"Hey, Vision Girl, snap out of it. You with us?" Shaunee asked, somewhat worriedly.
It took Aphrodite a few seconds to realize that she had been staring blankly at the computer screen in front of her, and that Shaunee had been talking to her for the past couple of minutes and waiting for the blonde to participate in the conversation.
The Nerd Herd was spending their afterschool hours in the library, with Damien and Aphrodite sitting at the computers while Stevie Rae and the Twins were huddled behind them.
"I'm not good with research," Aphrodite said, shaking herself out of her daze and glaring at the computer screen as if it had personally insulted her. "It's not like I'm a member of the damn Scooby Gang."
Damien tilted his head towards her and gave her a bemused smirk.
"The Scooby Gang? Like on Buffy?" he questioned.
"You watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" Shaunee asked with a little laugh.
Aphrodite rolled her eyes.
"Forced to watch it with Z. Nowadays she finds it educational and thinks we could learn something from it."
"Yep, that sounds like our Zoey," Erin giggled.
Stevie Rae joined the Twins in laughter, but their cheerfulness died down and faded into somber silence when they remembered that Zoey wasn't there to laugh with them.
"...We need to bring her back," Stevie Rae said quietly.
"That's what we're here for," Damien turned back to his computer screen. "We need to find out what sort of mystical power Zoey is trapped under and discover how to end its effects on her."
"...I can't do this," Aphrodite sighed in irritation as she leaned back in her chair and started up another hate-filled staring contest with the monitor. "I can't concentrate when I'm here and Zoey's all the way over at Grandma Redbird's house. I should be there with her."
"She's not alone, Grandma is still there. Zo's safe and sound," Stevie Rae said with an encouraging smile. Her smile was met by a disapproving scowl from Vision Girl; the two were still a little at odds following the Raven Mocker incident a few days earlier.
"Yeah, well, not being able to see her myself feels like it's driving me insane. I've never felt so edgy in my entire life, and I've had to put up with the parents from hell for eighteen years," Aphrodite said dryly.
"I bet it's the metaphysical connection you two share," Damien mused. "You're attuned to Zoey and her spirit in a way that none of the rest of us are, so being separated from her at a time like this is bound to make you hypersensitive and eager to be around her so you can take her safety into your own hands."
"Yeah, it's like your connection makes you two like magnets," Shaunee said, putting things in layman's terms. "If you pull them apart, they just keep fighting to be back together."
"Aww, that's so cute, you and Z are magnet buddies," Erin teased with a snicker.
"Laugh all you want, but that girl is probably going to spend the rest of her life making me crazy," Aphrodite muttered. "At any rate, I can't focus here. I need to be with Zoey."
She stood up from her chair, clearly giving up on any attempt at research.
"Whoa, hold on Blondie," Erin started to object.
"No, it's alright. There's no point in forcing her to stay here if she can't concentrate," Damien said wisely. "Her connection with Zoey makes all of this harder on her than any of us, so just let her stay with Z. Besides, Aphrodite has an elemental affinity, Zoey will be safer with her around than she would with just Grandma alone."
Aphrodite nodded in agreement.
"Exactly. In case anymore unwanted visitors show up, I don't want the two of them there by themselves," she gave Stevie Rae a pointed glare at the mention of "unwanted visitors", once again reminding the country girl that she still wasn't completely forgiven for bringing a Raven Mocker around. "You guys let me know if you find anything, alright?"
"Of course," Damien said. "See you later."
The Twins gave little waves, and Aphrodite disappeared out of the library and stepped out into the empty school hallway. She was going to head to her car in the parking lot, but had barely taken a few steps forward before a voice stopped her.
"Aphrodite, wait!" Stevie Rae called.
Vision Girl turned to see the curly-haired blonde bounding over to her.
"I'm kind of in a hurry, Stevie Rae," Aphrodite said coldly.
"Look, I know I messed up with Rephaim, but I am so, so sorry," Stevie Rae quickly said, her voice pleading for Aphrodite's forgiveness.
Aphrodite, who would normally be happy to stand there and spend ages listing everything that Stevie Rae had done wrong and then degrading her for it, merely let out a frustrated sigh.
