New Beginnings
I woke up famished. Sometimes it really sucked to be a vampire. Ha-ha, sucked. I know I'm too loopy this evening to be all giggly. I yearned to taste my brown pop and my Count Chocula's again. Now my diet consisted of raw meats and blood. It's not all bad though, I had a new family even including some of my old. I had my friends, my Grandma, my Dad, Stark and Neferet, which I was happy to report, had returned to her old self. Not that she hadn't before hand after we saved her, but now she carried on as if nothing had ever happened. Dad was of much help to that as well. Neferet and him were back together, original lovers. They often reminded me of Romeo and Juliet. Or maybe that was my own twisted thinking about my own relationships.
It's been a hard few weeks since we defeated Kalona. It took me quiet a bit of time to recover from everything that happened. I did have an arrow shot through my heart, died my final death and was resurrected. Resurrected Goddess of Triumph Nyx's called me. Now I am just referred to as High Priestess, though I'm not officially inducted yet. The ceremony is tomorrow night and I had a ton to do before then.
I laid in my bed and looked up at the ceiling just reflecting on all that I had been through the past few months since I had come to the House of Night. I'd lost my mother, but to be perfectly honest, I lost her the moment she married my step-loser. I had lost my old friends, who managed to go behind my back and sleep with my ex-boyfriend, who again, happy to report has not called me in weeks. Yeah to a little less drama in my life. Now if I could get the other boy situation figured out. I had, however, gained a new set of friends who I don't know if I could possibly live without and from all our trials and tribulations we have been through, that was a fact for sure. I gained another mother figure, in not only Neferet again, but also in Lenobia. I had my real Dad back, which I can't even put into words how gratifying that is. To feel for so many years that a piece of you is missing, to not know why he would leave, but to eventually get the answers to all the questions you ever asked yourself as a child.
Then there is Stark and Erik. Just recently I found out that they are biological brothers. Who knew? They do have some similarities, but unless you looked really close, you wouldn't see them. They still avoided each other like the plague. I think in part since neither of them had a good relationship to start with; I have very high hopes that maybe one day that will change. Since my recovery, Erik and I had been talking more. He would come to my room or the Library and we would chat. It was nice to just sit and talk with him again. Though, I do have visions and thoughts of what happened between us. I can't say that I'm all that angry about it though. Erik felt really guilty about what happened to me and why I had to resort to such extreme measures. I don't think it was entirely his fault. I think overall, I would have had to do what I did anyways in the long run.
"Meeooooww" Nala called as she jumped on top of my bed and onto my belly like she owned it. I scratched the top of her head and cuddled her for a bit since she interrupted my internal monologue.
"What's up sweet girl? Maleficent chasing you around again? Show that meanie cat what your made of! You're the chosen High Kitty!" I playfully said to her. It always seemed when I talked to Nala that she could understand me. She then jumped off the bed and scurried out of the bedroom. I can only wonder where she was going until I heard the growls and the patter of feet running at full speed down the hall all the while Aphrodite yelling at Nala and trying to get Maleficent to come back. I couldn't help but to chuckle.
Aphrodite burst into the door, "Your cat is out of control!" she screamed.
I couldn't help but to double over in laughter as I saw what she was holding. Maleficent in one hand that looked like he'd had a very had hair cut from all the bald spots on his body and then Nala who had the most satisfying grin on her face as if she had just won the battle of Troy. "You need to control her Zoey!"
"While I find it hard to control a cat, I can't help but to laugh at just how funny all this is!" I continued to chuckle.
"UGH!" Aphrodite grumbled and stormed down the hall, but not before throwing Nala back onto my bed, which she gracefully landed on all fours then curled up at the bottom of the bed.
"Nala, Nala, Nala. You know it was only a figure of speech when I said for you to teach the meanie cat a lesson!" I chided her. "I didn't mean it literally! Your going to make Aphrodite's hair fall out with stress and you don't want to be around when that happens!" I shook my finger at her.
