We were bombarded by the Twins the moment we walked into the girl's dormitory.
"What just happened out there?" Shaunee demanded.
"Yeah, Twin, what's going on Z? Everyone is scared!" Erin pleaded.
"I don't know just yet but I have a guess at what it might be."
"Can we hurt them with fire?"
"Or water? You know that the Twin and I could probably take care of it" Erin added.
I just laughed, "I don't know at all. But thanks for the offer. Where is Stevie Rae?" I looked around and didn't see her in the common area like the Twins were, then I spotted TJ and Cole, whom Erik had walked over to talk to. Now I knew why Stevie Rae might not be here.
"She just went back to her room. Seems some of the red fledglings are starting to get edgy about the no blood thing. You don't think they'll start….you know?" Shaunee made fangs with her teeth and pretended to bite Erin.
My eyes went up in amusement, "I hardly doubt it. I'll talk to Neferet about getting donors and maybe that might curb it for a while"
"Donors? Like feeding off of other people?" Erin asked
"Eww, gross!" Shaunee said.
"I know it's gross to you, but to me, and about all other vampires in the world, its quiet desirable. I think you'll soon change your mind whenever you two decide to change."
"Hey Shaunee, Erin" Erik nodded to the Twins. "Good to see you."
"Ugh…yeah…hi!" the Twins sputtered out as Shaunee mouthed to me, "Oh my God is he hot!"
I couldn't help but to roll my eyes. They were only ever interested in looks. I had much more on my mind. "Ok, well, now that we're hopefully not in immediate danger, I'm going to head to bed."
"Your Grandma is in your room, I suppose she's staying in your extra bed?" Erin told me as I was walking down the hall.
"Thanks, yeah, she is!" I said as my pace got quicker. I would be able to talk to Grandma about what was happening and possibly she could help me out once again, like she's always done. Erik caught up to me, not realizing that I had left the common rooms and grabbed my hand.
"Hey! Why'd you run off?" he asked.
"I'm just really tired, that's all, and I want to talk to my Grandma about some things." I gave him a half hearted smile.
"Look Z, I didn't mean to be…" he started but not before I placed a finger to his lips and told him to hush.
"We don't need to talk about it right now. Let's all just get some rest and I'll see you in the evening. Do you want to get breakfast with me?"
Erik's face lit up with that question and he smiled that brilliant smile he always had. "Sure, I would love to. Good Night Priestess." Erik bent down and kissed me lightly on my lips, then each of my cheeks then finally on the half crested moon on my forehead. "Sleep well"
I smiled as he walked back down the hall, but not before he turned one last time to wink and smile at me. I felt my heart flutter. I just rolled my eyes, ugh, boys. What was I going to do about this now? If I thought juggling Erik and Loren were bad, man, this must be horrible to juggle both Erik and his own biological brother, Stark. Was my love life twisted or what?
I opened the door and Grandma was just pulling the sheets down the bed and ready to climb in.
"Oh my u-we-tsi a-ge-hu-tsa!" Grandma ran to me and wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace. She smelled of lavender and honey. I soaked up her scent and drenched myself in it. "What terrible things could have happened tonight had you not stopped everyone!"
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I just don't know how it might have happened or if it really did. It was weird Grandma. It was just like I was talking there with Aphrodite and then everything just happened. Then I was with Erik and Stark, we were running and I collapsed. That's when I came back to the present and Aphrodite said it was like I dazed off or something. It was so real, my vision." I shook my head and sat down on the bed next to Grandma. She placed her hand on my back and rubbed like she did when I was child after I had had a bad dream.
"Zoeybird, your Goddess works in mysterious ways. Maybe this was a way of warning you so you would warn others. It seems to me this may only be the start of it."
"I know…" I grumbled. "And if that's not enough on my plate, I have this Stark and Erik thing too…I don't know what to do Grandma!"
"Zoey darling, men are never easy to choose between. There will always be good qualities in one that you don't see in another. There will always be bad blood or qualities that you don't desire. But I believe that Nyx put them both in your life for a purpose and reason, maybe she's giving you the chance to make your own path."
"Great, just what I need. Just when I look for guidance I'm left in the dust" I moped.
"I don't think you're left in the dust sweetheart, but these are matters of the heart. To which do you care for most?" she asked me while stroking my hair and taking the many pins out letting it cascade down my back.
"That's what I don't know. I have feelings for both; I just don't know which one I want to be with. I don't want to hurt either of them." I looked down at the ground and just gently shook my head.
Grandma took my chin in her hand and forced me to look into her chocolate brown eyes, which ironically reminded me of Starks eyes. "You are young Zoey; you don't need to make a decision now or even soon. But know to follow your heart. Nyx will guide you to the right path."
"I guess your right" I said as I got up and grabbed the hairbrush running it through my hair a few times then grabbing a pair of pajama pants and a tank top before heading into the bathroom to clean up before heading to bed.