"Listen up, bumpkin. We don't live in some kid-friendly enchanted storybook where you can tell what a person is really like just by looking in their eyes and making some sappy little bond with them. Trusting a Raven Mocker was a seriously bad call," she said sternly. "Their father is evil, Stevie Rae. And I don't mean he's just a bad guy, he is straight up evil. Remember, the dark and malevolent force that causes all the pain and suffering in this world? He's best buds with that. No son of Kalona can be expected to be on our side."
Stevie Rae cast her eyes downward ashamedly.
"I know what you're thinkin'. You're thinkin' that maybe my judgment is flawed and I'm too easily swayed, which means that the decisions I make could be dangerous. And you want to keep Zoey safe...but Aphrodite, you don't have to protect Zoey from me. I would never hurt her, I'm her best friend."
"And she's my best friend. I'll protect her from anything and everything. And if it comes down to it, that even includes you. You'd never hurt her intentionally, but on the off-chance that you do end up making some major lapse in judgment that puts us all in danger...yes, I'll protect Zoey from you," Aphrodite said seriously. "Even if she ends up getting pissed at me for turning against you, I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe."
Stevie Rae slowly looked up and smiled sheepishly.
"Well, I guess it's good that you care so much. I never would've guessed it after all the torment and bullying you put us through, but I think you're one of the most loyal people I've ever known," she admitted.
A tiny smile broke through Aphrodite's stern features.
"I never would've guessed it either. A few months ago there was no way in hell you could convince me that I'd end up becoming friends with the Nerd Herd and spending most of my time hanging out with Zoey."
Stevie Rae giggled a little bit.
"Yep, our lives sure do have a funny sense of humor. But still, I really am sorry I kept Rephaim a secret. And even though I still think he's not that bad of a guy...well, guy/bird thingy, I'll keep my distance from him," she promised. "His injuries are almost healed anyway, so he should be moving on to wherever he's planning to head next."
"Just make sure that he does. We don't need any more surprises right now," Aphrodite said.
Stevie Rae nodded, and without another word or any kind of a goodbye, Vision Girl turned and started making her way down the hallway once more.
"Take good care of Z, okay?" Stevie Rae called after her.
"Always do."
"Aphrodite? I wasn't expecting to see you so soon, I thought you were going to be at the library with the others," Grandma Redbird said after she opened the door, surprised to see Aphrodite but still stepping aside to let her into the house.
"I was, but it seems like this link Zoey and I have makes it hard for me to stay away from her when she's hurt," Aphrodite explained as she walked inside. Grandma Redbird closed the door behind her. "How is she?"
"Still the same," Grandma said sadly as she and Vision Girl walked into the living room. "I suppose I should be grateful, no change in her condition means that she hasn't taken a turn for the worse, but..."
Aphrodite nodded in total understanding.
"It also means that she isn't getting better...but that's why we've got the gang working at the library. It's a little tough to find anything when 90% of the world doesn't even know that magic and monsters exist, but there's still the 10% out there that does. We'll get there."
"Aphrodite, I know you can't feel anything from her now...but do you think she's alright?" there was a desperate shine in Grandma's eyes.
The blonde sighed, and cast a longing look over at the door that led to Zoey's bedroom. She wanted to spare Grandma Redbird's feelings, but she knew she couldn't lie to her. She deserved to know the truth.
"Aside from whatever beating she got before that spell was put on her, her body is fine. As for the rest of her...well, like you said, I can't sense her spirit anymore. But I have a feeling—not a mystical feeling, just instinct—that whatever she's going through is like her own personal version of hell," Vision Girl said solemnly.
For a moment there was a fretful worry shining in Grandma Redbird's eyes, but then she put her hand on Aphrodite's shoulder.
"Have faith in Zoey, my granddaughter is tough," she said firmly. "She is my uwetsiageya, the daughter of my heart, which means that the strength of our family and the magic of our heritage will give her the power to fight and find her way back to us."
Aphrodite smiled.
"Well if you think she can make it, then she can definitely make it. You're the expert on tough, Grandma."
"What's that expression you kids use nowadays? Oh yes, I believe it's 'damn straight'."
