**AN: I would just like to say I completely enjoyed hearing that one of my readers screamed when she read the last sentence of chapter ten. It totally made my day. =) lol and RayRayluvs2read, it's totally ok if you continue to hate him. So here it is: the product of Stark's tap dancing, Chapter Eleven. **

Zoey

Dark. Yeah, that pretty much covers it. My current location equals dark. That's it. No floors. No ceilings. No nothing. Just dark. I didn't like this place, at all. Places I liked? American Eagle, the beach, Grandma Redbird's lavender farm; those I liked. But this place? Definitely not.

"Z? Come on. Wake up. Zoey are you ok?" I opened my eyes to Stark's worried face hovering above me. "Z, answer me." He waved his hand in front of my face, "Anybody in there?" My stomach swished. Something is not right.

"Zoey, darling? Look at me. Are you alright?" I looked past Stark to this new male voice. Oh goddess! My stomach heaved and I smacked my hand over my mouth. Stark quickly grabbed the half filled bowl of water on the nightstand and shoved it under my face just in time.

The contents of my stomach empty, I crawled backwards to the wall behind me. My head burrowed into my knees and I lost control. I sobbed, snotting all over my clothes. "This isn't real. No, you died. I felt it!" I screamed. I couldn't see him through the haze of the tears. "I felt her kill you!" I screamed.

Loren was on his knees in front of me, running his fingers through my hair. "Shh… It's okay." He soothed me. "Zoey, darling. Neferet lied to you. She's been using me as much as she has you."

"Liar!" I suddenly jumped to me feet, fists shaking at my sides. "You used me! And then you flitted off to fuck Neferet!" I briefly contemplated how proud Aphrodite would be that I had cussed.

Loren recovered and stood in front of me, eyes willing me to understand. "No, Zoey, Neferet was using both of us. She's changed into something." He waved his hands in the air, "She's not human or vampyre any more. I don't know what she is, but she has some sort of dark aura that surrounds her. Her gifts," he put a special emphasis on the word gifts. "They've changed; she's changed. And she lied to you. I was never her mate. I was never anything more to her, other than a tool to get to you. She purposely killed your friend Stevie Rae, knowing that it would distract you. I… I…" He paused, and his face fell. Loren looked completely ashamed and destroyed, "I didn't realize what she was up to until it was too late. She had convinced me that you were trying to do harm to the other fledglings. She had told me that it was really you who summoned the dark spirits that night at the Gilcrease Museum. She sent me to try and uncover your secrets. But as I got to know you more, I pieced together more and more of the truth. When I found out, I attacked her. I was livid. But she took control of me and… Zoey, I am so sorry for what I did to you that night." Tears leaked from his gorgeous dark eyes. "Zoey, please forgive me. It wasn't even me. She sent Erik to find you, knowing what he would walk in on. She wanted you to be as isolated as possible." He reached out to cup my face in his hand and I instinctively jerked away.

He sighed and let his hand drop, "She knew that because of the imprint, you would come looking for me. Neferet planned that whole scene in my loft. She timed it perfectly so you would see it; hear what my mouth was saying against my will. But of course, you know she didn't stop there. She broke our imprint. Oh goddess!" He shivered at a memory I couldn't see, "I could hear your screams. It was excruciating. As if all of that wasn't enough, she killed a human man to pose as me. She tore and mutilated his body so it only vaguely resembled myself. Neferet wanted to convince you that it was your fault I was dead. Zoey, she faked my death, said she wasn't done with me yet, and locked me up in here. I've been here since. Recently, she just stopped showing up. She'd been bringing me small amounts of blood. Not enough to give me any physical strength, just enough to keep me alive. I assumed… I assumed her not coming back was her way of saying my part was complete."

I wanted to believe him. I really, truly did. But I couldn't. I couldn't believe any of it. Not after everything I had seen! Not after everything I had witnessed! No! "Zoey, please believe me. I never wanted to hurt you."

There it was. That last ounce of gas needed for the explosion. I don't remember calling fire, but suddenly my arms were engulfed in its dangerous glow. "You liar!" I screamed and my body quaked. I was about to lunge at him. Kill him. Destroy everything about him from this world when the pain exploded like a nuclear bomb in my body.

