That's how she met Seth. She snapped back to reality as she and Seth were walking down the shortcut they commonly used to get to her parents' house when she had been out against her parents' wishes (or knowledge). As they got to the edge of Emma's backyard, Seth's eyes suddenly glowed a deep, brilliant red and gold.
Emma was shocked. She had never seen Seth's eyes do that the entire time that they had known each other. Seth didn't have time to explain. He looked extremely worried. He took her by the arm and jerked her under the large weeping willow behind Emma's house and put his finger to his mouth to warn her to be quiet. Something was wrong.
They crouched low and stuck close to the tree where they couldn't be seen as the sky suddenly darkened above the tree, above her parent's house. Emma knew whatever had darkened the sky had wings because she heard a powerful flap. Suddenly, lightning crashed into the tree. Emma tackled Seth to the ground without thinking as her hands glowed blue again as she grounded the large bolt of lightning with her body and hands. Seth stared up at her, mesmerized. He wasn't sure what he had just seen, but he thought Emma was the most beautiful, brilliant being he had ever seen in his many long years.
The wind howled. There was a loud screeching call and thunder roared, then suddenly it was calm. The wind slowly died down into complete stillness, like death itself had taken it away. Her parents. Were they home? Emma panicked and impulsively shot out from under the tree before Seth could grab her. She bolted into the house and then Seth heard a loud, blood-curdling cry of anguish. Emma…
Seth dashed from the tree into the house, alarmed, knowing something awful was waiting. He found Emma on her knees, hysterical over the bloodied body of her dying mother. Emma was crying hard, her mother was alive but just barely and fading quickly. Whatever had brutally clawed her across the stomach had fled from the house when they arrived and although Seth could heal most wounds, he couldn't fix this big, this deep of a wound; no one could.
Emma's mother laid clutching the wound on her stomach, curled up on her side in pain, her hands shaking. Emma slid her arms under her mother's broken and bloodied body and held her close as she cried harder than Seth had ever seen anyone cry. Her mother put her hand from her stomach to Emma's face and touched it one last time, saying "he was looking...for...you Emma... you must get away from this place before he finds..." With her last breath her eyes closed and her hand went limp from Emma's face.
Emma screamed in agony, not physical but deep emotional agony. Her hand grabbed her mother's and she begged, "don't go, not you too! Please... Please come back, mom, please don't do this to me! Please don't leave me!" Emma collapsed forward and buried her face into her mother's lifeless chest, holding her close to her one last time.Seth kneeled down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Em.. we have to go.. That thing.. It could come back. We have to get you somewhere safe."
Emma shrugged his touch off, which stung Seth, but he understood at the same time that she was hurting badly. Seth looked around and he saw her father not 20 feet from her mother in the kitchen with knives in his back, like someone had been using him for target practice.
Seth even cried at this point. "Emma, you can't do anything for them now.. You can only save yourself. Please come with me. I won't let you be alone. We will get through this but you have to trust me, we have to leave before that.. Monster comes back." Emma cried and gently closed her mother's eyes with her fingers, then kissed her forehead and laid her down. Shaking, she got to her feet and went into her parent's room and got her father's old dagger.
She only knew where it was because it was his prized possession. He took it out every few months to polish it and keep it looking perfect. As Emma touched the hilt of the dagger, more tears fell. Seth gently put his hand on her back and Emma hung her head, "Seth... Everyone I love is dead. Everyone is gone, it's just me now. I'm all alone, and I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go. I'm so scared, Seth.." She turned around and buried her face in his chest and started crying again. She was indeed terrified. She was only 13 years old, and it seemed she was facing the world alone now.
That's when Seth tipped Emma's chin up and brushed her beautiful blonde hair out of her sad blue eyes. "But Emma.. You aren't alone.. You will never be alone because I won't let you be. I won't ever let you be alone, and I won't let anyone or anything hurt you. I promise you. Emma... I..." He wanted to tell her she was his first love. It was true. He didn't even know what the word "love" meant exactly, but he was sure that whatever it meant was exactly what he felt for Emma. She looked up at him. She wanted him to say it so badly, to say those three words, but he didn't. He should have, but he was scared. He was scared for her, for him, for their future, and he was terrified of the thing that could have caused this much destruction and pain that was now hunting Emma, the only girl he had ever loved. "I won't ever let you be alone, Em. I promise. We're going to make it through this together." He reached his hand up and softly wiped the tears away from her eyes.
Then she hugged him tightly for a moment and said, "thank you Seth.. You're all I've got now. You're right, we have to get out of here before that THING comes back.. Promise me you won't leave me too, please, I need you." Her small shaky hand took his and her eyes closed, for a moment Seth wanted to kiss her but he hesitated. Now wasn't the time to do that, but he wished with everything in him he had been able to get the courage to do so.
"I promise you Em, I'll never leave you. Ever."