Nala just yawned and placed her head down on her paws and fell fast asleep. I figured it was time to get up; it was just past 7pm. Neferet had been meeting with me every day at 8:30 to get me ready for my induction to the High Council and to become High Priestess. Since this was my last lesson of sorts, I had better not keep her waiting.
I got off the bed and took a large whiff of the lavender pot that my Grandma had left me. I love the smell of Lavender. It was so calming and refreshing. I decided not to take a shower, but to take a nice hot bath. That might sooth my aching muscles since I had been asleep for several hours more than usual. I stripped off my pajamas and headed into the bathroom where I turned the knob to hot and let the tub fill. I poured in some of my lavender bath petals and let the steam rise. I stepped into the hot water and laid down, relaxing my head on the pillow that I got to put at the end of the tub. I closed my eyes to let myself relax even further, even asking Earth to sooth away my achy joints.
I didn't even realize that I had fallen asleep in the tub until I heard Stark calling my name. I jolted out of the tub and called to him.
"Zoey? I came to bring you something to drink…." He started to say as I whipped out of the bathroom with a towel around my body and scurrying around the drawers trying to find anything to wear.
"Oh no, I'm going to be late!" I chided myself.
"Just calm down, it's ok. You still have 15 minutes, good thing I brought you some blood and wine." Stark handed me the cup and I gulped it all down. I had totally forgotten how hungry I was and the one serving did nothing to stop my hunger pains, it just escalated them.
Throwing modesty shier out the window, I threw my towel off my exposing my naked body to Stark and put on my underwear and then grabbed the first bit of clothing from my drawers, which was a pair of skinny jeans and a black cotton top. I threw my hair up in a pony tail and reached for my socks. I was scrambling. Every second was another I lost and I was certain not to be late again to see Neferet.
"Are you ok Z?" Stark asked. He had sat down on the edge of the bed and bless his heart had turned the other direction when I decided to strip nude for him. "You've been sleeping a lot lately."
"Fine, fine. I don't have time to talk ok. I'm sorry, I really have to get going." I rushed putting on my socks, then shoes and running over to give him a quick peck on the lips. "See you tonight?"
"Yeah" Stark replied less than enthusiastically before he got up and walked very sullenly out of the door. I knew we hadn't spent a lot of time together since I was recovering. He would come and cuddle with me at night, but I was a bit distant.
I grabbed my books and ran out of the dorms waving to Damien, Jack, Shaunee and Erin as I ran past them. I heard half hearted hello's as I past them by. It seems that Stark was not the only person that was being affected by me not getting enough sleep. I would have to make it up to them after the induction. There was just too much to prepare for and study and I wanted to be on top of my game.
I ran across campus and up to Neferet's apartment where she was waiting for me. I had to wipe the sweat from my brow that accumulated from running.
"Zoey! Right on time." Neferet welcomed me in a warm embrace. "This is the last of your instruction before the induction tomorrow." Neferet glowed with pride and it made me feel so happy. I would have given anything for my mom to be proud of me for anything. Getting good grades, not sleeping around with Heath, not drinking or doing drugs. Neferet, at least now that she's been changed back, always showed me she was proud of me, of who I was and who I became. She was the ultimate mother figure I had always wanted my mom to be. I felt a small blood tear start to make its way out of my eye and down my cheek. "Oh Zoeybird, what is the matter?" she asked as she wiped the tear with her thumb.
"Nothing, I'm…I'm just really glad that your happy for me. This is all I ever wanted from my real mom." I looked down to the floor, knowing that I could burst out into tears at any moment.
Neferet grabbed my chin and forced me to look upwards to her. "Zoeybird, while I may not be your maternal mother, I would be honored if you considered me a mother figure. I have always been so proud of you. Even in my darkest of moments, I saw just how brave and special you were. Come, let us talk and be merry." She lead me over to the chairs by her desk. I sat in one and she sat in the other opposite from me.
"Your friends say that you haven't left your room much the past few weeks since what happened. They feel you are pulling away, is there anything you want to talk about?" Neferet asked.