My body seized up and extended in pain before I dropped to the floor writhing. The fire turned internal, burning me from within. I shrieked in agony, my body contorting. Knives! Knives all over my body! Ripping. Tearing. Shredding at everything. Oh goddess please! My body was on fire and I screamed out every ounce of oxygen in my lungs as I squirmed on the hard floor. It was unbearable, torturous, misery and pain. Please goddess! Please just make it stop! Please! "Please!" I shrieked as another wave crested and smashed into me. "Please make it stop!" I sobbed. "Please!" Another invisible knife stabbed me in the chest along my wound, twisting itself amongst my vital organs before yanking its jagged edges from my weak body. "Please," I sobbed before screaming in agony again; arching my back into an unnatural position. My manicured nails screeched against the stone floor as I clawed, grasping at anything. Make it stop. Please. Kill me! Please! My organs twisted inside me, burning, ripping, tearing. "Please… Please," I clutched at the ground. "Please, kill me, please I'm begging, Please!" I cried out. Pain multiplied in my head. I thought any minute and I would just explode. All of my organs were shredding, turning in on themselves, mutilating me in ways I could have never imagined. I begged with the people around me. Screaming for them to put me out of my misery. Another imaginary knife lodged itself in my stomach, pushing back through my spine, and ripping out the other side. Goddess! Please! Please! I shrieked again, a long dry painful sound. I could feel the tears burning on my skin and I knew I was snotting all over myself. But it didn't matter. My body twisted into a pretzel. I felt my arteries being tied into a million separate tight knots. The blood in my veins boiled and exploded, gushing loose in my body cavity.

I didn't want to scream. I didn't want to worry them any more than I already had. But the pain was unbearable. I bit down on my lip, holding in the terrible cry. Blood, hot on my tongue poured from the wound I had caused. Another tidal wave collapsed on me and I involuntarily emitted a shrill scream of pure agony. Every muscle in my body was super alert, taut strings being snapped. I was literally falling apart. I could feel my bones being shattered by sledgehammers. I felt the blade piercing my skin, plunging into my organs and slicing them raw.

My eyes were squeezed shut so tight I thought they might bleed. That's when I saw her. The burning light behind my eyelids changed, morphing into Grandma Redbird's lavender farm. Nyx walked towards me, swarmed with gentle white light. "Shhh… Zoeybird. All will be well." She leaned over and gently placed her lips on my forehead. "Blessed be, sweet Zoey. Now awaken into your new life."

Nyx seemed to be getting farther and farther away. "Nyx? Wait, no! Come back!" I yelled before the bright light disappeared, taking the image of my goddess with it. The lavender farm vanished, leaving the darkness behind it.

"Oh my goddess… I've never seen a full Change like that. I've only seen the watered down version. Not the Ancient Change." I heard a female's voice whisper in awe.

Zoey? Stark's voice was soothing. Z? Time to open your eyes.

I tried. My eyelids fluttered weakly. Once, twice. They felt like lead weights and I was sinking. I tried to open my mouth. To say something. Anything. But my lips wouldn't budge. My body was still aching. Not like the true horrid pain of before. More of an ache from working out at the gym kinda thing. But I felt weak, drained. I did the only thing I could think of. Tired. I sent to Stark. I tried more, but I didn't have the strength to send it.

"She says she's tired," Stark's voice was far away.

"How do you know?" The female voice. Lenobia? Yes, Lenobia, that was it.

Stark seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, "We can send each other thoughts. Hers sounds weak though. Like a whisper. And she only managed to send one word: tired."

"I'll move her to the bed," an older male voice spoke from somewhere beside me. I felt strong warm arms lift me from the floor and place me gently on a soft cushioned surface.

"Zoey?" The same feminine voice intruded my silence. "Zoey, I'm going to pour this blood bag into your mouth. Don't fight it."

I mustered all of my strength and sent Stark a single letter, "K." My strength immediately ebbed, only a small flicker remaining.

"She says ok." Stark said just before I heard a tearing sound and the delicious smell hit me. I felt my mouth being opened and the warm liquid, drizzle down my taste buds, exploding in my mouth. Ah, sweet blood. Delicious nectar. I gulped it down greedily before accepting a second bag. Warm blood heated my body, giving me strength.

"Zoey?" Stark was lying beside me.

"What happened?" I managed to croak. Goddess my voice sounded terrible.

Lenobia spoke from somewhere above my head, "Congratulations Zoey. You have completed the Change."

"What?" My eyes flew open in shock. But even as she said it, I knew it was true. I could feel the added strength to my body, renewed by the blood. I felt the warm glow beneath my skin. I was Changed. "I'm a full vampyre," I said stunned. I never really thought I would be one to survive long enough to Change.

"But Professor Lenobia," I asked confused, "Why was it that painful? I watched Erik change and he wasn't screaming nearly as much as I did."

She looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "Centuries ago, vampyres roamed in loose bands across the world. We were never as congregated as we are now. Since all fledglings must come to a House of Night upon being Marked or they die, they are all near a healer when they Change. If you remember Erik's Change, he was surrounded by multiple fledglings and adult vampyres. Then Neferet came and eased him out of his pain into his full form.

Our bodys have slowly adapted over the years to accommodate the increased presence of vampyres around us. We no longer travel in small bands. In the smaller bands, we did not have the ability to draw strength and power from hundreds of vampyres around us, as Erik did. Did you not feel the drain on your strength that night?" She inquired.