Aphrodite couldn't stop herself from breaking down into laughter, and Grandma Redbird laughed along with her, glad that the two of them could find at least a small moment of solace among the horribleness of their situation.
"It's good that you're here, though," Grandma said as they settled down. "I needed to go out, and I didn't want to leave Zoey alone. I still don't want to leave her, but I know she'll be safe with you here."
"Yeah, she will," the blonde agreed. "You go ahead and go wherever you need to, you don't have to worry about Z as long as I'm here."
Grandma Redbird nodded and gave Aphrodite a grateful smile before she left the room to get a few things together, and while she went rummaging through the house, Aphrodite headed straight for Zoey's room, slowly opening the door and stepping inside. The room was dark, with only dim streams of light filtering through the tightly closed blinds on the window, which only served to further the surreal impression that Zoey was merely asleep instead of locked inside her own mind.
"Hey Power Freak, it's me," Aphrodite said with a wry smile.
The rest of the Nerd Herd always stayed relatively silent whenever they came to check up on how Zoey was doing. A few quiet greetings would occasionally be muttered to the unconscious brunette, but for the most part the gang operated on a strict system of "go in, look, get out". But not Aphrodite, she would always talk to her. She was positive that there was no chance the girl could hear her, but she didn't mind, so she just stayed and held one-sided conversations with Zoey. Somehow, it made her feel better.
"Grandma's going out for a while, so once again you'll just have to deal with me," Aphrodite said as she sat down on the edge of the bed where Zoey was comfortably tucked in. "Oh, and I got kind of intimidating on Stevie Rae today, so if she seems more afraid of me than usual, that's why. Anyway, you need to hurry and come back, because I think that girl is starting to go a little screwy in the head without you here."
Vision Girl slowly shook her head in disapproval.
"Your little bumpkin pal has been hanging out with a Raven Mocker. Can you believe that? A freaking Raven Mocker. In her defense, she's convinced he's not destructive and demonic, which means that she hasn't gone evil on us...well, yet, but still. Those things are actually Kalona's children, so I'm not going to trust one anytime soon. And plus, this means we've got to get a serious handle on your fatal attraction towards Kalona, because no way in hell am I going to let you date a dad. That's just gross, Zoey."
Simply being near the brunette had lifted Aphrodite's spirits enough to make her start up her trademark teasing again, but her sudden lightheartedness ended abruptly when she heard what she did next.
~Aphrodite...
The blonde frowned in confusion and turned her head to look all around the room. For a second she thought her imagination was getting the better of her, but then she heard it again.
~Aphrodite, come on...
There was a ghostly whisper writhing throughout the room, calling her name so faintly that she almost couldn't hear it. She was about to summon her element and shift into ass-kicking mode, but then she realized that she recognized the ethereal, disembodied voice.
"...Zoey?" she whispered, looking back over at the girl.
Zoey was still and unresponsive, with no sign of having just spoken.
"Z, was that you? ?" Aphrodite repeated urgently, standing up from the bed and watching Zoey intently as if she expected her to answer.
It wasn't until she felt a dull ache in her head that she suddenly understood the voice wasn't coming from Zoey, at least, not the real Zoey.
"Oh, shit..." Aphrodite muttered, staggering backwards as a wave of intense dizziness washed over her. Now she knew exactly what was happening.
~Hurry, Aphrodite!
Then a blinding pain sideswiped her, and the world around her changed completely. It was like watching a movie and being in it at the same time; from a third-person view Aphrodite saw herself and Zoey running frantically down a street sidewalk (and by the buildings surrounding them she could tell they were in Tulsa), yet she also had a first-person view of the scenery streaking by her and Zoey running at her side as the Power Duo raced to wherever they were headed.
"Zoey, we're not going to make it!" Aphrodite said/watched herself say. She could feel the uncomfortable pressure in her lungs that came from trying to speak while running so furiously.
"You don't know that, we have to keep going!" Zoey said.
It was nighttime, and the cold, winter chill was gripping the two of them in its icy fist as they hurried down the city street. The lights of Tulsa shined brightly all around them, and even though Aphrodite had the intuitive sense that it was very late at night, the streets were crowded with laughing, cheerful people braving the cold as they seemed to wait in anticipation for something.
