Yeah, so, I know some of you peeps already read this but like I said in chapter 8, you need to re-read this! If you don't, it will not make any sense for what's going to come in later chapters.......SO RE-READ THIS! Those this doesn't apply to, just read this and move onto chapter 8!

Angel1224

brezzybrez

hunkelberry

EastAngels2009

teamedward86

VampyREGODDess3354

octapollyrus

vampireaddict08

Thanks for the reviews!!!

Disclaimer: Umm, it's pretty obvious who own's everything related to the House of Night....and it's clearly not me.

Also, I know the last time the story ended it was in Erik's POV, at the beginning of the chapter, it's back in the normal Zoey POV. Just so there's no confusion. I did put a poem Erik used in this chapter from Untamed......so again, I don't own it!!!

Chapter 7

It had been about a few hours since I'd been in the infirmary (or the school's health center or whatever you wanted to call it.) The doctor, Darren, had kept me here for observation of what damage was done to me from falling down the stairs. My mind wasn't focused on my condition, it was focused on what I saw before everything happened. Erik, the man I loved since I gotten to know him almost six years ago, was cheating on me with a huge Aphrodite clone (attitude wise), Whitney. Since I'd been in the infirmary, I thought about this long and hard. I mean, I know that I cheated on him first with Loren Blake, but we were pass that and that almost happened six years ago. Plus, I thought he would have been smart enough to learn from my mistake. This whole entire cheating thing is what caused me to fall down the flight of stairs, that led to his loft.

Right now, all I could do when I was sitting in my bed was read a magazine. Ironically, it was a parenting magazine.

"Hey, Zoey," Stevie Rae's voice muttered, closing the door behind her, Damien, and the Twins.

"We're so sorry honey." Damien told me, pecking my cheek.

"Yeah. We were so worried about you." Jack added, trying to crack a smile.

"I still can't believe Erik 'So Damn Fiiiiine' Night cheated on you." Shaunee said, crossing her arms.

"We thought he would have learned from what you did. No offense." Erin added, biting her lip.

"So, do you have any news on.......?" Damien asked, not finishing the last part of his sentence.

"Well, now we do." Darren's voice interrupted, sadly, "I'm sorry, Zoey, but.....the baby's lost."

His words cut through me like Nyx's blade. All I could do was start to cry. Four months of back pains. Four months of people patting my stomach. Four months of hoping that we could start a family, all of it went down the drain then and there.

"Honey, it'll be okay." Shaunee whispered, trying to soothe me as I cried into her chest.

"Erik ought to be ashamed of himself. I mean, you were engaged for four months and he let it all slip away with an Aphrodite ho clone." Stevie Rae snapped, sounding like a little angry bumpkin.

"I think Stevie Rae is right. If it hadn't been for him, you probably would have still had the baby." Erin commented, pacing back and forth. After thirty seconds, everyone turned to see Erik at the door.

"What do you want? Haven't you done enough?" Shaunee asked, not sounding like the normal everyday Shaunee. Instead, she sounded vicious and hateful.

"No, it's okay. Is it okay if I just talk to him alone?" I asked, quietly. Everyone shared the same exact look. It kind of gave away that they didn't want to leave him and I alone.

"If that's what you want." Stevie Rae said, nodding for everyone to follow her into the hallway. It was just me and Erik. No one else. For a moment, it was silent. I had nothing to say to him really. I was waiting for an explanation.

"I heard about the baby. I'm so sorry." He whispered, sitting in a nearby stool.

"It's a little too late now, don't you think? I mean, now I'll never know what my baby could have looked like. Now, thanks to you and that bitch, I'll always wonder what could have been!" I shouted, watching him flinch at my words. I was pissed off and sorry wasn't going to cut it. I mean, it's basically his fault our child was now history. Gone. It was never coming back. In just the same day, we both felt our once was child kicking my belly and now our baby's gone just like that.

"Z, it's not what you think.....," He started, before my angry, pissed off Zoey kicked in.

