Rephaim

Without anyone realizing, Rephaim went into the library. Raven Mockers weren't actually banned from entering but that could be because no Raven Mocker would actually come and read; it would be meaningless for they only existed to serve their Father. But Rephaim had done so before, just once. He had been really careful not to be seen just in case. So he had no idea if Raven Mockers were or weren't welcome in the library.

"Oh, come on! I'mdefinitely not accepting that one!" Rephaim heard a young boy's voice and quickly hid behind a shadow.

"Why not? It's a party we're throwing, what's so wrong about a little more fun!" a girl's voice replied the boy.

"I'm pretty sure that Zoey won't appreciate strippers in her welcome-back-party. No, putting it like this, I'm absolutely sure that she won't like that. Or is it like you're thinking of yourself only?" The boy replied back.

Zoey. Rephaim started paying more attention. These people probably were Zoey's friends – which meant they were also Stevie Rae's friends.

"Who, me? I don't even like strippers!" the girl replied.

"Yeeeeah, and I totally believe you, right..." the boy said, then they got into Rephaim's view. He held his breath and called Darkness to hide him perfectly as they passed by him. They didn't notice a thing. After they passed, he saw that there were three of them: one blond girl, one brunette and one boy that looked very young. He tried to remember their names. The boy should be Jack and...

No, no, no, he wasn't doing this. He wasn't going to get involved with the humans any more. He was simply going to find a way to save his father and that was going to be all. He had decided that he was a beast and could only live as a beast; he was going to do it right.

Then why do I still want to see her? Why do I still miss her presence? Why do I have this heaviness in my chest that tells me to leave everything and go to her at this instant?

He shook his head and made his way down the hall. Those were the questions that should never be answered.

"You did what?" he heard another voice. It was mostly mute, but it sounded so shocked. Rephaim hid behind another shadow and glanced to where the sound was coming from. It was a blond girl, talking to a phone. Her face openly showed her anger and shock. She was on his way and he didn't want to be seen. He had to wait.

"You, Stevie Rae Johnson, are more than brainless. Actually, brainless couldn't even start to describe you. You, you're the first member of a whole new species. Even I don't have any words to describe what you are anymore, congratulations!"

Something in him throbbed suddenly. This was probably the girl called Aphrodite, she was talking to Stevie Rae right now and he could feel that he wanted to hear her voice. He tried to exterminate the feeling as much as he could. He was a beast. Beasts wouldn't miss anyone or anything. They would only slaughter. Still he went all ears. Maybe he would hear something useful, who knew?

Stevie Rae

"You did what?"

Yeah, this was the best reaction she could have hoped for. Guess she had prepared Aphrodite for this well enough.

"It's exactly as you heard, Aphrodite. I saved the Raven Mocker who turned out to be Rephaim." Stevie Rae repeated her last sentence.

"You, Stevie Rae Johnson, are more than brainless. Actually, brainless couldn't even start to describe you. You, you're the first member of a whole new species. Even I don't have any words to describe what you are anymore, congratulations!" Aphrodite said, her voice so full of the I-can't-believe-you tone. Stevie Rae had just started explaining everything to her; not in detail, maybe, but who knew how she would react if she knew the whole details.

"I know, I'm sorry, okay? That was really thoughtless." Stevie Rae breathed.

"Damn straight! I have no idea how you could betray us worse." Aphrodite said harshly. It was a hard blow, but Stevie Rae knew that she had every right to talk like that.

"Look, it's not like that and that's what I've been telling you all this time! I didn't mean to betray our cause, and I'm not going to the evil side either! Don't you get it? I did it because I know what it means to be swallowed in the darkness. I remembered my old times. His eyes were just too human, I couldn't leave him like that. I thought that maybe he still had a part of humanity inside, I thought that every creature needs a second chance. Zoey had given me that second chance, I wanted to-"

"Zoey gave you that second chance because you were actually human once. A silly one, but a human. It's totally different from the Raven Mockers which happen to have been born monsters, in case you haven't noticed!" Aphrodite interrupted, barely refraining from shouting as it seemed from the tone of her voice.

"Exacly. He probably had no idea what it's like to be human. He didn't know nothing and asked such common things that you'd laugh. Obviously, I talked to him as I cared for him." Stevie Rae countered.

"What a good thing you did! Goddess, I don't wanna say anything anymore, there's no limit to your idiocy. Just go on and tell me haw far you went." Aphrodite breathed with resignation. The best reactions I could ever hope for. Somehow, her gut feeling was right about talking to Aphrodite. She was grateful to that feeling actually. She did need someone to talk to after all this hiding.