Suddenly, there was a high-pitched whistle, and then a massive booming noise split the air as a firework exploded across the sky and lit up the night in a shower of color. One by one, more and more fireworks streaked into view, blooming like bright flowers in the air as people cheered and shouted happily far below.
Aphrodite saw herself and Zoey skid to a stop as the fireworks began to go off, their eyes wide with terror.
"We're too late..." the blonde whispered.
With a start, Aphrodite realized what she and Zoey were staring at off in the distance. The House of Night was looming menacingly a small ways away, almost seeming to blend in perfectly with the darkness and practically invisible to anyone who didn't know exactly where to look.
"Aphrodite, shield. Now," Zoey said commandingly as she turned on her heels and urgently stormed back down the street the way they had come.
"Are you kidding? ?" Aphrodite demanded, following Zoey with her eyes. "I don't know if I can make a shield that big!"
"Try! They're coming, Aphrodite! We can't let them get to anyone!" the brunette yelled over her shoulder before she disappeared into the huge crowd of people.
"...Shit," Aphrodite muttered darkly under her breath, turning back towards the direction of the House of Night and raising her hands out in front of her. "Spirit, I need you. Like pretty damn fast."
The element obediently surged through her within seconds, but its powerful, uplifting presence wasn't enough to drive out the fear and dread that had taken over her.
"Spirit, seal off this street, create a barrier. Nothing gets in and nothing gets out, got it?" she said sternly.
Spirit obeyed, and before Aphrodite's eyes she saw what appeared to be a large, shimmering wall of light stretch across the wide road, reaching out to the buildings that towered on either side of the street and effectively creating an elemental roadblock.
Suddenly feeling drained of energy, Aphrodite silently thanked the element and sent it on its way before she slowly sank down to her knees and waited for her strength to return.
"The things I do for that girl..." Aphrodite grumbled, breathing heavily.
A few short moments later, Zoey was back at her side and helping her up.
"Are you okay?" Power Freak asked, worriedly checking over Aphrodite.
"I'll be fine, but you seriously owe me. Big time."
"Trust me, if we survive this I will definitely be making it up to you. Did you do it?"
Aphrodite nodded as she steadied herself on her feet.
"Yeah, I got a shield up. Just don't ask me how long it'll hold."
"We just need it to hold long enough for us to—"
Zoey stopped talking as the sounds of laughter and happiness began to change around them. She heard an angry roar rising up in the distance, growing louder and louder as the source of it rushed closer to where they stood. Then the first scream was let out, followed by more and more terrified cries, and the din of chaos and panic quickly took over.
"...They didn't come from the school," Aphrodite said quietly.
"They knew we would expect that, so they went another way..." Zoey added, her voice barely above a whisper.
The girls watched in terror as a horde of red vampyres burst into view, savagely swarming the crowd of people and attacking anyone they could get their hands on. The carnage was almost immediate as the vampyres began feeding, acting like wild, feral animals as they slaughtered humans with their super speed and strength before helping themselves to the waiting blood.
"We're too late...we failed..." Zoey was wide-eyed with paralyzing shock as she watched humans fall one by one, horrifically murdered and drained of blood by Neferet's evil vampyres.
With a snarl, a vamp sniffed the air and looked all around until he spotted the Power Duo standing a few feet away. Uttering a growl that was far more animal than human, he broke away from the crowd and the rest of the chaos. The last thing Aphrodite saw was the vampyre charging towards them, and then everything faded to black.
After what felt like an excruciatingly long time, Aphrodite managed to open her eyes, and instantly regretted doing so.
"Damn it..." she groaned weakly, squeezing her eyes shut again as if it would help combat the splitting pain in her head.
She was laying on the floor (having made the mistake of standing up right before a vision hit) and every inch of her felt like she'd been run over by a bus. The fierce, throbbing headache was the worst after-effect of all, and the only thing Aphrodite wanted to do was knock herself out and sleep the pain away. But through the faint ringing in her ears, she thought she could hear someone knocking on the front door of Grandma Redbird's house.
"I don't believe this...can't a girl be left alone to have a bloody and mind-numbing vision in peace?" Aphrodite growled.