"Then what was it? As far as I'm concerned, I saw that stupid bitch on top of you, stick her tongue down your throat. What do you think I was going to tell my child if it were still here? Oh, your father decided to bail out on me with some nasty stank ho bitch because I guess he didn't want to commit himself to raising you?! I loved you and you decide now of all moments to turn your back on me!" I started sobbing, covering my face with my hands.

"Look, I know what you saw and I'm telling you the truth when I say that I didn't have sex with her." Erik said, still not looking in my direction.

"Listen, Erik. At this point, I honestly don't trust you whatsoever right now. I mean, I know your first thought of this whole situation would probably be 'Well you cheated on me too' but that's not the point. The fact of the matter is I thought you would known better from my mistake when I cheated on you nearly six years ago. I thought that it would have at least sinked in a little bit." I explained, not so much pissed off anymore. I was more calm and cool while I was speaking, "I want you to leave."

Without another word, he just casually left my room. Soon after, all my friends came in with shocked looks on their faces.

"Damn. I've never seen him look so depressed." Shaunee whispered, shutting the door.

"Did you two break up?" Stevie Rae questioned, sitting on the stool next to my bed.

"What did you say to him?" Damien asked, sitting in one of the comfy chairs.

"Basically that I don't trust him anymore. And no, I didn't break up with him. At this point, if he wants me to trust him, he's going to have to earn my trust." I replied, fidgeting with my fingers. Just as the Twins were about to say something, Darren walks back in with more news.

"Well, now that we took a look at your x-rays you should be fine, but you may have some bruises on your back and stomach. You may leave if you wish." Darren told me, as everyone looked at me.

"Okay. Thanks again." I told him, managing to smile. As I stood on my feet, I felt really wobbly. Luckily for me, Damien helped me to my feet.

"Come on honey, let's get you back to your loft." Damien told me, as we all started walking out of the building that the infirmary was in. Right now, I felt a mixture of emotions. I was pissed off, tired, depressed, sad to the point I was on the brink of tears, and finally I wanted to rip Whitney's head off if I saw her.

"We hope you'll be okay, Z." Erin said, sounding like she was about to cry. Which she did in like two seconds. I was expecting Shaunee to add something to finish her statement, but she was unusually quiet.

"Don't cry, Erin. Zoey is okay, it's just that.......," Stevie Rae started, but drifted because she didn't want to add that it was just the baby that died.

"You're unusually quiet, Twin. What's wrong?" Erin asked, wiping her eyes.

"You have no idea how fucking pissed I am! I swear to my Goddess that if I see that ugly bitch again or if she ever walks into the same room as me, I will beat her ass so bad that she can't tell what day or night is." Shaunee shouted, cracking her knuckles.

I had to admit, I've never seen Shaunee this angry. I guess my whole baby and Erik situation had a real affect on her.

"Shaunee....calm....," Stevie Rae tried to say, but Shaunee cut her off.

"I mean, it's her fault that Z's baby is dead! That could have been our god daughter or son! Now we'll never get this opportunity again. I wanted to be the god mother who spoiled the baby and give it all the love and......now we'll never know." Shaunee shouted, as her voice started to crack and turn into crying.

"Shaunee, come here." I told her, as I hugged her, "I didn't know how much this meant to you."

"But I knew how much starting a family was to you and him. It's all that bitch's fault that your baby died." Shaunee cried, keeping her face on my shoulder.

"I don't mean to interrupt guys, but it was kind of Erik's fault too. If he hadn't been with that Whitney chick and him kissing, Zoey would have still had the baby." Stevie Rae pointed out, sounding a little quiet.

"Okay, guys seriously. I think we all need to squash this for tonight. We all need to get some sleep, especially Z." Damien added, as everyone went back to being quiet.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm staying with Zoey." Stevie Rae said, happily, "We need to be here for her."

"I totally agree." Shaunee muttered, wiping her tears.

"Ditto, Twin." Erin finished, smiling.

"Well, I would stay but......," Damien drifted, feeling awkward.

"Oh, quit being a butt. You can and Jack can stay, Damien." I told him, rolling my eyes playfully.

"As long as you don't do it while we're trying to sleep." Shaunee said, going back to her normal self, "I love y'all, but don't do your business while I'm trying to sleep."

