The ceremonial words didn't mean much to me. I knew they were coming.

I intuitively knew that someday, he would find me, and someday, I would be Marked. The fact that I didn't fit in made me almost look forward to this event, instead of dread it as my friends did, and this set me apart in yet another way.

Now, in the bathroom of Clearfountain High, right after my weekly Thursday student council meeting, I fingered the crescent tattoo, a sapphire outline embossed on to my otherwise clear forehead. Curly brown bangs brushed the top of the crescent, and I pushed them out of the way with one urgent motion.

"I'm a vampyre," I said to myself, slowly. "A vampyre."

And though I knew it, knew it from the time I first saw someone get Marked, for a moment I was unprepared.

Cassadee Mathewson, my absolute best friend in the world, tentatively tapped me on the shoulder. "Uh, Miri, this might be a really bad time, but… um, aren't you gonna start dying any moment now?"

Oh Nyx Almighty, totally forgot about that part. "Most likely," I commented dryly, grabbing my book bag and heading to her car. "So, my house first, then… that House of Night place?"

"Don't you want your mom to drive you?" Cass asked, her eyebrows raised speculatively.

"Depends, is she gonna start crying?"

"I don't know, really." she said, attempting a light grin and failing.

"Yeah, I'm not sure either." I sighed.

My house was old, built in nineteenth century Clearfountain, Ohio- a controversial city, only recently settled by it's first vampyre. Now, seeing a vamp around town was much more common. We were located close to one of the House of Night schools, the Cincinnati location. Even the House of Night Indianapolis wasn't far off. But even with the ideal location, I had still only seen one person get marked in my entire life.

Cass slammed her old car to an abrupt halt. "You want me to go in, for, like, moral support?"

I hesitated. On one hand, the booklet all fifth grade students were given by visiting vampyre professors (Starting Life as a Fledgling Vampyre in Three Steps) told us that telling your parents you were Marked was a special experience for family only. But, still, I knew I'd feel better with Cass in there. I nodded and started into the house, Cass patting my shoulder comfortingly.

"Flatten your bangs," she whispered in my ear. "You wanna be the one to tell them. Don't let them see it before they hear it." Her quotation of the pamphlet was precise and comforting.

She did it for me before my long, pale hand had any time to move. "There," she said. "Perfect."

I glanced past her at the mirror in our hallway. I did look human, if absolutely terrified, pale, and sickly. My dark hair concealed the blue tattoo pretty well.

"Oh God, here comes your mom," Cass said, and I dived behind her.

My mother was the sort of woman that wasn't intimidating, wasn't strong, wasn't horrible. But she had a sort of presence, a sort of aura about her. Nobody could lie to my mother, and usually, she just knew stuff. More than likely, all Cass's preparations to help me look human were in vain.

She twirled her blonde hair (I got my looks from my dad). "What happened at school today?" she asked me matter-of-factly. "And tell the truth, I know something happened."

Cass, still in front of me, waved at my mom in a weak distraction. "Uh, hi, Ms. LaFont," she said cheerily. "Nice day, isn't it?"

"Well, I'm sure it's a nice day, and just call me Aphrodite, Cassadee, but I really need to see Mirabelle right now." Mom twisted her hair around her finger again.

I poked one arm out and waved. "Hi, Mom," I said.

She sighed. "Your forehead, Mirabelle, your forehead. Goddess."

Slowly, I emerged from behind Cass. Mom briskly walked over to me and brushed my bangs away. "You've been Marked," she commented in an un-opinionated voice, as if she didn't mind- maybe didn't even care- that I was.

"Yep," I said, immediately replacing my hair over the tattoo.

Despite her previous display of un-emotion, her eyes started to tear up. "Oh, Miri," she cried, resorting suddenly and unexpectedly to my nickname, which she had always hated. "Mirabelle, you'll have so much fun. The best four years of my life were spent at House of Night Tulsa."

Cass's eyes nearly dropped out of their sockets. "Ms. Aphrodite ma'am, you're human… aren't you?"

"Just Aphrodite, and yes, I am, mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Yes, but enough about me. What about Mirabelle?"

"I'm cool," I said automatically. "I mean, no dying as of yet. Slight cough. But… I'm not going to drop on you anytime soon."

My mother nodded. "Okay then, go get packed. Tulsa's a long way away… but if you think we have time, we can just go directly there."

