My name was Diana Chang. I lived in a small town called Crastel in a small, two-story house. I went to Crastel High. My life was normal. I was an A student. I stayed late after school every day because I helped the teachers and tutored students after school. In fact, it was staying late after school one day that I was Marked.

I was going outside to drive home when I saw the Tracker. I was just outside school, alone, glancing around the parking lot, desperately trying to remember where I had parked that morning, when I saw the tall man with a blue crescent moon on his forehead. He was looking straight at me.

I walked towards the car, having spotted it, desperately hoping he would leave me alone and was here for someone else. Of course he wasn't, only the person about to be Marked could see the Tracker. It seemed like I blinked and he was in front of me. I gasped and backed away.

His deep voice resonated between us. "Diana Chang! Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!"

The Tracker pointed at my forehead, and my mind felt like it was exploding in pain. I cried out, closing my eyes against the brightness of the sun as I clutched at my head. When I opened my eyes the Tracker was gone.

I exhaled, sliding into the driver's side. I glanced in the rearview mirror, looked away, and did a double take. I had a blue crescent moon outline on my forehead.

I froze. My fingers traced the mark. I choked as I began driving home, unable to keep my eyes away from the mirror for long.

"Mom!" I yelled the second I got home. "Mom, you will not BELIEVE what happened!"

"In the kitchen, honey. Come on in. What's wrong, Di?"

I ran into the kitchen. Mom turned to me with a big smile on her face, and I watched it slide right off as she gawked at the mark on my forehead. "Di, honey. What happened?"

"I was Marked," I said unnecessarily.

"I guess we'll need to drive you to the House of Night," Mom mused. "I guess we should go as soon as possible. Go and pack your bags, Di," she said, continuing to talk to herself.

I ran upstairs, grabbing my duffel bag and throwing my clothes in. I stared at myself in the mirror, tracing the mark on my forehead. Suddenly I was falling backwards.

I woke up in a small room with the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. It was impossible to describe her: I just know she practically glowed with an otherworldly magnificence.

"Merry meet, Diana Chang," she said calmly. "It's nice to meet you."

"Hi," I said, not nearly as nonchalant as she. "I'm sorry…but who are you?"

The woman smiled. "It is not who I am that matters. You shall know soon. I bless you, though, my lovely girl. Diana Chang, you are seventeen years old?" I nodded that she was right. "I gift you, my dear. Do not panic. You are powerful."

The woman touched a hand to my forehead and I felt peace and calm and power radiate through my body, spreading from the spot where her hand pressed.

"Ivory Labastria, I bless you with Spirit and my eternal love."

I woke up with a start. I was lying on a bed in a room I didn't recognize. I sat up, looking around in a panic.

Mom was talking to a beautiful Indian woman. The woman seemed to somehow know that I had woken up, because she turned and smiled brightly at me.

"Merry meet, Diana Chang," she said. (Why did everybody keep saying that to me?) "Merry meet. You have been Marked as a vampyre fledgling."

"Oh," was all I could think to say. "Who are you?"

The woman laughed. "My name is Egypt Bird. I teach art, but I have a healing affinity. I believe that you are a very special fledgling, and I'm not just saying that. Would you like me to be your mentor?"

"Mentor?" I asked, wondering what she was talking about.

"At the House of Night, you have a mentor and he or she will be an advisor to you, and a sort of parent figure while you are here. Once a month your family or friends can visit you."

"Oh," I said, lacking anything else to say. "I'd like that, Miss Bird, if you don't mind."

"Call me Egypt," said Egypt. "And I would love that. As I said, I believe you are a very special fledgling. I think Nyx has gifted you. At the House of Night, you are reborn as a different person. What do you choose as your name in your new life?"

I remembered the beautiful woman I had seen when I was unconscious. 'Nyx,' I said to myself. 'That must have been Nyx. Who is Nyx?' I decided she must be important, and tried to remember what she had called me.

"I am Ivory Labastria," I said.

Egypt smiled at me kindly. "Merry meet, Ivory Labastria. I should take you to meet your new roommate now. Your stuff is already there. I will meet you outside once you have said good bye."

"Bye, Mom," I said, enveloping her in a hug. "Love you."

