"She's not answering, Stevie Rae! She isn't answering!" with a furious growl, Zoey threw her phone down onto the living room couch.
"Zoey, breathe," Stevie Rae warned her. "Tell me again what happened."
"I don't know what happened!" the brunette snapped. "I just felt what she was feeling! Anger, adrenaline, power–"
"Was she scared?"
Zoey narrowed her eyes as if she was searching back through her memories.
"No...no, she wasn't scared," she answered.
"Okay, that's a good thing. If something bad went down and she wasn't in control of the situation, she'd be afraid," the curly-haired blonde explained.
"No, she'd be pissed," Zoey corrected her. "And she was definitely pissed. That's it, I'm going to go get her."
She snatched up her phone again and stormed into the foyer, with Stevie Rae hurriedly following after her.
"Zoey, hang on a sec! You don't even know what's going on!"
"I don't care! ! I'm going after her!"
Stevie Rae moved in front of the door, blocking the way in case Zoey decided to bolt.
"Z, listen to me. You're connected to Aphrodite. You would know if something really serious had happened to her," she tried to reason. "She wouldn't want you to go rushin' in guns blazin' if you didn't need to. So concentrate. Use your connection to figure out exactly what she just went through."
The flustered rage on Zoey's face slowly faded away to a desperate, almost helpless frown.
"I don't know how to do that, Stevie Rae," she said weakly. "I've never once had any control over this connection of ours."
"Then take control," Stevie Rae said firmly. "This link between you two was created because you care about each other so much, so use that to your advantage. I know it sounds hokey, but see if your love for Aphrodite can help you find out what's goin' on."
She managed to bring a small smile out of the Power Freak.
"That's totally hokey," Zoey said. "But hey, it's all I've got right now."
Suddenly, a memory came plowing through her mind from somewhere deep within her subconsciousness.
The day Neferet and her red vampyres had first attacked the Power Duo at the high school, Neferet had Zoey literally in her grasp and was seconds away from killing her. It was only when Zoey began to think about how much she cared for her friends that she gathered the power to break free from the vampyre's strength and fight back. Maybe Stevie Rae had a point. As cheesy as it sounded, maybe love really was the key sometimes. Deciding she had nothing to lose, Zoey gave it a shot.
Aphrodite...I'll admit, I haven't dated very many people so I don't have a lot to look back on, but I've never felt anything like the way I feel with her. It's like she's a fire, and around her I'm always warm and cozy. She keeps me going. Everyday I wake up and feel excited because I think "Here's another day that I get to spend with Aphrodite."
Zoey closed her eyes as she settled deeper and deeper into her thoughts.
Sometimes I wonder if it's even right, the fact that we found each other when we're still so young. It almost doesn't seem fair. Just like Damien told me the other day, people can spend years and years searching for the right person for them, and I found Aphrodite without even trying.
(Technically, I found you. Don't steal my thunder.)
Zoey jumped and her eyes flew open. Aphrodite's voice was just in her head! Clear as day, Zoey had heard her, and it wasn't just her imagination filling in the blanks, that was definitely Aphrodite.
"It worked!" Zoey said excitedly to Stevie Rae. "I got through to her!"
"Seriously? ?" the country girl was in disbelief even though it was her idea. "That's amazing! Go back, find out if she's okay!"
Zoey nodded fervently and closed her eyes once more.
Aphro, are you alright? ? Where are you?
This time, there was no response. The brunette waited, and then thought the question again, but still nothing happened.
Damn it, I must've broken the connection when I got distracted...okay, try again. I was thinking of Aphrodite...and how incredibly right everything feels when I'm around her. I'm literally in the middle of some epic high-stakes fight to save the world from evil, and by all rights I should have had about fifty nervous breakdowns by now. But I think things have been easier to manage because Aphrodite's always been right there with me. From being chased by red vamps for the first time that one night at school, to meeting Nyx, to finding out about Kalona, and even finding out about Darkness, she's been at my side through all of it and everything in between. I couldn't ask for a better partner in crime.
(Okay, this is freaky as hell, how are we doing this?)
Like tuning a radio, Aphrodite's voice came in loud and clear again. Zoey kept her focus but broke out into a huge grin.
Aphrodite! !
(When I get back, you're going to explain how this telepathy shit is suddenly happening.)
Where are you? Are you still at the House of Night?
(Yeah, unfortunately. My dad and I were just about to leave when Neferet totally flipped the script on us. She used this weird power to send my dad away without me and then she ordered some vamp guy to cart me off to a hidden room underneath the school.)
Zoey gasped.
No! !
(Don't worry Z, I'm fine, they didn't hurt me. In fact, the one vamp alone didn't even cut it, Neferet needed three of them just to take me down.)
Somehow, Zoey could tell that Aphrodite was smiling triumphantly.