"Tulsa!" my friend shrieked.

"Okay, Mom, that is totally not cool, Tulsa's in like, Oklahoma, and the only thing I know about that place is from the musical." I ranted on. "And besides, Cinci has a House of Night, and it is sooo much closer."

"What do I do when I need her advice?" Cass demanded.

Mom remained cool. "You e-mail her."

"What if I need her?" I asked.

"Then YOU email HER," she responded, still calm.

"What if we need to see each other in person?" we yelled in unison.

Mom laughed, tossing back her blonde hair. "Mirabelle will have new friends of her own kind that she can go to, and Cassadee, you're still a sophomore. It'll be easy to make friends this year. Both of you will be absolutely fine, you can be pen pals or something."

"No way, Aphrodite, your honor" Cass said, pushing her wisps of syrupy dyed-red hair behind her ears stubbornly. "Miri isn't leaving any more than she has to."

"Yeah! I'll go to Cincinnati or somewhere. I'm sixteen, you can't control me much anymore!" I screamed rebelliously.

"You aren't sixteen, yet," Mom reminded me.

"Well, I'm almost sixteen. I can drive, though!" Resisting a childish urge to stick out my tongue, I folded my arms over my chest.

"But it's not like you have your license."

"No, but I've got my permit, and Cass has her license AND a car. If you wanna drive me all the way to Tulsa, then I'll get Cass to take me," I threatened.

"Your dad just moved to back to Tulsa," Mom said, raising her eyebrow.

Well, that changed things. I hadn't seen my dad since I was little. It was customary for humans and vampyres to live separate lives, and so my parents relationship had been scorned at and discriminated until it slowly fell to pieces.

I looked at Cass pleadingly. She sighed. "Go ahead, Miri, I'd feel the same way."

I smiled gratefully before grasping Cass's hand. "Come with us. It's the last time we'll get to see each other in a while, and I know I'd feel better in Tulsa if you helped me settle in. It's a three-day weekend, you'll be back for school on Monday."

"Tuesday," my friend smiled. "I'll call in sick."

I hugged her tightly. "You're the best, Cass!"

"Hell, maybe I should just transfer down to Tulsa High, or whatever, while I'm at it," Cass joked. Then she sighed. "I wish I really could switch schools, but Annette would kill me." Annette was Cass's older sister and legal guardian. She gave Cass a lot of freedom, but cracked down hard on the rare occasion that my friend took advantage of it.

"So, Cass is coming too?" Mom commented, again in her uncaring voice.

"Yeah… this might just be our only chance to go on a road trip together, and that was one of the things on our list of stuff to do before we die," I said enthusiastically.

Cass cracked a smile. "Well, Miri… if you wanna get technical…"

It took forever to get packed, mostly because Cass and Mom insisted that I not over-exert myself. "You know," I commented dryly as they raced to shove my underwear into a suitcase, "time is supposed to be worse for me than heavy lifting."

That only made them more panicked, and the air in my bedroom soon filled with flying t-shirts.

Mom glanced at her watch once everything was shoved into the car. "Okay. Emergency plan- if Mirabelle starts rejecting the Change, Cassadee will drive while I call the nearest House of Night. She can recover there for a few days while Cassadee drives back to Clearfountain. I'll catch a plane home."

Cassadee sighed and pulled out her wallet. "Or, we could skip the car and the emergency plans and ride an airplane in the first place." A shiny black credit card gleamed in her hand, and she held it out to my mother.

Mom put on her stern face. "Cassadee Mathewson, I can't accept money from a minor, and…"

"Annette isn't a minor," Cass said smugly, waving the plastic cared around in the air.

"And, anyway, we could pay for it ourselves, but… well, actually, that might work," Mom agreed. "We'll fly to Tulsa. I think if I pull some strings, I could get an old friend to pick us up."

"Dad?" I questioned, perking up.

"No, her name's Zoey. Back in my teen years, she was like a little sister to me. A little sister who overshadowed everything I did, but still…" Mom had a glazed look in her eyes as she reminisced.

"Wait," Cass commanded. "Zoey as in 'Mirabelle Zoey LaFont?"

"Yes, that would be the right Zoey." Her eyes still had the faraway look, and I wondered who exactly this girl was if she was important enough to be my namesake. "Zoey Redbird, we were in the Dark Daughters together."