"Love you too, Di. I'll come with your father on the first visiting day. Have an amazing time. Your mark is amazing, by the way," Mom said, kissing me on the head and leaving before I could ask her what she was talking about.

Egypt was waiting outside the door. She handed me a heavy hand mirror, and I gaped at my reflection. I suddenly understood why she thought Nyx had gifted me. My mark wasn't the ordinary sapphire blue as your usual fledgling. It was gold, and filled in like an adult vampyre's would be.

"Ohmygod," I said. "What the heck?"

Egypt smiled at me. "Nyx has gifted you. She has blessed you with a very unique gift. Tomorrow, once you have settled in, I will take you to meet the High Priestess."

"Nyx?" I asked. "High Priestess?"

"Nyx is the goddess of the night. We worship her here. The High Priestess is the person who leads the rituals for her."

A goddess had come to me and talked to me! I was so excited I couldn't speak. Finally, remembering what her 'gift' to me was, I asked, "What is Spirit?"

"Spirit is an element. Fledglings and vampyres can have affinities for the four elements, fire, water, wind, and earth, but nobody has had an affinity for the fifth, spirit. Not in the history of vampyres."

I was quiet as she led me into my room. "Ivory, this is your roommate, Brooke Rose. Brooke, this is your new roommate, Ivory Labastria." My roommate was absolutely gorgeous. I mean, seriously, everybody on this campus was so perfect and beautiful I had no idea how I'd fit in.

Brooke Rose had long, straight black hair and an oval face. Her eyes were dark, framed by long eyelashes. She carried a gracefulness about her that I knew I would never possess.

"Merry meet, Ivory Labastria," she said with a smile. "Merry meet, Egypt Bird." Brooke's voice was musical and clear, like the chiming of bells.

"I must go now," Egypt said to us. "Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again."

"Huh?" I said to Brooke. Thankfully, Brooke was not a snob (no matter how gorgeous she was.) "It's the greeting for vampyres and fledglings. 'Merry meet' is like 'hello', and 'merry meet and blah blah blah' is like 'see you soon'."

"Oh," I said, surveying the room. There were two beds across from each other. One, which I assumed was Brooke's, had a turquoise comforter and pearly sheets. The other one had plain white sheets and a tan blanket. On the nightstand next to Brooke's bed, there was a lamp that looked like sea foam surrounded by porcelain statues of dolphins.

"Cool mark," Brooke said. She flashed a smile at me. "Gifted by Nyx, huh?" I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. "Maybe."

"Just so you know, since Egypt, like, left me to explain this to you, classes go from eight pm to three am. It's like a regular school, but the whole daytime/nighttime thing is reversed."

"Oh," I said. "So, since it's, um, four pm, it's like, four am?" Brooke nodded encouragingly at me.

"Exactly!"

"So we should be sleeping?"

"Probably."

"OK. Night, Brooke. Thanks for everything."

"No problem. Night, Ivory."

I drifted into a dream about Nyx. In it, I could see Nyx clearer. She was tall and slim, with dark hair. I think she might have been Asian.

"Not to be rude, but why can't I tell what you look like?" I asked, trying to be respectful. (After all, she WAS a goddess.)

"I look different to everybody. I'm your standard of a goddess. I'm you, if you were a goddess. Does that make any sense?"

It didn't, but I said, "Um, yeah," anyways.

"I have told you before that I gifted you with Spirit. I did, but now I will give you true power. You must learn with your family and friends and mentor how to control your power. Come to me, Ivory Labastria."

Nyx was wearing a deep purple velvet dress and reclining upon a blue velvet sofa-bed. I walked towards her, feeling as light as a feather, and as if I was barely touching the floor. I sat beside her on the sofa and she sat up.

She embraced me, and I could feel her power radiating from her. She was glowing, and I could feel her transfer some light to me.

"I bless you with Spirit, Ivory Labastria," Nyx said again and again, stroking my hair for a reason I wouldn't find out until the morning (until night?).

I was exhausted when she released me. She stood, the ends of her dress sweeping the floor. "Relax, Ivory Labastria," she said with a hint of a smile on her face. "Relax and rest."

I lay back on the recliner, letting my eyes close. Nyx knelt beside me, whispering to me, giving me power beyond imagine. Again and again, she said, "I bless you, Ivory Labastria, I bless you."