Chapter 4:
Zoey
I stood in front of my friends and stared into the night sky where Kalona had vanished.
"What the Hell!" Aphrodite said. I finally turned around. Everyone's face was seriously pissed. "Kalona kills some of your boyfriends and suddenly that makes him one of the good guys is that it?"
"No! Look," I started. "I had a gut feeling and you told me to trust my feelings. For some reason, like it or not, Kalona is the key to getting rid of Neferet. And no, I don't think he is a good guy, we all know that, but we need to work with him, for some reason, in order to stop Neferet." I finished almost out of breath from yelling.
Stark put his strong hands on my shoulder like he was expecting me to pass out. I shrugged him off. I could tell everyone was a little hurt that I exploded at them but my life is just so stressful… all the time.
Kramisha came running out with a ripped off piece of paper, which I assumed had a poetic prophecy written on it. Great, all I needed was more confusion in my life.
"Hey I just wrote this down, but it don't make no sense." She slowed down to a walk and became confused as she realized she interrupted something. "What's wrong?"
"We're working with bird-boy's father now." Aphrodite said pointing her thumb back at Rephaim.
"I told you not to call me that." He responded as Stevie Rae held him back.
"Stop fighting! Aphrodite, be nice. Kramisha let me see the poem. Damien, I already know I'll need help with this one, so come over here." I said, rubbing my forehead. I started to read the poem out loud.
Look closer my dear
In dark shoes
The end is near
what will be her final fight
The sword will chose
the answer is what you're seeing
Dark or light?
for this immortal being
Born again.
"Ok ow! That makes NO sense." Erin said.
"Ya, we've had confusing poems before but that just makes my brain hurt." Shaunee finished.
"Well it obviously has something to do with Neferet… oh wait! Let me see that." Damien grabbed the paper from me. "I've seen this before, the poem isn't supposed to be read in the order it is on the page, it's supposed to be read by the rhymes, like abab. It's an ancient technique."He read the poem over and over silently before he read it again out loud. "All right this is better." He continued and read the new poem aloud.
Born again.
In dark shoes
what will be her final fight?
The sword will chose
Dark or light?
The end is near
for this immortal being.
Look closer my dear
the answer is what you're seeing.
"Soooo… this is about Neferet, and a sword, and her… death?" I asked.
"But that's impossible, she's immortal now." Stevie Rae chimed in. "the poem says so."
"Well maybe Kalona knows something about this sword and what makes it so special. We will have to ask him tomorrow night." I said rubbing my head again. I had way too much on my plate right now. I, with the help of my friends, needed to find answers, and find them fast. Who knew how many steps ahead Neferet was. Who knew how much time we could waste.
Aurox
Aurox followed Neferet into their penthouse she had rented out. He couldn't help how beautiful he thought she was. Her hair always seemed to flow around her shoulders perfectly, and how there was always a shadow that seemed to hover around her. He loved the power she possessed, and he loved serving her.
He turned and looked at his strange new body. He could only remember one day back. The day she created him.
His straight dirty-blonde hair fell just past his ears, and he had brown eyes. He was wearing black trousers and an unbuttoned shirt, which showed his bare chest. He felt her hand adventure over his shoulder. He smiled, staring at her perfect reflection in the mirror.
"You are going to be perfect. You will never fail me." She said seductively and bit his ear. He turned around to return a kiss, but she had vanished.
Instead of seeing Neferet, Aurox saw a man standing in the hallway. He was shorter than himself but was well built. His hair was neatly pulled back into a ponytail, and dragon tattoos framed his face. He was holding a sword in one hand, making him look fierce. Aurox knew this vampyre because he had been trained to fight by him, Dragon; they called him. Dragon Lankford.
"Where is she?" The vampyre said in a dark tone.
"I don't know. She left as soon as we arrived I have not seen her since." Aurox said.
"You killed the rest of the raven mockers." Dragon said more as a statement and less as a question. He knew the powers this vessel possessed, and he knew very well that he was powerful enough to defeat those creatures.
"Yessss. And burned them on the spot." Aurox replied and smiled.
"Good. They deserve no mercy." Dragon said ruthlessly. He closed his eyes. "I will find Neferet myself, and I will tell her your training is complete, I have nothing more to teach you." and with that, Dragon left as quickly as he appeared. Aurox was left alone. Again.
Aurox walked along the hallway and found himself in the doorway of Neferet's room. She was not there. He figured she was off on another mission and he had learned not to question her actions.
He wandered inside. He wanted to learn. He had no memories, so he wanted to learn.
He started searching through drawers and boxes. The only thing he seemed to find were pictures of a girl, a vampyre girl. There were sometimes papers attached that had all sorts of records on them. This girl had beautiful Native American features and long dark hair. Her tattoos framed her face, back, and palms.
Aurox didn't know this girl, but found her fascinating. He felt like he knew her, like a familiar stranger.
"What are you doing Aurox." Neferet said smoothly from the doorway. She had a sinful smile on her face. Aurox couldn't respond. She chuckled smoothly. "I guess I should tell you the reason you were created." She said walking toward him, sliding her hand up his shoulders, just like before. "This. Is. The. Enemy. And I need you to help me get close to her. Become her friend. Become her lover." She laughed again. "I don't care… I just need you to get her to trust you so you can bring her to me, and then together," she leaned in and whispered in his ear. "We can end her."
"Why?" Aurox responded. He needed information. His mind craved it.
Her smile widened, her voice grew more seductive, and the darkness that surrounded her crawled along his shoulders and then covered his body. The shadows slithered into his skin, giving him goose bumps. Pleasure seemed to radiate from the shadow and throughout his body. He felt himself become stronger. And he liked it.
"She needs to be gone from this world in order for us to rule; in order for darkness to rule. The sooner she is gone, the sooner you will feel this sweet power once again." She said even more seductively. He wanted her. He wanted her so bad, almost as much as he wanted to feel that pleasurable power again. He wanted everything so bad his knees felt like they were going to give out.
"Now go. Do as I command you to: kill Zoey Redbird."
So then, as she commanded, Aurox left, in search for the girl.