CHAPTER SEVEN

"You alright?" a boy said

She was scared out of her mind, or at least of what she heard in it. The voice was unlike the soothing maternal voice she'd heard when drawing the mysterious portrait in the safety of her room. This voice was gruff and dangerous; beautiful, but deadly; venom and foreboding seeped from every word. She hugged herself protectively and nodded toward the mysterious boy who was now by her side. Then she realized, "shouldn't you be in class?"

"Shouldn't you?"

"Nope, not until tomorrow."

"Then you're new? Strange, Aries hadn't said anything about a new girl"

" Aries?"

" Yeah, he's our local gossiper. He knows about every new fledgling coming in. Mostly cause his mentor is a tracker."

"Well, he must be slipping up"

" Or you weren't tracked"

She shuddered a little, but barely noticeably.

"Maybe I was tracked by someone else"

" Maybe…"

"What are you doing out here anyway?"

"What are you?"

"Are you always going to answer my question with more questions"

"Are you?"

He laughed a little at her furiously red face, then continued, "I'm Brae"

"Is Brae short for something?"

"Brazen Marks"

"Ha, interesting choice of name."

"I know, my mother had a sense of humor"

" Wait, that's your original name?"

" Yup"

"Shameless Marks how ironic."

"Yours?"

" Dame"

"Short for?"

"You'll find out tomorrow"

She said mysteriously and left without another word. She was going to talk to Zoey; praying her plan would work.

"Good evening High Priestess."

"You mean, good morning and please call me Zoey."

"Sorry, I'm not use to that yet, Zoey"

She smiled and began to speak, "have you come here about your name?"

" Yes"

"And?"

" Dame de'vie Eternelle"

" Huh. You know we had an Eternelle at this school when I was going here. Tell me, why that name?"

Dame smiled to herself "really? I had no idea. What was she like?"

Now it was Zoey's turn to smile, "he, was absolutely charming. Very smart boy, Isaac was. I believe his original name was Isaac Anderson. He was my best friends cousin."

"Was?"

"Yes he disappeared quite a long time ago."

She grinned again. She thought that was what had happened; she knew her father was nowhere near French; he had to have changed his name. She made a mental note to look up this Isaac Anderson. Now she wondered about her mother. Phoebe had taught her daughter how to get information without seeming at all like she had any real involvement with the event or subject. Even if Phoebe hadn't meant to she had given her an education in the matter, when trying to pry information out of local townspeople about the outside world and La Lune's most hated adversary, the Vampyres.

"You must miss him?"

"I never really knew him; just of him from friends."

"Well he must have had someone who missed him?"

" I suppose friends. But all of them seemed a little-" she stopped.

" a little?" and now dame halted. She'd made a mistake somewhere and now Zoey looked at her with suspicion.

" why do you want to know?" she had to think fast. She could already feel Zoey probing her face for a flawed expression

" curious I guess. I have a habit of digging too deep." Zoey refrained to her original question, just barely believing the girls answer.

"why did you choose that name, my dear"

" I don't know, I like French and lady of eternal life seemed fit for my new vampyre path."

Seeing she wasn't going to get any more out of the girl she moved on to other subjects.

" How are you feeling?"

"better."

"you seemed in pain when your marks came in"

"more like burned in." Zoey looked worried. She continued, "that's not suppose to happen is it?"

" Nothing about that was suppose to happen, my dear."

She wondered it her father had said anything about her past. He didn't know anything either, merely that her parent's had died in a fire and that she had had many foster homes. He didn't know her parents name and thought she didn't either.

She left the office a little flustered at the fact that she didn't get anything on her mother. She rounded the corner and went directly to her room.