"That's just what I was about to say, Twin. Yeah, we love you two like a fat kid loves cake, but you just can't be doin' your little kissy kissy stuff." Erin added, sighing.

"Come on, let's get to bed." I said, with finality. We all went to bed in my room, probably wondering what tomorrow would bring us all.

The next day, I woke up to no one but Shaunee still sleeping on the blow up mattress that her and Erin were sleeping on. All I could really hear was Erin straightening her hair from after her shower. I also heard some talking coming from the crack in my door. Trying not to wake Shaunee up, I tip toed to the door to listen to my best friend and Erik talking.

"What are you doing here? I thought Zoey didn't want to see you?" Stevie Rae asked, not looking Erik in the eyes.

"I need to talk to her." Erik replied, sighing. I could hear the depression and sadness in his voice, "Is she coming down?"

"No, she might not come down for a while." Stevie Rae told him, still attempting to not look at Erik.

"Look, Stevie Rae, I know that each and everyone of you are pissed off at me, but I really need to talk to Zoey and clear things up." Erik explained, sounding now a little desperate.

"Erik, you really hurt her and not just physically, but mentally. If you were in the hospital room yesterday, you could see her actually bawling her eyes out because of the fact she never saw her child. I don't even think it'll matter what you say because that's a pain she'll have to bear everyday, and you can't fix it." Stevie Rae responded, sadly, "The best advice that I can give you is to give her some space for a while. She's not going to forgive you until you show her you're trustworthy."

Leaving Erik to ponder on what she said, Stevie Rae got up from my couch and headed to the kitchen, "I believe you know where the door is."

Hesitantly, Erik got up from the loveseat and left my loft. If I wasn't mistaken, he was crying before he closed the door. I really hated seeing him hurt, but what was I supposed to do? Feel sorry for him after he hurt me? I don't think so.

"I know you heard that whole conversation, because I know I did." Shaunee said, sitting up from her lying position.

"Yeah, and she's right. I'm not going anywhere around Erik until he can gain my trust back." I told her, rubbing my arms, "He can apologize all he wants, I don't care."

"Hell, I don't blame you." Erin added, unplugging her straightner, "I'll be downstairs if you need me."

"I'll be in the shower if you need me." Shaunee yawned, shutting the door to my bathroom. That left me in my room alone. I just sat on my bed, petting Nala as I continued to think about everything that's happened, thoroughly. My fiance. Er, ex-fiance until futher notice, cheated on me. I know that I've done a lot of things that hurt people in my life and I can only ask Nyx for forgiveness, but I don't think that two wrongs make a right at all. I mean, just because I cheated, doesn't give Erik a free pass to cheat on me too.

Another thing that really pissed me off was that fact that he lied to my face. Again, this is another thing that I've done but it doesn't make it right when anyone does it. He told me to my face that there was nothing going on between him and Whitney. When I saw her kissing him, that told me a very different story.

"You know what, I'm not going to let this ruin my day, Nala. I'm going to go back to how I used to be before all this drama came up. The normal Zoey." I said, as I got up to head to breakfast. On my way down, Erin and Stevie Rae were having a weird conversation on boys while chowing down on probably multiple bowls of Cocoa Puffs or some other cereal I had in my pantry.

"So how are you and T.J. doing?" Stevie Rae asked, while I poured myself some Cocoa Puffs.

"Oh, it's been okay. I'm just not used to him being away on business. He's coming back at the end of the month though." Erin responded, drinking the milk out of her bowl.

"I'm happy for you, even though certain things just happened to me." I muttered, biting my lip.

"Sorry, Z. We just want to let you know that for how ever long you're staying away from him, we'll always be here to comfort you.....and party non-stop!" Erin said, getting excited about the last part of her sentence.

"Twin, just because she's grieving over her.....well, technical man, doesn't mean she'd want to party. They didn't break up, they're just separated." Shaunee interrupted, patting my shoulder.

"I didn't mean like hardcore clubing party, I meant our slumber parties we have in Z's loft." Erin replied, plainly.