I closed the bathroom door behind me and turned on the hot water, resting my elbows on the vanity, I stared into the mirror. "Why is my life always a constant rollercoaster ride?" I asked myself. I shook my head and then splashed it with hot water before applying my face wash. After I was finished and cleaned my face off I looked back up into the mirror and it looked like a small girl was standing behind me. It startled me but I continued to stare at her in the mirror. "Who are you?"
"Help me!" she cried softly. "Help me!"
"Who are you?" I asked again, not turning around, but talking in the mirror to her. The girls face went dark, as if all the color went out of her and her skin started to turn black before she screamed. I screamed too as I turned around to find no one in the bathroom with me. I heard a knock at the door which made me jump, "Zoeybird? Are you ok?"
I had my hand on my chest and I was breathing something strange. "Yes, I'm fine."
I walked out of the bathroom and Grandma was looking at me very peculiarly.
"Zoey, what's the matter? You look paler than ever, why did you scream?"
"There wasn't anyone else in here was there?" I asked.
"No, not that I know of, why?"
"I saw someone in the bathroom with me"
A knock at my door came, I could hear it was Erik outside. "Z? Are you ok? I heard you scream. Open the door"
I opened the door for him and he busted in the room and searched all the rooms, closets, under the bed. I just rolled my eyes, "No one is here Erik, just us"
"What's the matter?" he said hurriedly.
"I thought I saw something, but it's not anything to be concerned about"
"If it scared you enough to make you scream, then I would say it might be something to be concerned about?" Erik said.
"Maybe, but nothing for you to concern yourself about. Go ahead and hang out with TJ and Cole, I'm fine. Just need some sleep that's all. My mind is playing tricks on me."
Erik strode closer and put her hands on my shoulders, "You're tense" his eye brow arched.
"Yeah, because you insist on trying to get something out of me…just go" I playfully pushed his away and almost out of the door before he caught it with his hand and pushed it back open.
"If something does happen, you'd tell me right?"
"Of course" I said and Erik left. I smiled and shook my head once more at my boy dilemma. Made me wonder were Stark was. He must be with Dragon and the High Council with getting rid of all the bagged blood.
"What did you see Zoey?" Grandma asked after I shut the door.
"A girl" I stood there trying to recount the vision, what the girl had looked like. "She was ragged. Her clothes were torn and she was bleeding. Her hair was dark as midnight with twigs and leaves stuck in everywhere. Her eyes though, her eyes were black, like all black, no whites at all."
"Did she say something to you?" Grandma asked.
"She just said 'Help Me'. Then she screamed, as if something was attacking her, it scared me and made me scream."
"I think it's time for you to get to bed and get some rest. I made you some lavender tea to drink. This might help."
I got into bed and Grandma tucked me in and gave me the tea she made. I slurped it down as fast as I could hot tea. It was delicious and I started to feel the pull of morning calling me to sleep.
"Happy Birthday Zoeybird!" my mom called as she burst into the door of my bedroom with my dad in tow. This was not the family I have; this is the family I wish I HAD. My mom was still as sweet as she used to be, at least before my father left. In this point of my dream, my mom knew what he was. She wasn't afraid of him and they were happy. I was happy. Grandma strolled into the room after them both and even my little sister, who was just a small child jumped up on my bed.
"Breakfast in bed?" my mom asked me as she handed me a ham and cheese biscuit that she used to make for us as kids. I smiled and hugged everyone while telling them how much I truly love them all. How I wish they would all be like this forever. Everyone laughed, except my dad. My dad looked at me with cold eyes, as if they were boring into my soul.
"What's the matter, Daddy" I asked.
"You are!" he said as his face swiftly comes within an inch of my own. This was not my father. This was John Heffer. His eyes were cold as steel. I screamed and kicked as he tried to hold me down on my bed.
"Get off me!" I screamed. "Let me go!"
My mother came in with a small vile, the same vile that looked like blood in my first dream. She opened it and looked at me with caring eyes, "This is for your own good. It's the only way to save you"
I spat in her face, "I don't need saving!" I yelled.
My mother's face turned colder than John's as she reached over and smacked me in the face harder than anyone could ever have done. My mouth gapped open in shock that my mother had hit me. John grabbed my mouth with his hand as his other was trying to hold onto my wrists. My mother bent down and started to pour the poisoned blood into my mouth. I gurgled and choked. She shut my mouth and plugged my nose, forcing me to ingest the fluid that would eventually kill me.
My body started to convulse, foam came from my mouth as I spit blood everywhere. My eyes rolled back into my head as I rose out of the bed. My limbs started to take shapes of claws and hair stared to grow everywhere. I pushed them both off of me as I saw their faces of terror. I proceeded to the mirror to find that my nose was protruding out, a hump was growing on my back, teeth, snarling teeth bared down from my jaw. I screamed as my body transformed.
"Zoey! Wake up Zoey!" I heard a voice call to me.
As I awoke from my dream my Grandma and Neferet were sitting on my bed. Neferet was taking my temperature and I noticed Natasha and Caren at the foot of my bed.