"I tended to his wounds, I fixed his wing. I fed him. He couldn't hurt me in the weak state he was; but I knew what I did wasn't good, I sent him to the tunnels to stay and he would fled later, if the red fledglings didn't find him first. But then they trapped me on the rooftop, using him as the bait. He was the one that protected me from the sunlight and-"

"He actually protected something?" Aphrodithe said, her voice told Stevie Rae what her words didn't: she couldn't believe her story. It was too absurd. Well, Stevie Rae knew it, she wouldn't believe herself either if she was in Aphrodite's shoes.

"He said he owed me a life and that was a really binding thing so he had to pay it. But I still got burned. When we could escape into the earth, I was really in a bad contdition, so he offered me his blood."

"And that's when you Imprinted." Aphrodite stated.

"Yeah." Stevie Rae confirmed.

"Okay, I need a short hiatus here to swallow the story up to this point. You tell me how you could get trapped with the Raven Mocker as the bait in the meantime." Aphrodite said with a sigh in her words.

"Well, I... had saved him at the start and I had sent him to the tunnels. When I heard that he had been found, beaten and drained of blood by the Red Fledgelings, I just couldn't leave him alone. I guess I believed he had the good inside him so I wanted to save him."

"That's what the other reds used to trap you."

"Yeah. So I went up to the roof and before he could warn me, the red fledglings already had me out. When I came to, I was about to burn. He encouraged me, showed me the path to escape, provided me shade and gave me his blood. He did all this with a broken wing and a hurt leg. He said it was because he owed me a life and wanted to get rid of the debt." Stevie Rae explained.

"Is this where you fall for him?" Aphrodite said mockingly, as if she was commenting on a cliché movie's storyline. Stevie Rae, though, had no idea how to reply this time. She wasn't prepared for this. She stuttered, then quieted down. She really had no idea when she had started falling for him, caring for him. It could be the second he opened his eyes at the night she first saw him wounded, or when his eyes showed that he was desperate and was expecting the worst, or when he first laughed. Or it could be when he'd saved her from burning to a crisp, when she was on the brink of death. Or maybe it was after they had Imprinted; she had started to fall for him after being Imprinted. The only thing she knew for sure was the time when her feelings became certain: it was when she evoked the black cow to save him from the white one.

She realized that she had been quiet for a while now, and Aphrodite wasn't talking either. She kept her silence. Then she heard Aphrodite take a short nervous breath as if she'd forgotten to breath for a while and had just remembered to.

"Don't think so hard on it, bumpkin, it was a joke. I should've known your bumpkin-brain couldn't comprehend it. Let's get on with the story: you Imprinted and then somehow you managed to hide him, I'm up to this part. Guess I'm ready to hear the rest, though I still don't think anything will justify what you did. I'm almost sure nothing will compensate what he's done up till now either. don't get me wrong, I'm just listening to you because when I could read almost every feeling of yours when we were Imprinted, you felt much more innocent than being this close to Darkness. I must be really softened since I'm actually listening to your defense here rather than sending an army on you immediately."

"Don't worry, you won't have to bother. I'm going to explain everything." Stevie Rae breathed.


A/N: First: I'm absolutely sorry for the long hiatus. I made the mistake of reading Awakened and didn't have the will to continue anymore so instead I went on with my other story: Her Flames. Right now that one's on hiatus because I don't have the patience to type it to the computer from the hand-written version and edit it at the same time. I'm using my patience on my lessons instead. Surprise, surprise! I actually do study.

Second: since I've already read the actual book, I'm guessing that it gives me the right to steal a bit of the plans. No, not anything too important for the flow of fanfic. Remember how I was always so confused with the plans of evil? I'm going to steal a tiny bit of Neferet from the new book. I'm totally lost when it comes to her. It won't be too much spoilers though. But I'm absolutely not satisfied with where Mistress Cast has taken the group, so I'm definitely not following her path, just so you know.

Third: I have exams and finals coming up, so please don't expect me to upload in a regular basis like once every three days or something. I'll be happy if I can finish one chapter a week. Seriously, med school is hard.

And right now, I want to sincerely thank Iris Musicia for reminding me that I actually had another fanfic to finish and made me believe in myself and my writing again, whether she realized or didn't what she was doing. I have to tell, I probably wouldn't remember about this one if it wasn't for her reviews. Though it surprised me since I don't get reviews a lot, it had me smiling.

Okay, that's it. Please take time to review. Thanks, y'all!

P.S: Belladonna, thanks a bunch for the correction. I remembered it wrong I guess, it's been long since I last heard her last name. I corrected it now.

P.S.S: Team-EricSookie, thanks for the correction. I guess I mixed up the colors of bulls because I wrote it with such rush and didn't have time to edit. But I wrote "cows" on purpose, just so you know. Again, thank you.