Chapter 6: Safe

"Aphrodite, we need to hurry," I said urgently, waiting for her to get her ass to the car.

We had made our way off school property, without anyone noticing. I figured Prof Nolan had given the other teachers-excluding Neferet-a heads up about where Aphrodite and I were going, and why we were doing so. Not a single person bothered us and I was so thankful for it. We got into my car together, and I drove to where Professor Nolan had told me to go. My hands shook as I drove.

"Do you know where you're going?" Aphrodite asked.

I nodded. "The old depot, across from the performing arts centre. Prof Nolan hinted that he was there."

Aphrodite glanced out the window. "It's late."

"I know, but we need to find him," I said, trying to ignore the tears I heard in my voice. "Prof Nolan doesn't think he'll last until tomorrow."

I pulled into the parking lot of the Center for Performing Arts and Aphrodite and I got out of my car. I was so nervous and scared; what if it was too late?

What would I do if it was too late? I had tried to keep this thought out of my mind; I didn't want to think about that. No. I forcefully thought to myself. No, he's fine. He'll be okay. Nothing is going to hurt him.

We made our way into the old depot and nervousness washed over me. I had absolutely no idea what to expect here, and I was scared. Fear gripped me like a monster, and wouldn't let go. It wouldn't let me out of it's claws.

"It'll be okay," Aphrodite soothed me. "We'll find him, don't worry."

"I'm scared," I whispered.

"I am too," she said.

I glanced at her to see fear etched into her features too. Oh God, what did I bring her into? Guilt stabbed at me. What if something happened to her? It'd be my fault.

"I'll go alone," I said. "I don't want you getting hurt."

She rolled her eyes, and in true Aphrodite manner said, "I don't want to have to go through getting another roommate. We're in this together. Come on."

In the corner of the room I noticed what looked like a trapdoor that was open. We went over to it and saw that it led downstairs. I glanced at Aphrodite who motioned for me to go to first. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She turned on the built in flashlight, and I gave her a quizzical look.

"My eyesight is terrible, even in the dark, even after being Marked," she explained. "It's been like that since I was a human, it improved a little bit when I was Marked, but not much."

I made my way into the basement, fear still gripping me. She followed quickly behind me, and looked around. It was dark, and it looked like there were tunnels everywhere. I gulped. How would we ever find him?

"Let your gut guide you," she said, answering my unspoken question. I turned to look at her. She shrugged. "Do you have a better idea?"

I shook my head, and let my feet guide us, not really thinking too hard about which direction to go. I allowed my senses to guide us more than my mind. We searched…and searched…and searched, but didn't find anyone. I was quickly losing hope, but then I saw a shadow pass along a wall. We ducked into a little alcove and Aphrodite quickly locked her phone, immediately turning off the flashlight.

We watched as some kid with frizzy red hair walked past us, and I felt Aphrodite shudder beside me.

"What?" I whispered when he was gone.

"His name was Elliot; we used him as a refrigerator for some of the Dark Daughters rituals. He didn't taste very good," she said.

It took me a minute to realize what she had meant by refridgerator, and it made me feel a little sick. After we were sure the coast was clear, we continued through the tunnels, though I noticed that Aphrodite didn't turn the flashlight on again. It relieved me. Seeing that shadow had terrified me, but not enough to turn back, I needed to find Jason. We kept going in the direction that the kid Elliot had come from, surely there would be more of them, and hopefully Jason, from where he had come from…right? I lost my sense of time as we navigated through the tunnels, looking into every alcove and "room" we passed. Aphrodite seemed to know when a room wasn't the room Jason was in, she'd kinda poke her head in and mutter a no, and we'd continue along the way.

Finally, finally we found the room he was in. It was literally just a dirt floor, dirt walls, dirt ceiling, with a super thin mattress on the floor. I rushed over to him. He was unconscious, but he was breathing.

"Jason," I said urgently, shaking his shoulder. "Jason, wake up, I'm here, we're gonna get you out of here." My eyes searched his face, waiting for the moment his eyes would open. I was scared, what if he wasn't okay? What if it was too late? What was I going to do then?

My stomach dropped as I realized that he may not wake up. Tears threatened to spill as I shook him harder to get him to wake up. Sure, he was breathing, but he could be too weak to function.

What would I do if I was too late?

Finally his eyes fluttered open, and relief washed over me like a ten foot wave. He stared into my eyes, a slightly surprised expression on his face.

"You're here," he whispered, caressing my face as if he couldn't believe it. "Jess…I can't believe you're here."

"Are you okay?" I whispered.

He nodded, and allowed me to help him stand up.

He wobbled a bit on his feet, and I put my hand on his chest, hoping to steady him.

"We gotta get out of here, okay?" I said.

He nodded, and I helped him walk out of his little "room".

"They should be gone now," he said quietly.

"What?" Aphrodite asked sharply as we joined her. She had been looking around herself nervously, worried about another one of them would appear.

"At night…they leave," he said. "They all return at roughly the same time. I don't know where they go, but they're usually back within forty-five minutes. That Elliot kid was the last one to go. I'll try to sleep while they're gone; because I know that no one else is here…I know I'm basically safe when they're gone." I could tell we were getting close to the surface again, as I was starting to feel a bit woozy. Dawn must be approaching. I slumped against Jason, and our roles changed. Now he was supporting me as we walked.

