DECISIONS
Chapter One:
"Zoey, are you okay?" Stevie Rae asked in her 'Okie' accent. She was standing outside the bathroom.
"I'm," I began to say before I began puking. "I'm fine. Just stay out there." I managed to get out before another upchuck began.
"The hell you are, I'm coming in and you can't stop me." She said, opening the bathroom door.
"Hi, see I'm ok…" I began to say before my lunch came up.
"Zoey, you look like hell on legs. I'm taking you to Erik." Stevie Rae said, taking my arm and helping me off the floor.
"Erik? Why the hell are you taking me to Erik? What's he going to do?" I asked, confused.
"ZOEY! Hello? Where have you been? He's the High Priest since Neferet…left." Stevie Rae said.
"I must have been out of it. I've been feeling weird lately. Like, different." I explained.
"This is an awkward question but…uhm….when you did the dirty with Loren did you….you know?" Stevie Rae asked, walking down the hall towards Neferet's former office.
"Uhm…no. I don't think he…CRAP!" I said, knowing where Stevie Rae was going.
"You're definitely pregnant. You puke all the time, you sleep lot, and….no offence…but you're getting bigger..."Stevie Rae said, opening the office door.
"I am not!" I yelled, my mood swing obviously kicking in.
Erik turned around in his big office chair to face Stevie Rae and I. He hadn't changed at all. His big, blue eyes looked to me up and down. I wanted to jump the desk and start making out with him.
He motioned for Stevie Rae and I to sit down.
"I don't think this is going to go well." I stated, sitting next to Stevie Rae.
"Hello Zoey, Stevie Rae. What can I help you with today?" he asked politely.
"Stevie Rae thinks…I'm well…"I began to say before Stevie Rae cut me off.
"Zoey is pregnant." Stevie Rae stated.
Erik's eyes got wider as he leaned back in his chair, breathing unevenly. He looked me up and down again and took a deep breath.
"Zoey, is this true?" He asked, his eyes returning to my face, his voice was uneven.
"Possibly. It might be." I answered not wanting to talk to my boyfriend who was pretending to be an adult, when we both know he's not. I didn't want to talk about this to the guy who caught me, as Stevie Rae says, doing the dirty with my professor.
"Well, I've never had a case like this. I honestly and truthfully have no idea what to do." Erik said, leaning forward on his desk and putting his head in his hands.
There's the true Erik.
"Neither do I!" I yelled, not meaning to.
Stevie Rae and Erik jumped at my explosion.
"Zoeybird, calm down. We will figure this out. Nothing will ever hurt you, ever." Erik said, getting up from his seat, walking around the desk, taking my hand.
I stood up and kissed him. I missed seeing him. I missed him more than I realized.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and I hugged him. I've missed his hugs. His body close to mine.
I hadn't realized I had started crying until I lifted my head off of his shoulder and saw eyelash marks.
"Sorry." I said, chuckling as I tried wiping them off.
"Zoeybird, don't worry about it." He said taking my hands in his.
Stevie Rae cleared her throat.
"Sorry. Okay, what are you going to do?" Erik asked.
"What do you mean? I'm keeping him or her, of course. What did you think I was going to do?" I asked, sensing he wanted me to give it up.
"Well I just figured since Loren Blake is dead, you wouldn't want anything to remind you of him, and I was hoping we could have our own kids one day." Erik said slowly, realizing I was pissed.
"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, but, I'm keeping the baby, whether you like it or not. It's my responsibility, my fault, so I'm keeping the baby." I said, stomping out of the office, hoping Stevie Rae was following because I didn't feel like looking back.
I arrived at my room quicker than I thought. I slammed the door shut and ran to my bed. I laid down, hoping that I would fall asleep.
I was not going to give up this baby, I had to take care if it, for me and for Loren. He would have wanted me to keep the baby, whether it was his or not.
I didn't care whether Erik, my current boyfriend, Heath, my human boyfriend (who I'm still Imprinted with), or Loren, my dead ex-boyfriend, or Stark who had pledged himself to me approved or not.
"Zoey?" I heard a familiar sounding voice from outside my room.
It was Aphrodite. Thank the Lord. I needed to talk to her.
"What?" I said, sounding relieved.
"I'm coming in." She stated, opening the door.
"What do you want, I'm not in the best mood right now…so…"I said, when I looked at her, her face was red and her eyes were bloodshot.
I sat up quickly and pulled her close to me.
"What did you see?" I asked, wiping the tears from her face.
"It was horrible, I hate being Vision-Girl. It wasn't as painful as it is now, when I was Changing. Why the hell do I still have to be Vision-Girl when I'm human?" She explained, rambling on.
"Aphrodite, tell me what happened." I tried saying in a stern voice, but it didn't work.
She giggled and then continued, "Zoey, Neferet, she's back."
Chapter Two
What was she talking about? Neferet left with Kalona. That's not possible.
