I am so sorry that i took so long to update but my hamster, Baloo, died and I had a whole bunch of concerts to preform in and life is just way to hectic. I want to offer this chapter in memory of Baloo. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Let's all pray for a snow day!

Chapter 10

Old Ends Meet New Beginnings

Damien still hadn't given any explanation to me about his outrage, at something that I had no idea about. By that time Zoey had calmed him down enough to go and meet up with two friends of theirs. I decided to keep my hair in front of my face as we walked through the sidewalks so that no one could stare at my Mark. It had to be like eleven at night and I wasn't tired at all. This was just plain weird-usually I would have crashed by now. Didn't your body need to get used to sleeping during the day and walking around at night before you could actually do that? We kept walking down the sidewalks looking for Damien's new friends. It stung a little to think that way though- him having new friends and not keeping his old ones. Their names were either Twin one and two or Shaunee and Erin or something along those lines anyway, hell, for all I knew we were going to see Nyx!

One thing that I definitely knew for sure was that Damien and Zoey were driving me insane with their non-stop chatter/whispers about me (Yeah I could hear some of it). I couldn't decide whether or not to smack Damien like I used to. We had been friends for as long as I could remember but when he had been Marked all our lines of communication had shut down. Our fathers, who were both Elders of the People of Faith, tried to teach us that all vampyres were horrible, conceded, overly-confident snobs but Damien and I knew better. Even at a young age we could tell that our parents were all just a little bit jealous. I looked back up at Damien. Even a few feet away from him and I still looked, like, two feet shorter. Honestly it really hadn't been that long since I had last seen him! How could one person grow so impossibly huge?

Zoey was rounding the last corner to our destination when I heard someone yelling from behind us.

"Zoey? Hey Erin, it IS Zoey!" I could hear her shouting out to someone behind her. They probably still hadn't noticed that I was walking with them, instead of coincidentally just walking behind them. I looked up to see their faces- which was a BIG mistake. I could hear her running to me and that should have warned me not to see what they looked like. I heard an intake of breath as I looked up into a gorgeous mocha-colored girl's face. I could tell that she was stunned to see me there. It was obvious from the look on her face that I had been a topic of conversation before and not only because she looked guilty but also because she looked knowingly at my Mark and seemed to understand what it meant. I was starting to get jealous (Yeah I know totally weird right?)- Why should she know what all of this crap meant when I didn't have a clue about what was happening to me? Why should she get to know all about my new life before I was even "introduced" to it?

I know, I know I probably sounded like I was going insane in my head, but I would rather be mental then clueless. I was getting possessive of my new life which wasn't the best idea. If I got too attached then I would do something crazy. I looked right back in and at that exact moment another girl who looked to be the same age as her came sprinting around the corner and almost toppling over us. Zoey looked like she wanted to say something but I beat her to the punch before she could say something that I would regret.

"You must be Erin and Shaunee, right? It's nice to meet you." I tried to sound enthusiastic but I think I came out sounding wary and anxious- that wasn't exactly the emotion I was hoping for. I looked back at them but they still didn't look composed enough to speak. I was about to try to communicate with them again when all of the babble they must have been holding back exploded in mine and Zoey's faces. I felt sorry I had dragged her into this.

"SHIT ZOEY WHAT IS GOING ON!!!" Shaunee was facing me so I got the blow of sound even though it was directed at Zoey, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? FIRST WE FIND THAT THERE'S A NEW GIRL AND THEN THAT SHE HAS A SPECIAL MARK!" Erin looked like she was about to faint and her face was pale but she and Shaunee both had enough energy to keep up a string of shouts. Shaunee and Erin were both looking at Zoey as they tried to get some answers out of her but I wouldn't have been surprised if she had lost her hearing from their outbursts. I looked at her helplessly as she shook her head. It was like she was trying to shake out the ringing from her ears.