I thought back to that night, and remembered Erik's sudden drop to the floor, my crying, and of course, the regrettable after activities with Loren. "No, I don't remember." Now that I thought about it, everyone there seemed to be in a sort of stupor.

Professor Lenobia looked thoughtful, but it was Loren who spoke, "I have a theory. You've always been a special fledgling," I resisted the urge the smack him so hard his head would spin, "I mean with the filled in crescent, the extra tattoos, the five affinities," he blurted out quickly. "But what I'm trying to say is, you've never run by the normal rules, meaning you and your gifts are on a separate level from ours."

I didn't want to listen to him, mostly because he was still an asshat in my eyes, but it maybe made a little sense. I had always been different. I searched for any angle that might prove him wrong. I had to admit, I was feeling pretty spiteful right now, not that I didn't have a good reason for it. Unfortunately, Professor Lenobia spoke before I could manage anything, "I believe that may be a valid assumption. Without anyone to draw strength from, you experienced full pain, even stronger than that of the ancients." Yay, lucky me, I thought sarcastically.

"I have to go and find everybody," Business like, I sat up and rubbed my temples. "We have to figure out a plan, before Kalona arrives tonight."

I heard Professor Lenobia's sharp intake of air, "He's returning tonight?"

Ah, hell. I forgot to tell her. "Um, yeah. He's rested up and now he's on his way here." I shrugged my shoulders trying to sound nonchalant. "Oh, and one more tiny thing." This one was going to be much harder to say. "There's a Raven Mocker who kinda switched sides before Kalona flew off. Um, he's imprinted with Stevie Rae so it would be really great if nobody killed him," I said, hoping she wouldn't ask anymore questions.

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, "How will we know which Raven Mocker not to kill?"

I coughed nervously, "It's um, he's kind of well known. His name is ah… Rephaim, I believe?"

"I make no promises! That creature destroyed my best friend and Dragon's mate!" She hissed.

"I know, I know. I'm not very pleased with it either. But Stevie Rae is imprinted and I have a feeling we'll need him." And it was true. As I said the last part I felt the surge of warmth and righteousness I knew was given to me by my goddess.

"Fine. I will not kill the creature but I cannot agree to this for Dragon." She sniffed.

"Oh no. Dragon will not hear of this," I insisted. "Now, like I said, I have to be going. Changed or not there's still work to be done," Squaring my shoulders, I marched out of the room, Stark on my heels.

"Stark, a word please, if you don't mind?" Professor Lenobia summoned him back. Stark looked at me and sent, I'll meet you in the dorms. I nodded and walked out of the High Priestess's office.

I had made it downstairs and halfway down the hall before I felt a strong hand on my shoulder. "Zoey, I need to speak with you." Not Stark, Loren. I grumbled, might as well deal with him now.

I spun around, every ounce of my body resonating my anger. "What?" I half yelled. Loren grabbed my arm and dragged me into the nearest classroom, closing the door behind us. I watched him nudge a chair under the handle to lock us in. "What the hell are you doing?" He turned around with a look of determination on his face and in three long strides captured my face with his hands, pulling my face up to meet his lips. It didn't feel like the warm familiar kisses that Stark gave. It lacked the gentle passion of Stark's love. It was that same taboo kiss Loren had giving me before in the library. The forbidden fruit I was not to consume. His lips moved against mine, making me feel every bit the woman I wanted to be. I didn't feel like the lovesick teenage girl, I felt powerful, strong, Changed. I felt… cheap. Lips still attached to his, I pulled my hand back and smacked him hard across the face.

"Again I ask, what the hell do you think you're doing?" I yelled.

"You imprinted with him! I'm barely gone a few weeks and you imprint with someone else!" He screamed. Seriously? Seriously? In the immortal words of the twins: Please. Just please.

"How would you know?" I hissed.

"Because the second you dropped to the floor in pain, he did too!" Loren yelled. "What? Did you do it the same night you heard I died?"

"No, I didn't! I cried myself to sleep that night! I had lost you, I had lost my friends… and what does it matter to you? You never really cared about me! I love him!" I shouted. "He hasn't lied to me, used me, or used my weaknesses to have sex with him."

"I didn't use your weaknesses to have sex with you!" He yelled back. "Wait, you slept with him too?" He actually looked hurt.

"No, asshat I didn't. And yes you did. You knew about my bloodlust. You knew the moment you sliced your skin, the smell would hit me and I would be powerless. You knew it and you used it in your sick little game!" I slapped my hands on the desk in front of me. "Did it make you feel all warm and gooey inside, knowing that you coerced my virginity from me?"