With tremendous effort, she rolled over onto her side and shakily got to her feet, now positive that she was hearing knocking. Moving made her feel like she had lead weights tied to her, and she slowly shuffled out of Zoey's room and closed the door behind her before she crossed the living room. A quick glance at the clock on the wall showed her that about half an hour had passed since she arrived at the house, which meant that the vision was so intense that it actually had knocked her out for a little while.
"Huh. That's a new one," Aphrodite said grimly to herself.
She paused for just a brief second to make sure that at least her hair looked halfway decent, then she continued over to the front door and opened it, with her eyes widening in shock at who she saw standing outside.
"You..." she whispered.
"Hi...uh...Aphrodite, right? Hey, cool name by the way," Heath said, giving the blonde a shy smile. "Greek goddess of love. Ancient mythology was one of the few things I paid attention to in World History."
"...What are you doing here?" Aphrodite asked, too dumbstruck to be as harsh and demanding as she wanted to.
"I thought I'd pay Zo a surprise visit," Heath answered. "But I didn't know where she lived, so I figured I'd stop by Grandma Redbird's place first to say hi and ask her where Zoey would be. Plus, I really did want to see Grandma Redbird that day at Utica Square, but I didn't get the chance. So two birds with one stone, ya know?"
"Grandma isn't here right now," Vision Girl said coldly, slowly getting over her surprise and easing back into her role of the queen mean girl.
Heath's expression made him seem slightly disappointed.
"That's too bad. But I'll bet she wouldn't mind me waiting," he stepped around Aphrodite and invited himself inside. "I mean, I left from Oklahoma City as soon as school was out, and with traffic and everything it took me about two hours to get here, so I'd really hate to turn around and leave without seeing Grandma and Zo."
He walked into the living room and made himself comfortable on the sofa with an ease that said he really had spent a lot of time at the house in the past. Aphrodite rolled her eyes in sheer annoyance and shut the door.
"So, Zoey told me that you and her are really good friends," Heath said, trying to start up a casual conversation. "Her best friend in Oklahoma City was a girl named Kayla, but even though I only saw you two for a little bit I can tell that Zo likes you better. Kayla's great and everything, but sometimes she can have a few issues."
"Well, I'm sure I've got more issues than all of Zoey's old friends put together," Aphrodite said dryly. "Look, you really shouldn't stay here."
"You're staying here."
"Yeah, because I—" she cut herself off and cast a nervous glance towards Zoey's room. The last thing she wanted was for Heath to go poking around into business that wasn't his to know about.
Aphrodite was standing at the edge of the living room with her arms crossed, and Heath turned his head to look at her.
"You know, last weekend at Utica Square...I kind of got the impression that you don't like me very much," he said quietly.
Vision Girl scowled at him.
"Why should I? I don't even know you. All I know is what Zoey's told me about you, which is that you're annoyingly thickheaded and only see things the way you want to see them."
Heath frowned.
"Is that what she said about me?" he looked upset for a moment, but then he laughed. "Yep, sounds like something she would say! That's my Zoey."
"She's not your Zoey," Aphrodite snapped. "Until last weekend you hadn't seen or talked to her in months, you can't just waltz back into her life and act like everything is the same as it always was."
"Hey, Zo and I were apart for a while, but we've known each other for a lot longer than we've ever been apart. A few months is nothing to us."
It was a harmless enough statement, but Aphrodite couldn't stop her temper from starting to flare up. Her borderline crazy jealousy over Zoey and Heath plus the usual crankiness that followed a vision combined to turn the girl into a volatile spitfire.
"The Zoey you knew in Oklahoma City isn't the same Zoey anymore!" she said sternly.
Heath smiled easily, unfazed by the blonde's sudden harshness.
"She tried to tell me that too, but I don't believe it. No matter what, Zoey is Zoey."
"My god, are you completely dimwitted? ?" Aphrodite demanded, storming over to Heath. "Get the crud out of your ears and listen! People change. Zoey has been through a lot since she moved here. Some of it has been good, but most of it has been bad, and it's changed her. The only reason she's not worse off for it is because she has her friends and she has me. I'm the one that stayed by her side and looked after her while you were miles away being too busy with your own downward spiraling life to keep in touch with her."