"Thanks guys. It means a lot to me. I just don't know what to do about through the day. I mean, I see him everyday because he's a co-worker." I said, as they all shared the same look resembling "Oh crap."

"I totally forgot about that." Stevie Rae mumbled, sounding a little nervous.

"I think he might be too depressed to come to work today. That tends to happen with men." Shaunee added, making her nervousness apparent.

"No, he wouldn't do that. I mean, it'll be a little awkward at first but he needs to learn that there are consequences for the things you do." I explained, as well all got up to leave for the day.

After about a few hours, it was finally time for lunch. Of course, they had one of my favorites on the menu. Greek salad. Smiling on my way to our little table, I see Damien and the others staring at me as I came to the table.

"What's wrong?" I ask, putting my tray down.

"Look at him." Stevie Rae mumbled, as they all turned to see Erik sitting at a table with Cole. Even though I didn't know why Cole was here, it looked like Erik was too upset and depressed to even listen to what Cole was talking about. His eyes looked weary, as if his eyes lost all the brightness that was normally in them.

"I never seen him so down before." Jack whispered, sadly.

"Well, what am I supposed to do? Feel sorry for him?" I questioned, sighing. This situation was getting really frustrating. At times, my friends were on my side, then there are times when they're on his side and they can't choose, "Look, guys, I really don't want you all to have to be in the middle of this. It's wrong to do that to your friends."

"Well, it's pretty obvious they can't help it." I heard Aphrodite say, sitting down next to me with a tray full of cheeseburgers, fries, and a milkshake.

"Okay, are you prego?" Erin asked, making Shaunee almost choke on her water.

"If you must know, I am, Dorkamese Twins." Aphrodite hissed, rolling her eyes.

"Don't talk about pregnancy over here!" Damien squealed, covering my ears. I could hear a little of what he said, "She just lost hers."

Aphrodite was silent for a minute before she said, "I'm sorry to hear that. It must really hurt."

"Thanks, and it does." I mumbled, eating my salad.

"He looks pretty bummed too, but then again from what I heard, it was his fault." Aphrodite mumbled, slurping on her milkshake.

"You know you're supposed to eat healthy when you're pregnant." Jack said, watching Aphrodite shove french fries in her mouth.

"Oh please gay boy, don't get your panties in a bunch. I eat carrots and celery." She responded, rolling her eyes. Before I could say anything, I saw Whitney twitch her ugly, ho-ish self into the teacher's lounge. It took Damien's arm to keep me from getting up.

"Hi everyone." Whitney greeted, as I watched Shaunee crack her knuckles.

"Don't do it." I heard Erin mumbled, grasping Shaunee's arm.

"In case you haven't noticed, no one wants you here." Stevie Rae said, sounding a little feral.

"I know you guys must be really pissed off at me and I'm really sorry that Zoey lost her baby, but it's not my fault. I mean, I didn't push her down the stairs or anything." Whitney replied, trying not to sound bitchy, but she wasn't close to trying.

"No, but the thing that is your fault is that you were bouncing up on Z's man." Aphrodite told her, actually causing me to be surprised, "You crossed the line when you kissed her man."

"Well, it was a nice chat, but I have a lunch to eat. Toodles." Whitney chirped, flipping her dark hair and twitched away.

"Okay, I could have sworn that she just did my signature leave." Aphrodite muttered, shocked at the similarity.

"There's going to be one point today where I'm just gonna hit her." Shaunee said, shaking her leg to keep her calm.

"Anyway, Z, are you ready for the ritual tonight?" Damien asked, changing the subject.

"Shit. No, I'm not actually. Do you mind if you guys could get everything? I know it's last minute, but I've just.....," I started, before everyone cut me off.

"We understand. You just get ready after school is over and we'll take care of everything." Stevie Rae told me, smiling, "We're friends. That's what we do."

"She's right." Damien agreed.

"Thank you." I whispered, smiling. The only thing I was worried about is the fact that Erik was still my consort for the ritual. Crap.

