.

"I'm not in the mood for your childish games," Emerson said as her voice wavered a little.

"Who said we were playing games?" He asked, and now he was so close she could feel his breath fan her skin.

She went to say something, but couldn't. It was like a fist was wrapped around her throat, enabling her ability to do anything but stand there.

"Emerson! Long time no see? We've got a lot of catching up to do. Oh Luther, didn't see you there," Xander chirped grabbing Emerson's hand.

She gratefully held on tighter to his, "Well nice talking to you Luther."

The dark looming figure, glared at Xander.

"I'll talk to you later I guess," he said, his sinister voice ringing. 

She gulped, and Xander pulled her away. He lead her away from all of the people, and gave her a protective hug. His chin on top of her head, squeezing tightly.

"My God," he breathed out.

Emerson let out a shaky breath, and Xander held her out at arm's length.

"You okay? He didn't touch you, did he?" He asked worriedly.

"No, not yet," she whispered.

Luther had dark storm clouds for eyes, and shadows for hair. He was a brooding, horrendous, vile person. Predator to females and males alike.

"I had no idea he was going to be here. If he was, I wouldn't have invited you and Tamara," he said.

"You don't know?" She asked surprised.

"Know what?" He asked, now worried.

"Tamara's been missing," she stated.

"No, not Tammy. You have to be mistaken, she's as tough as nails," he said pacing.

"I wish I was. I've been searching for her everywhere, and I can't find her. Yesterday, I got a lead," she whispered.

"What? Really?" He asked, wiping his teary eyes.

Emerson started telling him the encounter with the strange man, even showing him her mark, but she left out Charles involvement.

"Then when he woke up again, I tied him up, and went to call the cops. However, he somehow evaporated through the rope and appeared in front of me in a shadow form. I know, it's insane but it's true. I stabbed him in the side, but he still was able to escape. I just don't know what to do, or how to make sense of what had happened." She said, now pacing, and rubbing her arm even more.

"Oh my God. Do you know what this means?" He asked.

"What?" She asked.

"I know who took her," he whispered, his face paling.

A/N: THE REASON I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A WEEK IS THIS:

I packed everything up to go to the Outer Banks for vacation, including my mom's old laptop. It was all nicely packed up, we got to the hotel and guess what?

Nicely packed up in my room at home was my laptop. Lol xD.

So I left it at home, and therefore I had no means of updating unless I used my mom's phone. And that would take me forever, and it wouldn't be good at all. So I used my week of vacation as time to relax and take a break from writing.

So now I'll be trying to update this, my kotlc main series, and maybe one other book today. Btw, those of you who do write, what do you do while you write? Eat a certain food? Listen to music? Do yoga? Idk, but please shower me with comments! Thanks!

Creepy Cloak Guy?

What's up with Luther?

Thoughts on Xander?

Tamara, where'd she go?

Why didn't Emerson include Charlie when telling Xander about Creepy Cloak Guy?

Emerson's father? Brother? Martin?

The interview?

The Dinner, how do you think it's going to go?

Anyway, thanks for reading!

Shout out for this book goes out to kyna_kotlc-4eva

Thanks for all the supportive comments!!! You truly are an amazing reader!!! ;)

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~Tapqueen101