What was going on with me? Why did I suddenly feel so weak? How long had Aphrodite and I been away from the House of Night? It had been impossible to tell down here. I glanced at Aphrodite, she looked fine.

"Aphrodite…what…what time is it?" I asked, feeling dazed. I felt like I could barely string together a sentence. I felt so tired.

"It's almost four in the morning," she said after checking her phone. She glanced over at me. "You're tired, aren't you? You can barely walk."

I nodded at her, and I felt Jason tighten his grip on me.

Aphrodite said something to Jason, but I didn't hear it, I wasn't really paying attention to them. I just wanted to get back to the House of Night.

"You don't live close to here," I mumbled to Jason.

"I'm not leaving your side," he whispered.

"You…you can't come to the…the House of Night," I said.

"Yes he can, Prof. Nolan will make an exception today. She knows why he'd be there, she'll allow it," Aphrodite said.

I rested my head against shoulder, and allowed him to support most of my weight while we made our way through the tunnels. Finally we reached the surface, and both Aphrodite and Jason helped me climb out of the basement.

"You're going to have to let her feed from you," Aphrodite said softly, I could tell she hadn't wanted me to hear it.

"No," I mumbled. "No, I can't."

Jason set me down, and I could hear him and Aphrodite shuffling. My eyes were closed, it felt nice. I vaguely felt Jason's arms come around me again, and felt something press against my mouth.

"Open," Aphrodite commanded quietly. I shook my head weakly. No. I would not drink Jason's blood. I knew what they were doing. I didn't want to do it. I couldn't.

I heard something behind me, and felt Aphrodite's hand on my head. Gently, she opened my mouth, and I was forced to drink from Jason.

The taste was…different. Through the fog of my mind, I could taste it, and the more I tasted it, the stronger I felt. I could feel myself coming back to reality again. I couldn't exactly describe the taste. It wasn't exactly good, but it wasn't bad either.

"Stop," Aphrodite said, and I immediately took my mouth away from his arm. I almost felt a little sick…my mind cleared and the realization of what I had done dawned on me.

Oh god…I had just drank Jason's blood. Anger shot me through me-but I couldn't deny the fact that I did feel stronger…but that didn't make me feel any better about it. I was still angry.

"Are you okay now?" Aphrodite asked.

I glowered at her. "Not really."

She rolled her eyes. "This is what you're going to have to be doing for the rest of your life. Get used to it."

I glanced at Jason, realizing now that I was still cradled in his arms.

"I'm fine," he assured me, wolfish grin lighting his face.

"But you've lost so much blood," I whispered. "Did they feed on you?"

He nodded. "But it's okay, they didn't feed on me very much. I'm perfectly fine now, Jess. When they fed on me it was nothing like what just happened." He grinned at me again.

I caressed his face. "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, Jess," he said softly.

Aphrodite cleared her throat. "Not to be a bitch here, but we don't know how long we have before they come back and we need to get back to the House of Night before the sun rises."

Jason and I stood up together and made our way back to my car. I drove as quickly as I could to the House of Night, trying not to break too many driving laws along the way, but it was difficult. I felt anxiety creeping up my neck. Dawn was approaching too quickly, I could feel it coming, and it scared me.

When we finally got back to the House of Night, the sun was beginning to rise, and Professor Nolan was waiting for us at the doors, looking nervous. She didn't question us about Jason as we all walked in together; she knew what was going on.

She made a motion with her finger to tell us to be quiet. She didn't want us to speak, she didn't us to draw any attention to ourselves while walking through the school-I could understand why. She quickly ushered us through the grounds and to the girls' dorm, giving Jason a warning look that told him all he needed to know. Once we were inside, Prof Nolan left us for the day-probably so she could get back to her room before the sun rose. No one was in the common room area, which mildly surprised me, but I sent a thank you prayer up to Nyx for the good luck…not only with the empty common room area.

Tonight, when looking for Jason, I hadn't said anything to Aphrodite about it, but I felt like Nyx was there with me. Searching for Jason through the tunnels…it had felt like Nyx was guiding me more than my own feet. I had just let my senses take over, and it had worked. We had found Jason.

Thank you Nyx, you've helped me so much tonight. I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you enough.

We walked into Aphrodite and my dorm room, and she quietly went into the bathroom, to give us some time alone. I still felt weird about drinking his blood…it made me feel selfish.

"It's okay," he assured me, seeming to know what was going through my mind. "I'm fine, and more importantly, so are you. Jess, you scared me back there, I thought…I thought you weren't gonna make it out. I did what I had to do to make sure you were safe and going to be okay."

I looked away from him. "I feel bad about it."

He came over to me. "Don't. Like I said, I'm fine, and so are you."

"You should call your mom; let her know that you're safe."

"I don't know what to tell her-what if she asks where I've been?" he asked.

I hesitated. "Professor Nolan and Neferet will probably come up with something. I guess you should just call her tomorrow," I said. "Come on, let's go to sleep, I'm dead tired-pardon the pun."

I got into my pyjamas and climbed onto the bed with him. He enveloped me in his arms, and I rested my head against his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

I nodded against him. "I'm fine."

"You know that we've probably-"

"Don't," I said, putting my hand over his mouth. I knew what he was going to say. "We'll figure it out."

And we would. We'd figure it out, no matter what we had to do.

We had done it our entire lives together.