She found her things had been delivered and put away. Surely her father had done this, because it was arranged almost exactly like her room at home. On the desk where her drawing book should have been was a brand new Air Mac book she had been begging her father for. On the laptop was a note that read, You're still my daughter and we're still your family. Don't forget us humans when you become the great Vampyre you're destined to be. Love, Dad. She smiled at the letter and placed it on the Corkboard that held all her photos from home. She sat down on the desk seat and opened the computer. The laptop had already been set up courtesy of Is, she was sure, since dad had little to no experiences with electronics (for goodness sakes the man still used a type writer!). She immediately went online and looked up a Isaac Anderson from Tulsa, Oklahoma. The first reports were of a boy who had moved to Tulsa from Philadelphia, after the unexpected death of his parents. He moved in with his aunt and uncle, the current Mayor and his wife of Tulsa. There was nothing further about the boy, so she looked further into the mayor and his wife. They had a daughter who'd been marked, whom had renamed herself Aphrodite Lafont. But her autopsy had said that Aphrodite had died human. This discovery had sparked the creation of the House of Night Hospital in Tulsa; the first of its kind being as though Vampyres don't get sick. Isaac had been a replacement child after their own child's early death. There was a photo of the couple and a teenage boy at a funeral. Though the parents put up a good front, to the eye of someone who'd put up a daily front for almost three years, dame could see they couldn't care less about it. She felt for the girl in the ground, whose parents had replaced her so quickly and were already plotting to turn him into everything she could never be. She researched further and finally found some more on her father. He was 16 when he was marked, in the middle of an honor ceremony at school. That was the last report ever made on this Isaac Anderson ever. She typed in her mother's name one more time, but came to a loss as always.

She started school the next morning her classes were exciting most of the time, but it was generally just a lot of info on the rules of the academy in every class. She knew a lot of this already. She nodded off in English after her third installment of this introduction.

She'd intended just to drowse, but instead she dreamed…

* * *

"We need to follow the rules Soleil."

"Would you please just listen to me? We can't!"

"Phoebe," he gave up charming her out of this with her nickname, " she's human. They won't allow you to keep her."

Her face hardened, " I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY WILL ALLOW! I want my daughter with me!"

He looked warily at his wife. She was so beautiful and so naïve. He knew they couldn't keep her, it was forbidden. He looked at his gray-eyed daughter and felt the pangs of loss. But, no, they couldn't have her, she was human, or at least she appeared so, they'd be hunted down and condemned for it if they ran.

"Phoebe, she's human."

"Stop saying that! She's not human. I saw them, I saw my babies marks."

"you can't prove it. The nurse said she saw nothing of the sort my dear. No one else was there; there's no proof. You could have imagined it."

"DON'T-YOU-DARE, tell me I'm seeing things! I know they were there. They were beautiful, beautiful I tell you. My baby girl is special." She cooed, not to her husband, but to the wide-eyed infant. The child reach up to her mother and Phoebe picked her up.

"Oh, I love you darling, you'll never ever have to go live with those horrid people."

"PHOEBE! Those are your parents"

" Oh so what Isaac, you know they never liked you and they absolutely hate me."

"But they're your parents Phoebe, your parents." he whispered. She could see the hurt on his face.

"I'm sorry Isaac, but I'm not you; my parents aren't yours; they're people of faith; they'll teach her to hate us"

"She'll never know us Soleil" he said this with pain in his eyes as the little girl grabbed his fingertip. He examined her hand and recognized the faint crescent mark on her hand.

"See!" Phoebe said with excitement.

" the council won't believe us; that won't be enough… but she is special, she's ours."

"So we'll keep her. You said it yourself, no one else knows" she pleaded with her husband.

* * *

Even though she didn't get through the entire dream, she already knew the ending

Class ended and second lunch began.

"hello, Dame"

she turned, half expecting a professor, but instead found a boy, not much older than she.

"do I know you?" she said, then turned to Embry, who looked as dumbfound as she did. Embry had made it a point to relay the information that Dame was here since Aries had no idea.

"you don't remember?"

"uh, obviously"

"the garden"

she hadn't paid much attention to how the boy in the garden had looked, she was a little preoccupied with getting out, before he recognized the faint marks on her arms she hadn't put on enough of the concealer to hide the dark marks completely and she knew vamp sight was stronger than human sight. She made sure to hide them today and now she looked at the boy named Brazen.

"Brazen."

"I'd prefer you call me Brae."

"then you should have chosen that name."

"but what fun would that be in introductions" he smiled sinisterly, reminding her of unpleasant moments.

"Speaking of, I never got your name"

"I told you my name"

"Not your full one" Before Dame could protest Embry jumped in.

"It use to be Dame De'vie Brenwicke but she changed her last to Eternelle. It means-"

"Lady of eternal life, I know"

"Attendez vous parlez le français ?" (wait, you speak French?)

"Je pourrais. Mais vous choque-t-il ?" (I might. Why, does that shock you?)

" O-K, English much?" Embry interrupted. Brae chuckled and faced Dame once more

" your name is far more interesting than mine. It's beautiful."