That's my girl! she mentally said. I'm about to drive up there to find you, what do you mean about a hidden room?
(Remember how some fledglings don't make it through the Change? They've got a fucking morgue here.)
Zoey suddenly shuddered, not liking the thought of Aphrodite being anywhere near something like that.
(There was this door at the very back of the morgue that opened up into a stairwell, and it led down to this hallway with a bunch of different rooms. I got the impression that it's new, like Neferet just recently had this area built.)
Underneath the morgue...do you think she was using those rooms for the red vamps?
(That's exactly what I was thinking. I checked out the House of Night's student dorms, and these rooms are just like an underground version of them. She probably put them right under the morgue so when the vamps were brought back to life they could stay down here without being seen by anyone. But it seems like Neferet wasn't counting on the red vampyres to be as gross and animalistic as they are, because this is definitely not the kind of place you build for snarly evil monsters.)
Zoey listened to Aphrodite's words ring and echo throughout her mind.
Since Neferet is the one resurrecting them...it's like the red vamps are experiments gone wrong. Whatever she's doing to bring dead vampyres back to life is turning them into feral creatures without any trace of humanity, and you're right, I don't think she expected that to happen. That's...that's horrific. Listen, just stay put, I'm coming to get you.
(Zoey, don't. A lot of the students here aren't overly fond of humans, and they're already ticked off that my father and I came tramping around their precious secret school, I don't want them to have to see you and the Nerd Herd running across campus too.)
Power Freak frowned.
What if it's only two of us? Just me and Stevie Rae?
(Oh, the bumpkin finally decided to talk to you again, huh? No, I don't want to risk anyone seeing you. They put me in one of these rooms and locked the door behind me, but I can find a way out on my own, I don't need you helping me.)
Are you hearing yourself right now? You're Vision Girl, not MacGyver! You can't just bust out of a locked room on your own!
Zoey almost swore that Aphrodite was rolling her eyes.
(Excuse me, but for your information I'm also Spirit Girl, and Spirit Girl doesn't need anyone coming to her rescue.)
Zoey thought back to what Erin had said earlier, about how Zoey didn't want to let Aphrodite handle anything on her own and how she felt like she had to keep a constant eye on her. Maybe she actually had a point then, but this was different...wasn't it? Aphrodite was essentially being held captive by Neferet at the House of Night, and no matter what Erin thought, there was no way that even she could deny this constituted a major case of search and rescue.
...Just hang tight, I'll be there in twenty minutes.
(Zoey!)
Like hanging up a phone, Zoey opened her eyes and broke the mental connection between them, shutting Aphrodite's thoughts out of her mind. She felt a little like she had just woken up from a deep sleep, and after she blinked a few times she saw Stevie Rae watching her curiously.
"She's okay?" the curly-haired blonde asked.
Zoey nodded.
"For now. Neferet has her captured at the school, we have to get her out of there," she said urgently.
"...Sure, yeah, I hear you, but what about the part where this is all a giant trap?"
Zoey had made it halfway up the stairs to search for her car keys in the bedroom when Stevie Rae stopped her cold.
"A trap? How do you figure?" she wondered.
"Helloooo! Neferet's no fool! She knows that just laying a finger on Aphrodite would have you runnin' over there faster than a jackrabbit on a scooter!"
Jackrabbit on a—?
"Neferet's trying to reel you in and Aphrodite is the bait!" Stevie Rae continued.
"Well good for Neferet, she knows how to fish," Zoey darted up the remaining length of the stairs.
Stevie Rae threw her arms up in defeat, realizing that it was pointless to talk some sense into her best friend as far as Aphrodite was concerned. She listened to the sounds of Zoey digging through drawers upstairs, and soon enough the brunette came trudging back down to the foyer.
"Listen Z, I know you want to go rescuing Aphrodite, but—"
"Everyone's been telling me lately to stop being so afraid of Neferet, to stop dancing around the sidelines trying to avoid her as long as I can. I thought I was being cautious, and maybe I still want to be cautious. But I kept waiting for her to make the first move, and guess what, she has. I waited for Neferet to make the first move, and she made the wrong one. Now I'll make her regret using Aphrodite as a bargaining chip."
Stevie Rae frowned.
"That doesn't sound like you, Z."
"Why do I feel like everyone keeps saying that too?!" Zoey snapped. "Since when am I Mary freaking Poppins, flying around on my umbrella of laughter and happiness? ? Am I not allowed to be a little irritated when supernatural forces constantly threaten the people I care about? Now either help me go after Aphrodite, or go back home."
"...Of course I'll help you find Vision Girl," Stevie Rae said quietly. "But I don't think she wants to see you lose your head just because of her."
"It's Aphrodite. She's more than a 'just because'," Zoey watched the questioning expression that took over her best friend's features and understood the meaning behind it. "She's not getting special treatment. I'd be doing the exact same thing if it were you or any of the rest of the gang."