Sadly, it was time for the students to get out from school for today and head to the rec hall for the Full Moon Ritual I had to perform tonight. I was honestly too tired and upset to have any type of energy whatsoever. I assumed that my friends were getting everything set up. I really hate asking them for stuff a lot. I needed to start doing things on my own. I know that we're friends, but I feel like I'm using them a lot. Well, not anymore. I quickly put on my new ceremony dress, that was sleeveless and navy blue that when it was in the moonlight, it showed the sparkles that it was covered in.

I headed down to the main building and to the rec hall. Students were already starting file into the hall, and as distasteful as it sounds, Erik was there with Whitney following right after him.

"I swear, I'm going to hit her." Shaunee said, biting her lip.

"I'm with you on that, Twin. She just irks me." Erin agreed, fixing her black dress that matched Shaunee's.

"Guys, be polite for right now. Then, if you simply insist, kick her ass afterwards." Damien mumbled, going back to make sure everything was set.

"Hey, guys." I heard Erik say, approaching all of us, "Shaunee, Erin."

"Wow, you look ravishing. Wonder what's the occassion." Shaunee said sarcastically, putting on a fake smile. Erin just nodded in response.

"So, you guys ready to get down?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yup." Stevie Rae answered, pinching the Twins.

"Oh, yeah....we're ready." Erin responded, looking as if she were about to slap Stevie Rae.

"What she said." Shaunee mumbled, scratching her head. After I noticed that everyone was just about seated, I reluctantly walked to center of the circle, feeling really just about the same when I was in my room. After about two seconds, Erik started reading the poem.......

Beneath the shining stars,

Beneath the gleaming moon,

When night has healed the scars,

Of burning noon................

While I was dancing, I took another few moments to think about Erik. I knew that I wasn't helping myself by doing this but it wouldn't stop bothering me. Did I still want to be with Erik? Could I ever forgive him like he did for me? Could I hate him and be a jerk like he was to me? Should I end our relationship? Should I not end it?

......And so, I say to you,

If hate possess your heart,

When day's hot strife is through

Bid hate depart.....

The other side of me started to think about not ending things with Erik. My other side thought of how much it knew that Erik loved me and how he'd never want to hurt me. But how was I supposed to get back with him when the woman he was kissing all over was partially responsible for killing my baby that never lived to see a light.

The disappearing day,

Whenever wrong or how,

Is something passed away,

Is ended now.

Forget, forgive, the scars,

Beneath the shining stars,

The gleaming moon.

Before I knew it, I met Erik in the middle of the circle. I stared into his dull blue eyes. They looked tired, weary, and lifeless as if he were never living. He had serious bags under his eyes that he tried effortlessly to cover up with the concealer that vampyres and fledglings had to wear in public with humans. He had bruises and cuts on his arms from what, I don't know. He looked seriously beat up.

"What happened to us?" He whispered, sighing quietly.

I didn't know what to say. I all I could do was pick up Nyx's ceremonial goblet and knife that had the symbol's of the Goddess, "Give me your hand."

Not wanting to hurt him, I cut him a little on the meaty part of his thumb. As soon as I saw his blood, the scent of it made me feel intoxicated. He turned his hand over the goblet so that the drop of his blood dropped into the wine.

"In Nyx's name, I thank you for your sacrifice tonight and for your love and loyalty. You are blessed by Nyx and beloved of her Priestess." I spoke, letting his hand go gently.

"I am now, and always will be, loyal to Nyx and her High Priestess." Erik added, strongly, trying to hide the real sadness. After going around the circle and envoking all of the elements and speaking a small prayer, the ritual was over. Everyone spent the rest of the time afterwards socializing with friends. I met up with everyone at the middle of the rec hall.

"Hey, how are you?" Stevie Rae asked, hugging me.

"We could tell you were thinking about Erik." Jack whispered, quietly.

"Eh, whatevs." I muttered, yawning. I didn't want to get into any drama related to Erik or anything else that suggested him.

"I did feel kind of bad. You could see how he hasn't had any sleep." Erin said, sipping on some wine.

"I saw that too, Twin. He had cuts on his arms too." Shaunee added, as her face grew hard and vicious. As everyone turned around, we could see Whitney come right pass us, "Well, speak of the homewrecker herself."