"that's what I said." Embry interrupted once more.

Dame turned to the girl with a look that said 'LEAVE NOW'

"fine I'll go. I was just trying to help." Embry frowned and left the table to sit with another pair of idling eyes.

"she was nice"

"sure" dame said getting up to leave

"where are you going?"

"away"

"so soon?"

"yea"

"but we didn't even get to know each other."

"don't want to"

"Why?"

"I'm not interested Brazen"

"Brae"

"whatever!"

Now she was running. He tried to kept up with her but couldn't; she was too fast.

Her next period class was Drama; ironically with Brae.

"if it isn't the runaway bride"

"why me?" se asked fiercely

"what?"

"I'm not prettier than the other girls here; you could have anyone. Why me?"

he stood up, looking kindly down at her.

" do you actually think anyone looks better than you here? Worst, do you truly think I'm interested strictly because you're the most astonishing girl, I've ever set my eyes on?"

"ah drama at it's rawest state!" The teacher boomed at the entrance. He was gorgeous, obviously. dame could see why her mentor had married him; he had an aura of charisma, that made a student want to learn. He could have been teaching accounting and Dame would have listened to every word.

"Ah Mr. Marks, and Ms… Eternelle… Hm, interesting name. Well, anyway, you two will simply have to perform our first scene of the year! Together"

he smiled at the pair and then went on with the lecture.

"drama is pure emotion! Now there are those who can gather up that emotion for a moment and use it when needed. But there is no way an excellent scene is brought on with false emotions. One must muster a strong connection with the character to truly strike an audience. Now one or two of you might be naturals, but all of you… is impossible. I'll try my best to teach you about that connection, but I can't make you all stars." He went on but dame was too preoccupied with staring at Brae. He was beautiful; with his sharp features and soft, hazel eyes. He was strong in composition but those eyes held his sweet, sincere nature. But she wouldn't get involved with him; something about him stuck a cord in her that simply wasn't pleasant. Something in her mind told her he wasn't right for her, literally told her. Besides, she had other things to worry about; her father and sister would be visiting in a couple days and she had no desire to explain to them a new boyfriend after her last ended SO well.

She ignored him the rest of the period. The day went by quickly after that class. She went to the dorms to rest, only to find yet another set of girls in her room, but no Embry.

"What is my room suddenly an exhibit? I thought I made it clear, GET OUT!"

"Ooo you must be Dame." A girl in a red dress said sharply.

"And who the hell are you?" the girl's laugh was squeaky and annoying. She looked fragile, but so did her mother and Dame knew from experience never to judge a book by its cover.

" The names Isis, but people call me Is"

"Huh, not me, Isis" she hissed her name as if it were something disgusting. No way in hell was she gonna call her by Isiria's nickname. The girl was in her face in the blink of an eye.

"You don't wanna cross me new girl" the threat was all Dame needed today. she composed herself once more and said calmly

"Get out; do not come in here again." She closed her eyes in meditation.

"Or what?"

"Please, just leave."

"Awe, are you begging Damey?"

"Don't push it girl" her voice was not her own. It sounded dangerous, low and evil; just like the voice she'd heard in the garden, but feminine. It wasn't squeaky like Isis's; it seemed to ooze with power and intimidation.

"Girl? Who are you-" before she could finish the sentence dame had her by the neck pressing her against the wall nearly 10 ft from where they had just been. Her eyes were dark and cruel as her grip tightened, causing Isis to go from ivory to blood red.

"I've warned you girl, now your testing my patience. Don't take my kindness for weakness darling, I will-."

"DAME! STOP! What the hell? Let her go!" the fear in Embry's voice shocked dame back to reality. She released the girl and Isis fell to the ground gasping for air. She crawled to the exit and after a moment the others girls followed after her.

She had no idea what had come over her.

"What, what just happened" she said, in a nebulous of left over anger.

"You just tried to kill Isis. Whoa, I mean you seriously looked pissed. I've never seen anyone look like that; it was almost like darkness surrounded you. You looked like pure evil. Hmph, glad I wasn't in here this time."

"I didn't mean… I mean, she just… I was so… ugh, my head is killing me!" she had a splitting head ache and her body felt even more tired than before.

"Not like Isis doesn't deserve it. She's an uber bitch. But anyway, your stuff came right? Is it here?" she changed the subject so quickly Dame hardly had time to register what on earth she was talking about.