"Calm down you two we have to talk this over but not out here." Zoey amazed me by being perfectly calm as she spoke to them in a commanding voice and to my surprise the two girls actually shut up when she told them to. I guessed that this was not the place for talking about private matters. Even now I could see some curious looking teachers round the corner to come over to us- most likely to tell us to shut up but still you never knew… OH GOD I was becoming a paranoid freak of a fledgling! What was wrong with me? Could I not go five minutes without going though some damn crap? I had only been here for a few hours and I had already gotten myself into a boatload of Shit. (Sorry when Lela gets anxious or upset or stressed or whatever, she tends to curse a bit… okay so a LOT…) I was just starting to get really worried when Zoey grabbed my arm and hauled me off to a secluded area that was basically an old Oak tree in a small opening. Zoey still had a death grip on my arm, but honestly it wasn't like I was even going to run away or anything stupid like that. She had the strangest look on her face. It was a mix between anxiety-to-the-point-of-hyperventilation and scared crapless.

I looked back at her and something in my expression must have made it apparent that I was totally calm because she relaxed her grip and gave me a half smile. I looked around and saw that we were standing beneath the branches of the trees that bent in protectively. I also saw that Damien come to my side. Zoey looked at him and I saw him nod from the corner of my eye.

"Okay, explain." Zoey looked deadly serious and I almost burst out laughing! God it was like she was asking for a murder confession instead of how Damien and I became friends. I may have had the hysterical laughs under control but Damien let a giggle slip out. Zoey sent him a death glare.

"What is it now? What'd I say?" Zoey's expression was hilarious. Not like she was totally clueless but right now it kind of seemed like it.

"Nothing Zoey, it's just that… nothing, absolutely nothing." I was glad Damien could talk because the commanding tone in Zoey's voice scared me a little bit.

"Okay well if it's nothing then you two had better explain what's going on,"

"Before we totally lose our minds." I could already tell that it was normal for Shaunee and Erin to finish each other's sentences. They smiled at each other.
"As always, Twin, you know my exact thoughts." Shaunee was telling Erin.

"Okay here's the deal," said Damien as he saw my confused expression, "Lela and I used to know each other before I was Marked. Both of our fathers are Elders of the People of Faith." Zoey's face paled and then took on a disgusted look. She must have had experience with the People of Faith because every time I thought of them I got that same look.

"Anyway, we were best friends and she's totally cool with everything about me, so she seriously isn't one of the stupid homophobes." I had known about Damien's being gay since we were in like seventh grade and I had never had a problem with it but we knew that both of our parents would so I had promised him that I would keep it a secret. I was really relieved that no one here looked shocked by what Damien had said so they all knew that he was gay too.

"We've been friends forever but I guess I haven't really talked to anyone from home since I got here, well, rather than my parent." He gave me a guilty look and I guessed that he was sad that he hadn't spoken to me in months. He didn't look happy when he mentioned his parents so they probably still hadn't gotten over the fact that he was gay. The People of Faith are hypocrites. I wouldn't be surprised if half of them turned out to be gay as well! I looked back to Zoey, Erin, and Shaunee and they all looked happy to be back in the loop. Now it was my turn to get some answers.

"Okay, well now that you guys have got the gist of it, would you mind explaining to me what the HELL is going on around this place?!" I was so confused! I mean you would be too, seriously, what was all this talk about danger? What did Shaunee mean by Twin when she was talking to Erin? Why did we have to come to this secluded tree to talk about Damien's and my life story? None of this was making sense and I always hated to be lost when people are discussing stuff with me. Zoey gave me a sympathetic yet guilty look. She could tell that this was confusing and she was quick to explain.

"Well first off you HAVE to know that your Mark isn't normal at all. It's even more different than mine, yours shimmers like a rainbow or something." I mentally winced. When she put it like that I felt like even more of a freak. I mean "even more different than hers" isn't exactly the reaction I was hoping for, maybe something along the line of "just different". She sped on with her little lecture; I guess that the hurt must have been clear on my face.

"Well it's just different from what we've seen, but the Goddess must have special plans for you. I mean when I met her she tried to convince me of how different I wa-"

"WHAT?! You met with the Goddess?! So it WASN'T just me?! You've spoken with her. That WASN'T a dream? What is it with this place? Is there a daily miracle or something?! Would somebody PLEASE explain this to me?!" I could tell that I was blowing up in their faces but what Zoey said had startled me- a lot. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of all of this being real, including the part about the crazy "dream" being real. I looked back up to see them staring at me in shock, not that I could blame them but they had time to comprehend this and I was just shoved into this new world with people and customs that I didn't know anything about, well except Damien. Shaunee was the first to break the silence.