"I've just been really tired. Nothing is wrong, I just seem to want to sleep."
"Have you been feeding regularly? You realize now that you are a vampire, you need to feed on blood on a daily basis until you are older and can go several days without it."
"Actually, I haven't eaten much at all. I just get up, come here, go back to my dorm and go to bed."
Neferet got up and opened a small fridge under the bookcase of her apartment. She handed me a small bag of blood and punctured it with a straw. "Here, drink. This will help keep your energy up. I want you to drink at least two of these a day. When you wake and mid evening. This should insure that you have enough energy to do what you want instead of sleeping all day long."
I took the blood bag from her and began to sip away. It was mighty refreshing. Straight blood was always better than mixed with wine, at least to me. I had my blood lust early and the taste of fresh blood was my favorite. It had a certain sweetness to it. Almost like chocolate, but better.
We went over my studies and we practiced some elemental controls. Neferet finally started to discuss what would happen at the induction to the High Council. "Now Zoeybird, I mean to forewarn you. Entering the High Council is a great honor. It is must like the Dark Daughters. You have rituals and codes that you must follow. Being a High Priestess does not mean that you can go about doing whatever you wish, it means upholding a standard. You are first Vampire, you are second a Priestess. You should always remember that. No matter how much human emotion you have left, you are now a Vampire and will always be until your final death." Neferet's eyes were serious and stern. "At the induction of a new High Priestess, there is an introduction ritual. First, you must chose a consulate, this person you will be bonded to. This person can be male or female. It does not have to be anything sexual, but do keep in mind that generally blood and sex go hand and hand in vampire life. As you may have experienced in the past, which I'm sure you have, when drinking and giving blood, it gives off a pheromone of ecstasy. It is pleasurable for us. So, if you are not partial to women in the sexual way, it may not be favorable. However, your consulate must be someone you can always confide in, no matter what. They are someone you can tell your darkest and most intimate secrets to.
"Second and I believe this may be a ritual that would be difficult for you, you will have to feed on a living human." Neferet paused to gauge my reaction, which I'm sure was something like Tim Allen on Home Improvement when he does that "Huh?" sound.
"What do you mean I have to feed on a living human?" I asked.
"Meaning, there will be a human, who has willingly given him or herself of use to us for ceremonial uses. It is a rite of passage as a vampire as we have always fed among the humans. They are our source of food and have been for centuries."
"I don't have to kill anyone do I?" I asked a little more nervously.
Neferet laughed, "Oh Goddess no Zoey. You will not have to kill anyone. You just have to feed from them. It is for a vampire to know when they are satisfied and it is the responsibility of the High Priestess to show newly turned fledglings the restraint from draining a human dry."
"What if I don't have that restraint?"
"Zoey, I doubt, very highly that you will not be able to restrain yourself. You have before. This is not a new thing to you as much as I had tried to steer you from it." Neferet looked at me with an eyebrow arched. "Lastly, the end of the ceremony is the binding of the blood. Since you were specifically chosen by Nyx herself, giving yourself to her is the last binding agreement to becoming High Priestess. You will be presented a knife to which your wrist will be cut. Your blood will be drained into a goblet which will be shared among the High Council. The rest will be given to Nyx."
"That doesn't seem so bad." I said dryly.
"It's not, I just know if I did not go over it with you first then you might be a little peeved at me later." Neferet winked. "Now, study is over, remember to drink another bag mid evening" as she tossed me another bag, "and please, spend some time with your friends, they are most urgently wanting to speak with you."
Neferet pushed me out of the door and I started my way towards the dorms again. I had a lightness in my stomach, I was excited and nervous all at the same time. Who would the human be, who would I chose as my partner? That was going to be tricky and guaranteed to make someone very mad or jealous depending on who I chose. I would have to think long and hard about it. I decided the best thing to do was go hang with the gang and talk to them about it. Keeping secrets was no way to continue a friendship and I figured that would be better than making a decision and telling them later.