"Are you ok Zoey?" Neferet asked.
"Yeah, just a bad dream I suppose"
"Zoeybird, you were fighting in your sleep, you were screaming. I couldn't wake you so I got Neferet to come." Grandma apologized.
I sat up in my bed and Neferet told me to slow down and to take it easy. Natasha would settle my dreaming, but this is something I needed to look into closer.
"What was your dream this morn?" Caren asked.
"My parents. My mom and my real Dad, Armand. Except…he wasn't my real dad. He changed into my step-father who pinned me down and forced me to drink the poison vile. It transformed me into this huge beast. That's when I woke up" I explained.
Grandma was in shock with her hand over her mouth almost in tears. Neferet touched my forehead with the back of her hand. It was cool to the touch so it felt soothing. "The dream is over Zoey" she calmed me as I was still breathing heavily.
"This dream, the poison turned you into the demon creature?" Caren asked.
"Yes, it was like a wolf-beast of some sort. Much bigger than a normal wolf, but I had the head of one, or at least transforming to look like one at least."
"A wolf?" Grandma asked. "Are you sure it was a wolf? They are normally protectors of the spirit world, not advocators for evil."
"That's what I looked like." I said shrugging my shoulders. Not a second later Aphrodite burst into the door.
"Oh Zoey!" she cried as she flung herself on top of me. "I was so frightened!"
"You saw the vision as well?" Caren asked.
"Yes, it was horrible. Terrible that her own parents would do such a thing to her" Aphrodite wiped a tear from her eyes as Darius burst into the room next.
"Love, I heard your cries, are you ok?" he asked lovingly and gently touched her face. I could feel Aphrodite swell with delight as Darius came to her.
"I'm fine. Zoey had a vision, and it seems like we're sharing them. It was horrible Darius! Zoey, do you really think that the poison would turn people into these demons?"
"I think the Demon may be a metaphor" Natasha added. "If we allow our students to be altered by the poison, they are susceptible to the Demons that may hurt them."
"Very good" a dark, deep eastern European voice congratulated. "I have seen very many of these creatures." It was the same man that I saw in the initiation. Vlad, Dracula, whatever you like to call him, he was here, in my room. "These Demons, they feed on weakness and blood. The smell of blood entices them as it does us. They are thirsty and are never relieved of their hunger" He smiled a toothy smile.
"What are they?" I asked him.
"They are what you call Drekavac's or most commonly known as Death Eaters. They are nasty and vile creatures. They say they come from the depths of hell. Satan's spawn. Unbaptised children that had died whose souls are angry." Vlad explained.
"Unbaptised children…" I trailed off in thought. "That makes so much sense. We are children of the night, children of Nyx, we are not children of the human God, and therefore most of us weren't baptized. I suppose now the People of the Faith know this and they are turning children into these monsters that feed on death and anguish. Many would have angry souls for being killed by people they felt loved them" I felt a stir in my chest that told me that I was on the right track.
"How do we defeat such a thing? And why does it attack us and not the People of the Faith?" Caren asked.
"Only when it finds peace does it die, or unless you find it's human form and baptize it. I know it seems quiet simple, but I warn you, it is not. I have been fortunate to never come across a Drekavac in my existence, but I'm afraid that I know other's that have and they have not lived to tell the tale." Vlad continued. "Their claws are poisonous. These People of the Faith must be strong in deed in order to control these beasts for one scratch will kill you. It seems that they have developed a way to make the beasts work for them, not against them."
"How would we even go about finding the human form of these children? Wouldn't their human form be within the beast?" Grandma asked.
"Not always. The beasts only come out during the evening hours, the night is what they cherish because they are easily concelled. However, during the day, they shift back into their human form, but the human form is dead, and can even decay." Vlad continued.
"Who would keep the body of a child decomposing?" Neferet asked.
"A church would" I added. "The People of the Faith. I bet that's how they get to control them too. They have their human forms."
"Very inquisitive Zoey" Caren said. "We will look into it, however, I don't feel it's safe for anyone to leave the grounds until we have further information"
"I believe your right, until we know that these things are coming right for us, we need to stay on the grounds. Zoey, we'll need you to cast a circle of protection on the grounds this evening. For now, you should rest." Neferet instructed. "Here, I brought you some blood, this might help"
Neferet handed me a goblet that contained nothing but blood. I was hesitant at first, staring down into the glass unsure if I wanted to drink it or not. Though it smelled sweet and intoxicating. "It is Stark's. He said you might need your strength, what a generous one he is"
I smiled and took the goblet in both hands. Stark was getting rid of all the 'bad blood', only to sacrifice this strength for my own. I gave the cup back to Neferet after I slurped down the blood and I felt quiet dizzy and electrified but all at the same time, very tired.
"Good Night Zoeybird, sleep well" Neferet said as she guided me down to my pillow and I fell fast asleep as everyone filed out of my room.