"It's nice to see all of you again. Wait, if I said that I'd be lying." Whitney sneered, smirking.

"If you know what's good for you then you'll leave." Shaunee countered, balling her fists. I could see her affinity spreading through her eyes and body.

"Whatever. At least I have Erik who I can go back to bed with." Whitney said, sounding like a total bitch.

"All right that's it!" Shaunee yelled, slapping Whitney right across her cheek. She did it so hard everyone could hear the crack in it. Everyone's reaction was a loud gasp.

"You bitch!" Whitney screeched, slapping Shaunee back. The next thing went by like a blur. Shaunee punched Whitney in her face causing her to fall back a few feet. Whitney countered by jumping on Shaunee and the both of them started rolling on the ground, pulling each other's hair and scratching each other with their nails. I did admit, Shaunee got a couple of good punches and kicks. In a few moments, Erik and Cole (Shaunee's boyfriend) both rushed to the scene to break up the fight. Erik was trying to rench Shaunee's hand out of Whitney's hair. It looked like she pulled a plug of her hair out because I saw strands of dark hair in Shaunee's hands.

"Let me at that whore!" Shaunee yelled, as Cole put her in a hold and carried her away from Whitney. He kept muttering for her to calm down.

"This isn't over bitches!" Whitney shouted, walking away and out of the rec hall. After everything that happened, I decided to be a good High Priestess and make an announcement.

"Attention everyone. All students need to head to their dorms for tonight immediately. No exceptions." I announced, as everyone started to exit the rec hall, "You all need to stay."

All of my friends, Erik, Cole, and now Aphrodite sat on one of the couches near the left side of the rec hall near the pushed back pool tables.

"I just wanted to apologize for what recently just happened. I feel somewhat responsible for what just happened. Now, do I think it had something to do with my already existing conflict with Whitney? Yes, it did partially. Do I think it was right to have gone that far? No, I don't." I started, sighing.

As far as I could see, my friends looked a little guilty. Shaunee looked tired, Erin was still in shock, as was Stevie Rae and Jack. Damien, he was just surprised.

"Do I think a certain person besides me has a role in this? Yeah, including myself someone else does. Now I know everyone is upset that I lost my child recently from an injury. I'm upset too, but I have to learn to eventually to move on from it because I still hope to have a child I can call mine in the future. I just hope that something like this won't happen again because as you can see what happened tonight, it's going to have an affect on all the students here and we're not being good role models or mentors. I don't know about any of you, but I feel ashamed of myself and I'm not proud. So all I can tell all of you is to get some sleep and we'll deal with this tomorrow." I explained, watching all my friends leave the rec hall. I stayed for a little while, thinking.

"Look, we need to talk, Zoey." Erik said, once everyone left.

"Listen. I've had a rough night and I don't want to go to bed angry because of you." I replied, as he blocked me from leaving.

"I still love you, Zoey! Can't you see? I haven't gotten any sleep for the past....I don't know how long it's been. I can't stop thinking about the fact that it's my fault that our child won't ever exist! I can't stop thinking about how I've hurt the most important person in my life! I can't take not being with you!" Erik cried, breaking down in tears, while hiding his face on my chest.

At that moment, I started crying myself. I didn't know what to say or think, "Why did you do it?"

"I didn't. I know it may have looked like it was something, but it wasn't. She was in my dorm when I was coming back from my classroom to get the papers I needed to grade and then.....things led to another and the next moment I see you out cold at the end of the stairs." Erik told me, angrily wiping tears from his face.

"Look, I'm really stressed and worried about what just happened. Can we talk about this tomorrow?" I asked him, in a faint whisper.

"Fine. I think we both need to just....get some sleep." Erik agreed, leaving me in the rec hall with the same feeling I've felt before, alone.

Taking my mind off of what just happened, I headed to my dorm to go to sleep and forget what just happened.

Well, there you have it guys. Next time, things are not going back to normal just yet. Everyone is back to the same working but the division between Zoey and Erik remain in tact. Will Zoey and Erik continue with this division? Will the gang grow irritated of this division? Is this truly the end of their relationship? R&R!!

Cherriez