Cass and I climbed into my the LaFont family silver Volkswagen as my mother chatted away on her cell. "Yes…" we heard her murmur. "Her name is Mirabelle LaFont, not that that'll be important anymore… yes, I know more about vampyres than you think. Do you know who I am? I am Aphrodite LaFont!"

After a few seconds of listening to this obviously awkward exchange, Cass looked at me. "Miri, I swear, your mother can be… scary."

"Yeah, I know."

Mom started walking towards us. "Who was that?" I called out.

"Some idiot that thought I was one of those damn People of Faith. Humph."

"Did you just say 'humph,' Mom?"

Mom glared at me. "That's enough backtalk, miss."

Cass and I looked at each other, worried.

"Let's go," Cass said. "We don't have all eternity. Except for maybe Miri."

The trip to the airport was long and tedious. We had gotten past all joking point by then, and worry filled the air. People stared at my forehead as we brushed past the crowd in both Columbus and Tulsa.

As we walked out of Tulsa's main entrance, Mom nudged me. "Look for a woman with loads of marks, dark hair, and brown eyes. Zoey."

I just started to glance around as a confident voice called out. "Aphrodite!"

My mother turned. "Oh my goddess, Zoey, it's been a while."

Zoey was stunning. Folds of dark, wavy hair poured down her back and her entire body was outlined with deep blue tattoos, more tattoos than I had ever seen. "This must be little Mirabelle… Zoey… LaFont. I haven't seen her since she was three!"

"Four, actually," Mom corrected. "We moved just as she was about to start in preschool. Anyways, this is our Mirabelle, and her friend, Cassadee Mathewson."

"Hey," Cass said coolly. "Nice to meet you."

"Come, we need to get Miri to the school. You two are welcome to come- visitation rules have been pretty relaxed lately. None of the drama we had when we were fledglings, Afro."

My mother's face fell quickly. "I know we haven't seen each other in awhile, but you are still SO not allowed to call me that."

I climbed into the taxi, slamming down next to Cass. The two adults climbed in after me. "So Mirabelle," Zoey asked lightly. "How much do you know about vampyres?"

"Eh, enough to know that I'm either gonna be one, or I'm gonna die."

The two adults gave each other knowing looks. "Actually," Zoey said, smiling. "There's really no risk anymore. We have two types of vampyres, the blue ones and the red ones, and really it's equally divided. Most classes have both kinds of fledglings in them, and it doesn't matter which you are- we believe in equal treatment here in Tulsa."

"Cool, so I'm not gonna die?"

"I never said that."

Cass caught my eye, and made the cuckoo sign. Zoey chuckled. "Cass… you prefer Cass to Cassadee, right? It's hard to understand, but it's the truth. Mirabelle will learn what it means, and I expect that she'll tell you as soon as she understands. Which should be soon- we're here, and Mirabelle's roommate is a red fledgling. Isabelle Massie."

"Isabelle Massie?" Cass shrieked.

"So, you've heard of her," Zoey said, smiling. "Yes, Isabelle Massie is Red High Priestess in Training, as well as a budding clothing designer. She's probably the brightest pupil House of Night has ever had." Zoey's eyes shone with favoritism. I hoped that wasn't one of her most prominent characteristics.

We got out of the car at a large church-like building. "Home," my mother announced. I didn't know who's home she was talking about- mine, hers, or Zoey's. I suppose all three.

Her eyes flushed with a nostalgic twinkle. "I haven't been to Tulsa in ages… here, Mirabelle, this is where I met your father. And over there- that's where I became a Dark Daughter…"

"There's where you really stopped being a hag from hell," Zoey laughed, pointing.

Mom glared at her friend. "Zoey, my daughter is here…"

"Right, right. Anyways, Mirabelle, you're different than most fledglings we get here- actually, completely unique. Vampyres can't have children, so you're the first daughter of a House of Night student. Now we allow select humans, so that will soon change, but you're the first. Feel honored!" Zoey's casual tone seemed a bit weird to me, her being an adult and everything, but I was getting used to it. "So, let's skip to the good part. Now that you've been Marked, you're starting a new life, so you get to change your name if you want." Zoey leaned in close. "And no, I won't be insulted if you drop the 'Zoey' part."

"I don't want to change anything," I said. "Maybe it's stupid, but I want to keep something from my old life."

"It isn't stupid," Zoey assured me. "And it's a beautiful name. A beautiful name for a beautiful new beginning."