"What are you talking about? Of course all of this is real! Do you think we would be putting our asses on the line for anyone but Nyx?" Her tone stung me but I bit back my retort. It wouldn't do me any good anyways. Zoey jumped in quickly as she saw that Shaunee was about to attack again, and luckily she saved me from having to require a hearing aid.

"Of course it's all real; none of this is a dream Lela. I should start at the beginning so that you'll understand all of this. First of all you may not know how I got this." Zoey pointed to the colored in Mark on her forehead along with the added in spiraling patterns on her neck and shoulders. "My story is that I was walking up on the bluffs near my grandmother's Lavender farm and I tripped and was unconscious until I came to the House of Night and when I did wake up my Mark was colored in." (Remember that Zoey never told anyone about the Goddess meeting with her- well I'm about to change that a bit because apparently Lela just let it slip.) "That is the cover story, what really happened is this, the first part of the cover is true but while I was unconscious I traveled to the Spirit world and met with Nyx. She told me that danger was coming and that 'darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does notalways bringgood'. When I woke up my Mark was filled in and Nyx has proven her trust in me by giving me control of the five elements." Jeez she was summarizing this quickly and my head was beginning to spin. I looked back up to Shaunee, expecting her or Erin to make a snappy comment but instead I found that an understanding look adorned her face instead. Apparently she thought that I had been filled in on all of this already. Just as I was about to start talking again I heard Zoey inhale sharply and she snapped out at me;

"Wait just a second; you went to the spirit world? AND met the goddess there? What did she say?!" She was saying this like it was vital to this entire messed up situation, but I was still convinced that this was a dream.

"What? It's not like any of that seriously existed, right? I mean it was all just one huge dream. None of it was real it was just like a figment of my overactive imagination."

"Lela you don't seem to understand. This is all real. None of this is being made up or whatever you seem to think. We need to know exactly what she said to you." She was snapping at me again. Right at that moment was when I seriously grasped what was going on. I heard my intake of breath and my head spun sickeningly. I felt like I was going to fall over.

"So hold up, you guys are absolutely serious? This isn't some sick joke." I knew that I was acting really slow but I had to get this through my head. I quickly went through what Nyx had said to me. I finally got that I had to tell them everything about my so-called 'dream'.

"She said a whole bunch of stuff that everyone was going to be in danger; she was telling me that I was put in this position to help you because you were her eyes and ears of this generation. She also told me that I was going to be her 'will and touch'- that I was supposed to follow her decisions. I have to 'convince those who deliver evil to understand her will and intentions." I was getting breathless. This was too much to take in at one time and I couldn't really remember why I thought this was a dream in the first place. None of my dreams had ever been that clear anyways. I kept going on even though I was getting a huge migraine.

"I tried to tell her that I wasn't the person for the job but she said that even though I was only a fledgling I was 'special' and that I 'saw the truth while others lingered on false pretenses'- whatever that means. She said that I was supposed to help you to understand her decisions and then she kissed my forehead and from there it got really weird 'cause even though it burned me it didn't hurt or sting or anything. It just tingled a bit..." I trailed off. They all had stunned expressions. Shaunee and Erin's mouths were actually hanging open in awe. I turned to see Damien looking at me with a determined protective look. I suddenly remembered that he used to do that when some guy would try to ask me out. It wasn't a jealous look but more of a brotherly love/protector look. I looked to Zoey to see that she had a humongous smile playing on her face and her eyes were bright.

"I think it's time that we give Lela a little test to see about power." She stated this like it was the most normal thing in the world but even as she began to say it Shaunee and Erin gave little squeaks of surprise and Damien's 'look' became even more pronounced. With that Zoey clutched my arm and hauled me away again, this time heading to a huge room across from what looked like stables. She walked into the room and I saw that it held spices and candles and lots of random materials. She sat me down in a chair in front of one of the tables and began collecting lots of different materials.

She came back with an armload and smiled at me.

"Now we can begin choose anyone of them Lela…"

Sorry to leave you guys hanging like that but you should tell me if i should keep going with this. Does it seem like I'm dragging it out?

Like it? Hate it? PLEASE R&R I NEED SOME ENCOURAGEMENT TO KEEP GOING . You can reject it if you want. I'll try to get you guys some virtual cookies for R&R-ing.

Hope this didn't fall short of your expectations!

-Morgan