I do not own the House of Night or any of the characters, they belong to the Cast's.

It had been an exhausting night, so much had happened and yet here in the tunnels it almost seemed like a normal night – everyone was gathered into small groups chit chatting and looking like they were on the verge of sleep. But I wasn't, I couldn't – there was too much to think about now and everything was resting on my shoulders. How had things gotten so out of control so quickly? It seemed like just yesterday I'd been marked and had gone to live at the House of Night and now here I am, the most powerful fledgling in all history planning (or trying to come up with a plan) to defeat the fallen angel Kalona, which my mentor Neferet had set free.

Did I mention she did that by changing the dead fledglings into undead dead kids? Oh yeah, my best friend and room mate Stevie Rae is one of them, and it just so happened to be her blood that had awoken the monster of all of our dreams. Now I had to pray to Nyx not only for my safety but for the entire worlds –ugh, just ugh.

I guess I'd been lost in my own thoughts because I didn't hear the twins approach, (they're not really twins, but try telling them that). They're so much alike in almost every way that they very well could have been twins, except for their obvious difference in race, but again try telling them that.

"You okay –" Shaunee began, only to be finished by Erin, "Zoey?"

I had to blink several times to clear my head before turning to them with what I hoped was a reassuring smile. "Yeah I'm fine, really." Okay so I wasn't convinced by my performance but the twins didn't seem to want to push the topic further and simply shrugged as they walked away. I thought I might have even heard them mutter something along the lines of 'please, just please' but I was so lost, so confused in my own thoughts that I simply choose to ignore it.

Hours must have passed while I sat there gazing into the darkness of the tunnels, trying desperately to form a plan to defeat Neferet and Kalona, but nothing, absolutely nothing was coming to mind. All I could think about was my Grandma, I hoped she was okay, but she had to be – Nyx wouldn't take her from me as well? Right?

Not to mention that my boyfriend, or er, ex-boyfriend, more importantly my recent ex-boyfriend Eric was also cooped into the small tunnels with us. I should have felt grateful that he'd chosen to stand alongside me, but all I could feel was the grief and guilt that I had caused him. Not to mention I kept thinking about Stark – god I am turning into a ho, I bet I could easily rival Aphrodite now.

Shaking my head in an attempt to clear it I stood up, only just realizing I hadn't checked on Stevie Rae yet – poor girl had an arrow straight through her heart and I had totally forgotten about her in the chaos of everything else. I sighed as I crept down the tunnels, trying to be silent in hopes of not waking anyone else; I finally came to a door which I assumed was where they had put her, she was sound asleep and looked marginally better than before. With a sigh of relief I turned to exit her small, cramped room and headed down into what I assumed as the kitchen area.

It was dark and dimly lit with oil lamps that hung from the walls – all in all the red fledglings (or undead dead kids) had done a pretty good job getting these tunnels fixed up, thanks to the help and money of Aphrodite. I opened a fridge, there were three of them, only to be surprised that the one I'd opened was full of nothing but blood – oh goody! I grabbed a bag of O+, not that blood type mattered much to me, blood was blood as far as I was concerned, a cup and some wine out of the other fridge. I mixed them together and sat on a stool in the corner, sipping away as I dozed once more back into the world of my chaotic thoughts. That was until I heard someone clear their throat. I looked up slightly startled and was shocked to see the clearest blue eyes staring down at me.

Thank god for the dim lighting, I hoped it hid the blush of my pale cheeks as I squirmed under his intense gaze. "Sorry I thought I was the only one up." I said, taking another sheepish sip of my mixed drink.

"I couldn't sleep." Eric admitted as he poured himself a drink and sat on a stool opposite of me.

Oh god, not now – was all I could think to myself. The boy had barely spoken to me since the night he found me tangled up in Loren Blake's arms – ugh, just ugh. This was not the time nor place to be having personal conversations – to much was going on, but I could tell by the way he ran his hands through his darker than night black hair that he intended full well on having this conversation.

"So.." he began, pausing as if though he were searching for the right words. "We need to talk Zoey, I can't be this close to you and have this awkwardness anymore." He admitted, searing me with his bright blue eyed gaze, and those depthless eyes swam with confusion, hurt and hope; which made my heart heavy and ache as I stared back hopelessly searching for the words to make this alright.

"Eric, I've apologized, I've tried to explain things to you – I know what I did was wrong and I am sorry. But there's not much else I can say or do, is there?" I asked, a sad, helpless look over took my strong Cherokee boned face. My brown eyes swam with mixed emotions, though I tried desperately to mask them, now was not the time to give into my ho-ish ways.

"I'm sorry." Eric said, which took me by complete surprise, but before I could even get a word out he continued, his voice soft and melodic, but tinged with hurt and mistrust. "I'm just hurt Zoey, I really am – I don't think you understand how much I loved you."

My heart broke again as the words left his mouth. Loved – past tense, there was obviously nothing left inside of him that felt any sort of fondness towards me – I deserved as much but it still hurt to accept the fact that he no longer wanted me. "I loved you to Eric, I really did, and I'm sorry you got hurt. I wish I could take it back." I admitted, though what I wanted to say was 'I still love you, please still love me, please?!' but I couldn't' bring myself to be that selfish, not when I'd already hurt him so badly.

I sighed, closing my eyes tightly as if trying to wake up from this horrible dream that had now become my life; but alas this is my reality and there is no escape. I continued to sit there, my eyes closed as I breathed deeply in and out trying to calm my shaky nerves, and then out of the blue lips were upon mine. My eyes shot open to see those blue eyes so close, his lips hungrily devouring mine; I gasped as he pulled away, a look of utter shock gracing my face.

"What was that?" I asked in a strangled voice, my hands shaking as I looked up at him through my clouded dark brown eyes.

"I still love you, I do – Nyx I wish I didn't, it wouldn't hurt so badly if I didn't, but I do Zoey. I love you. I want use to be together." He admitted, though his voice was sad, almost unsure. All I could do was stand walk over time and throw my arms around his neck, holding him closely.

"I love you too Eric, I'm so sorry. I promise I won't ever take you for granted again, I won't hurt you again." Or at least I hoped I wouldn't, goddess, me and my big mouth making promises that I fully intended to keep but perhaps couldn't. His response was simply to grab me, pulling me closer to him as he nuzzled his head into my hair, smelling me deeply – as if banking everything into memory, just in case.

I yawned then, my eyes feeling heavy with the need of sleep. "We should go to bed." I said between yawns, he nodded and let me down the hall into what I assumed was his bedroom, since the bed was already messed up, the blanket thrown to the foot of it. We crawled into bed, clothes and all as exhaustion over took us, he cradled my body against his, which was more comforting that I would have assumed anything could be, least of all now when the world was falling apart, literally.

Within moments I was asleep, drifting off into my dreams – dreams that were familiar and yet, were darkly sinister as they took shape.