Heath opened his mouth to argue, but Aphrodite didn't give him the chance.
"She's never once mentioned you, which means that she's moved on from whatever thing you two had going on, so stop thinking that you can just show up here and force yourself into a life where you don't belong anymore. I wouldn't have a problem with you if you were just trying to go back to being friends with Zoey like you used to be a long time ago, but you're not. You and I both know that you want Zoey back, and you're so frustratingly hardheaded that you'll just ignore everyone else's feelings until you have what you want!"
Heath sat still with bewilderment, taking in all of Vision Girl's words. In the span of a few seconds, he replayed them over and over again in his mind, and once things finally clicked into place he slowly rose from the sofa.
"...You sound like you love her," he said quietly, looking over Aphrodite with wide, shocked eyes.
"Of course I do, she's my best friend. Which is why—"
"That's not what I mean, and you know it," Heath interrupted, quickly shaking his head. "You're in love with her."
As a reflex, Aphrodite immediately started to play dumb blonde.
"Are you kidding me? Zoey? ? She's just my friend! Out of all the people in this world, why the hell would I be in love with Zoey Redbird?"
"You are," Heath said firmly.
"I am not!" the blonde yelled. "Despite how long I've known her she still gets on my last nerve sometimes! That girl can be the most irritating...she just...she..." Aphrodite hesitated, suddenly finding herself unable to say anything bad about Zoey, even for the sake of a lie.
"...Does she love you too?"
Resigning herself to giving up the act, Aphrodite took a deep breath and let it out in a heavy sigh.
"She does," Vision Girl answered. "I'll never know what she sees in me, but somehow she manages to look past all my crap and find someone worth her time."
Heath's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and he glanced down at the floor as if deep in thought.
"She never said anything to me..."
"Yeah, I know," Aphrodite muttered. "She has a habit of that."
The awkward conversation was spared from going any further when the front door flew open and Damien, Stevie Rae, and the Twins came running into the house.
"Aphrodite, we did it! We figured out what's wrong with Zoey!" Damien said excitedly as he and the Nerd Herd barreled into the living room. When he caught sight of Heath he came to a sudden stop, with the girls crashing into him like a three car pile-up.
"Heath? ?" Shaunee said.
"What are you doing here? ?" Erin asked.
"Oh, so this is Heath," Stevie Rae noted, trying to seem casual.
But Heath wasn't paying attention to them, he was focused on only one thing.
"What's wrong with Zoey?" he demanded. "What happened to her?"
"Nothing's wrong with her, she's fine," Aphrodite told him.
"You're lying," he said tensely. "Is this why you didn't want me hanging around? You didn't want me to find out?"
Aphrodite fixed him with an angry glare.
"It's none of your business, quarterback. I told you that we're the ones who have been at Zoey's side while you've been off in your own little world, we don't need your help with anything."
"Hey, if something's up with Zoey, I'm going to help her," Heath said firmly, crossing his arms to give the impression of toughness and intimidation (which had absolutely no effect on Vision Girl).
"You can't help with this, you don't know anything about what's been going on here," Aphrodite said sternly.
"So fill me in then."
"Heath, I already said it's none of your business! You'd never understand anything we told you, and someone like you would just get in the way! I get that you still worry about Zoey, but you don't have a place in any of this. So quit pretending to be Z's knight in shining armor and trying to make lame attempts at earning brownie points because it's not going to work! She's moved on and she doesn't need you anymore, get that through your head! Now just back off and let me handle this on my own, alright? Zoey is my girlfriend, not yours! !"
"...Zoey's your WHAT? ?" the Twins exclaimed together, jaws dropping as if the blonde had just announced that she was giving up her parents' mansion to go live in a box behind Taco Bell.
Aphrodite's frustration with Heath slowly subsided when the words she had just accidentally said finally registered in her mind. She looked over at the Nerd Herd to see Damien and the Twins wearing positively stupefied expressions. With a defeated groan she covered her face with her hand, suddenly feeling like Zoey's signature catchphrase summed up the situation perfectly.
"Ah, hell..."