"What are you talking about?" I managed to say calmly. I hoped my stress didn't show in my voice.
"Neferet, she's coming back, since she's not 'immortal' she can come and go as she pleased. She doesn't have to be trapped like Kalona did." Aphrodite explained, trying to understand what she saw.
"So she's coming back? To the House of Night? Ah, hell." I said, falling back on my bed.
"Priestess, may we enter?" a strong, burly voice sounded outside the door.
"We?" I asked confused
"Hey, Zoey." The Twins said, entering my room.
Following behind them were Daruis, Damien with Jack and Duchess (of course); Kramisha was followed by Venus who was standing next to Stark. Erik stood behind them, trying to stay out of my view.
"What do you want?" I asked, pissed that Erik was in the same room with me.
"Zoey, we have to," Shaunee started.
"Talk to you," Erin finished.
"It's important." They finished. Aphrodite was right, they did share a brain.
"Not unless he gets out." I said, directing my gaze at Erik.
"Ow, looks like lover boy is getting the cold shoulder." Kramisha said, her gold earrings jingling as she laughed. Erin, Shaunee, and Aphrodite joined in with her.
"Erik, could you possibly go wait in the hall? We want to talk to Zoey, but she doesn't want to talk to you." Damien asked, putting a puppy face on.
"Fine." Erik said, stepping out from behind Kramisha, 'We'll talk later." He said to me walking outside.
"Don't count on it." I whispered to myself.
"Zoey, we heard. I'm so sorry about that." Jack said, coming over to touch my stomach.
He reached for it but I quickly slapped it away.
"OW!" he yelled before walking running over to Damien.
"Jus because I'm pregnant doesn't mean you can touch my stomach." I stated.
"Zoey, despite your mood swings, and puking, we still love you. Remember that." Damien said, walking over to the side of my bed, taking my hand and rubbing it.
I quickly pulled it away.
"Damien, no. I don't want sympathy; I want somebody to support me! Erik wants me to get rid of it and you want me to keep it, well ALL of you want me to keep it!" I yelled, tears pouring from my eyes.
Erik stepped in, uninvited, and started talking. I knew he had heard that whole conversation.
"I'll support you in whatever you do, Zoeybird. Don't ever think different. You want to keep the baby, fine, we can raise it together. If you want to get rid of it, also fine, we'll raise our own child." He explained, walking to where Damien was standing.
"But you said you wanted to get rid of it, you wanted a child of our own." I sobbed into my pillows.
"I promise I will support you in whatever you want to do. Zoey, I love you." He stated, causing everyone in the room to gasp.
"Erik, I love you…." I began to say before Stevie Rae busted through the door.
"ZOEY ZOEY ZOEY!" Stevie Rae said, short of breath.
"What?!" I yelled, caught up in the excitement.
"Neferet! She's….SHE'S BACK!" Stevie Rae said before collapsing on the floor.
Darius ran to her, picked her up and placed her on her bed.
There were whispers and yelling in the room.
"SHUT UP!" I yelled. I can't think when people are panicking.
Everyone quickly shut their mouths and listened to what I had to say.
"Neferet isn't and never will be as powerful as she was before. She doesn't have Kalona on her side. Kalona had the power to control people's minds. Neferet obviously doesn't. She can read peoples minds but as long as we shield our thoughts; we are in no apparent danger." I explained, sitting up, feeling in control.
"Erik, did you know that she was here?" Kramisha asked.
"No idea. I would be the first to know, in this case, I wasn't." Erik explained, sitting on the edge of my bed.
"Well, obviously, white boy." Kramisha said, laughing.
Erik rolled his eyes and turned towards me.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know that she was coming back. Please don't be angered." He said, his poetic side talking control.
"'Stop with all this 'I'm the Priest, I have to act all high and mighty' crap. Nobody's buying it and absolutely NONE of us like it." I said, not meaning to freak out on him.
"What do you mean?" he asked, innocently.
"Never mind…this is ridiculous. Neferet grabbed onto Kalona, she should be trapped with him!" Venus yelled pushing through the Twins. They responded by a hand on their hip.
"Well Venus, obviously we were wrong." I said, feeling the need to respond for Erik, after my little outburst.
A rap came at my door.
"Zoey?" the voice asked, that I was all too familiar with.
"Everyone summon your elements!" I yelled before sitting up and walking calmly towards the door.
What was I suppose to do now? I can't just casually open the door and give her a big hug and some cookies. She had gone against our goddess, Nyx, and didn't think one thing of it. How was I going to react when I opened the door and saw her there?
I shook away those thoughts and slowly opened the door.
She stood at the doorway with her hair in a cascade down her shoulders. Her face was cut and bruised. She looked like she had been crying.
"Zoeybird!" She yelled before quickly running towards me with open arms.
"Neferet." I stated, stepping out of the way of her hug.
"Zoey, we have to talk, quickly, inside." She said, pushing me through the door. I tried to resist but she was just to strong.