"Uh. I don't think it did."

"Oh well, I guess you'll get it from your sister."

"I guess"

"So, are you going to the ritual tonight?"

"Yes I am"

"Good, you know where it is?"

"Rec hall, right?"

"For someone who just came to this school, you know an awful lot."

With this she left the room. Dame went to bed shortly after, feeling no need to change.

* * *

"Damey girl! Damey?"

She eased into the room, feeling the weight of slumber on her shoulders.

"You ready for bed?"

She nodded slightly, her little fingers played with the Barbie nightgown, tented all around her.

"Want me to tell you a story?"
The excitement rose in her face at these words. She loved her mothers thrilling tales about her past.

"Which one?"

"The one about you and daddy." She said happily, her voice booming with pleasure.

"Alright" she lifted the girl onto the mattress of her new big girl bed and tucked her into the deep blue comforters.

"Let's begin shall we? Hm, where to start? I suppose at the very beginning. Your father and I were both marked around the same time; I before him, after all ladies always mature faster." She smiled at her daughter and preceded, " your father was just coming into the building when I caught his eye. He smiled at me broadly and before I knew it, I was directly in front of him. See, when you're a fledgling, instinct sometime takes over. It's like Nyx is guiding you toward your deepest wants and needs… sometime even your destiny. He asked me my name and I told him. 'like sunshine' he said to me. I knew I loved him from that moment on. When he left the high priestesses office, he finally told me his name, Isaac Eternelle. I played my name and his together over and over in my head, 'Phoebe Isaac Eternelle'. I knew he would be mine. There were many girls after him; he always had a following of boys ready to pick up whatever he didn't want. But through and through, he and I remain best friends. In our third year of school, he'd been dating a girl named Ivory. She was perfect in every way; blonde hair, blue eyes, your typical dream girl. At the time a war was going on. An angel named Kalona had been summon by our high priestess. He was beautiful; his very presence drove every girl wild with passion. High priestess Neferet had waged war on the humans. Our peace had long been shaky with the humans and Neferet felt it was time to act after a few of our Vampyres had been killed. But there was a girl, a very special fledgling who felt it was wrong to wage war. She sided with protecting the humans. Neferet did not like being sided against; and so she recruited our best fledglings to fight against this very powerful girl. Your father was one of them. Nyx had gifted me with a sort of sixth sense. I knew Neferet would fall. I tried to warn her, but she shoved me aside saying that the followers of Nyx had no place in the new order. So I ran to Isaac and begged him to turn her down. I told him what she'd said and fury burned in his eyes. He turned many of his followers against her… but not Ivory. Ivory ran to Neferet and told her what Isaac had done in my honor. She was beautiful, but very envious; she did not like that he'd done this for me; that I held a place in his heart great enough to change his mind so easily. Kalona came to me in my dreams that night and told me a story. I didn't understand it, but the next morning, Neferet disappeared and not shortly after, the girl bound Kalona back to his prison. Things settled after that and those who still sided with Neferet and still believed she'd return were imprisoned. Your father and I received our marks the following month. He proposed at the ceremony and we married soon after. A little later you came alo…

* * *


Beep, Beep, Beep!

She stirred in her bed then sat up abruptly. It was Saturday; she'd been having these dreams for three days now. This was a new one. She wondered why she hadn't remembered that story. Her father and mother had told her so many others over the years that she assumed that one had simply slipped. Kalona, she thought. His name was comforting to her. She wasn't sure why but she desperately wanted to know. And what had her mother said, he told her a story; what did that have to do with anything.

Things like this consumed her mind most of the day; little things that tickled her memory like puzzle pieces that just refused to fit together. The first night it'd happened, dame woke up nearly ten hours later at 1 pm. She felt groggy and distant, as if she'd just jump out of someone's head and not out of a dream. She'd dreamed about the purple-eyed women, calling her. The woman was telling her to come to her, to turn away from him. Dame looked back to find him; he was beautiful, mesmerizing, alluring. She turned from the night eyed women and to this mysterious man, all the time telling herself she merely wanted to see who he was. But as soon as she was near enough she found it was merely her reflection; a reflection of her as him. He smiled and said, we are one in the same, you and I. No other allegiance can change that. She nodded and he came from inside the mirror to her. She turned to the purple-eyed women…

She woke up after that. She had missed the ritual and all. For the rest of the time between then and school she remained curled up in her bed, thinking