"Oh don't even go there!" He waggled his finger at me like a preschooler who had misbehaved. "It takes two to tango, missy! You could have said no at any time." He crossed his arms over his chest with a smug look on his face. "Face it. You loved it. You loved being with me. You loved drinking my blood and I yours. You never denied it, you never said no."

"You're right." I sighed. I watched his face turn to one of victory and hope. "I didn't say no. And that's what makes it so tragic. It was good. Your blood tasted amazing." I leaned over the desk that separated us, "It's a shame I had to find out right afterwards that I was being used! That I was taken for some foolishly mislead love-struck teenage girl that you suffered sex with. I was nothing more to you than a job you had to get done so you could get the real thing. You didn't care at all. I was just in the way of you getting private time with my psychotic mentor!"

He looked scared for a moment, "Zoey, darling, calm down. Relax." He lowered his hands and took a step back from me.

"Stop calling me that!"

Just then, the door burst open sending the chair flying across the room, and Stark stepped in. "Z? What happened? What's wrong?" He looked around, accessing the situation, "Why are you fighting with the Professor? And damn you've got some major power rippling off of you." He looked at me stunned.

What the hell is up with me? I looked around trying to find a mirror of some sort. I was searching the back wall when I heard Loren laugh. "You didn't tell him did you?" Loren chuckled evilly.

"Tell me what?" Stark asked while Loren continued to laugh. "Zoey? What is he talking about?" Stark was clearly confused.

"No, I haven't told him yet. In case you haven't noticed we've been a little busy trying to save the world from enslavement lately. And I would prefer if you didn't tell him before I did." I hissed.

"Tell me what?" Stark yelled in exasperation.

"That she was imprinted with me. That she slept with me while she was dating that Erik Night fellow." I couldn't tell which emotion would win the war now ensuing in me. I wanted to run from the room crying… and I wanted to kill Loren Blake.

One look at Stark's face and I found my answer. Stark looked crushed, then angry. But I felt the strength from my new Change. I felt invincible on my anger. And I did the one thing I desperately wanted to do.

Loren still stood with a smug look on his face when I lunged at him. "You son of a bitch!" But Stark had sensed my emotions beforehand and dove in front of my line of assault, wrapping his arms around my waist and sending us flying towards the wall. Stark held my arms behind my back while I thrashed against him. His eyes were stone cold when he turned to Loren, "You better get your ass out of here before I let her kill you. Or worse, I decide to hunt you down and end your sorry excuse for an existence myself." Loren opened his mouth to retort, when Stark's eyes flashed a dangerous red, and the ex-poet laureate quickly backed out of the room.

I don't know why I was so angry at Stark all of a sudden, but I whipped around to face him. "Why didn't you let me kill him?" I yelled. "Why didn't you let me kill him?" I asked again pounding my fists on his chest. I was sobbing now, breaking down into tears. I clutched to Stark's t-shirt, pressing my face into his chest, "Why didn't you let me kill him?" I sobbed for I don't know how long. Ruining Stark's shirt with my salty tears. Stark just held me and rode out the storm. What the hell is wrong with me? I thought.

Stark whispered gently in my ear, "Come on, Z. We need to go find Professor Lenobia and figure out what's up. Cause this isn't like you." I nodded my head and let him lead me to the stables.

"Professor?" Stark yelled when we entered the straw littered stable.

Professor Lenobia quickly came running out of her office. Taking one look at me dangling in Stark's arms, still red eyed and puffy, she said, "Lock her in Nyx's temple."

Stark's arms tightened around me, "What? No."

"Yes. She hasn't gone through the purification process. All of her emotions are taking hold of her gifts. She can't control them. Her gifts have multiplied in power since she Changed. And because of that, they're a bit foreign to her. She needs to realign herself with them and pledge herself to Nyx. Come. I will escort you there."

"How long will she need to stay in there?" Stark asked.

"It depends. Again, we haven't really done a true purification process in centuries. Now a days, their purification process is merely giving them a glass of blood spiked wine, reiterating the rules of concealment, and ceremoniously pledging them to Nyx. Zoey is a different case. I don't know the old ritual, if there even is one. I only know that the she needs to be locked in Nyx's temple. You will know when she is ready to be released." She made me sound like a zoo animal.

We reached Nyx's temple and after grandly opening the old wooden double doors, Stark sat me on a bench inside. "Take as long as you need Z. I'll be right outside."

"K." I managed.

Stark and Professor Lenobia marched out, and after one last look at me, closed and locked the doors with a resounding click. Using my new ability, I sensed when the sun would set. "Three hours," I sighed. "I have three hours to figure out what the crap I'm supposed to do. And anytime during those three hours Kalona may fly his sorry butt back here." I looked around the large room, for some sort of sign. Nope. Nothing. Ah, hell.

**AN: Don't forget to Review! NC**