The country girl slowly shook her head.
"You don't have to explain anything to me. You've never had to explain anything when it comes to Aphrodite, I get it. I watched you fall in love with her, remember? You're probably gonna do something reckless for her, so it's my job to come along and stop you from making a big ol' butt out of yourself. Because if anything happens to you on my watch, Aphrodite's gonna have my head for it."
Zoey looked over the girl who was ready and willing to follow the brunette into untold dangers without so much as a second thought. She smiled.
"I'm so glad you're back, Stevie Rae."
When Aphrodite thought about being held captive by Neferet, she imagined it would be in some dark, dank, stone cold prison cell with the skeleton of last month's victim chained to the wall and maybe even a few bats hanging from the ceiling. Instead, she was parked on the edge of a surprisingly comfortable bed in a room whose decorating rivaled that of a four-star hotel despite it's relatively average size. Sure, there were no windows and she was locked in, but it was still far from her idea of a typical hostage situation.
Of course, that didn't mean she was going to just sit there and look pretty.
Naturally, Aphrodite's first plan was to use spirit to bust out the door or a wall like Damien or Erin might be able to do with their elements, but she hit a roadblock within seconds of trying—her powers didn't work on inanimate objects. As a shield, spirit was highly versatile. It could protect Aphrodite and anyone she chose from outside forces, both physical and metaphysical. As an offensive power, it worked against people, vampyres, the other elements, and even Raven Mockers; essentially anything that had a spirit of its own. But Aphrodite wasn't Jean Grey, she didn't have the power to break down walls or pick locks or turn heavy objects into battering rams just by mental willpower alone.
This was her affinity's weakness, and just her luck, she had to discover it now. So instead she had to rely on her unnaturally high intelligence to find a way out, and she sat on the bed thinking of how she was going to orchestrate an escape, and maybe also beat the crap out of Neferet for having the audacity to keep her here in the first place.
As if in response to both of Aphrodite's problems, someone started fiddling with the lock on the outside of the door, and it swung open to let Neferet into the room.
"...I know you're not stupid enough to walk in here and try to start something with me," Aphrodite said. "Why don't you go ask Loren and those two other vamps how easy it is to get the advantage on me in a fight?"
Neferet shut the door behind her and leaned back against it. Her usually moss-green eyes somehow seemed darker, both in color and in shine, and she quietly studied Aphrodite for a few seconds before she responded.
"That's quite the power you have there," Neferet's naturally alluring voice glided smoothly through the small space between them. "It's highly unusual for the goddess to grant two separate powers to one individual. What am I saying, it's highly unusual for the goddess to grant power to a human."
Aphrodite's gaze was hard and cold, unwavering as she met the High Priestess' eyes.
"You say that word with so much disgust, just like your little buddy Rephaim," she pointed out. "You were human once. Rephaim still is, at least partly. Where do you two get off hating humans so much?"
"They are a disgusting race. They destroy, they corrupt, they exterminate everything around them," Neferet answered, her voice low and grim. "Friends, enemies, loved ones, animals, the very earth itself; if it's in their way, they eliminate it."
"And what makes vampyres so different?" Aphrodite sternly questioned. "You're stronger, wiser, capable of possessing incredible otherworldly powers, but how are you any different from me at the core? Does becoming a vampyre suddenly take away all those destructive human impulses? Have you never felt envy or hatred towards another vampyre, or the need for revenge against a vampyre who's done you wrong? Because from the way you're talking, those are all distinctly human traits."
Like liquid jade hardening into stone, Neferet's scrutinizing gaze became colder and colder with Aphrodite's every word.
"You are young, Aphrodite. You think you know it all. Only time will prove how I am superior to you in every conceivable way," she said smugly.
"You're dodging the question."
"And I didn't come here to debate philosophy with you!" Neferet snapped. "Do you know what your problem is, Aphrodite?"
"Maxed-out credit cards?"
"Your problem is you're too smart for your own good."
"That too."
"I've never been able to fool you. Zoey and the others fell for that innocent schoolteacher routine like naive little idiots, but you were warning them of my true nature from the very beginning," the High Priestess explained.
She left her position at the door and walked forward, looming right in front of Aphrodite.
"Would you like to explain to me why that is?" Neferet asked.
"...Vision," the blonde stiffly answered. "Before I even saw you at the high school, I had a vision of you leading an army of red vamps."
Neferet laughed quietly.
"As I expected. At every twist and turn, my plans get ruined because of you and your warnings of the future. I'll say it again: that's quite the power you have there. But what a burden, being 'gifted' with knowledge of things that have yet to pass. Not to mention the debilitating pain, the headaches, and the agony that comes along with the visions. Don't you get tired of seeing all the horrors that the future has to bring? Don't you get tired of seeing Zoey's death?"
Aphrodite narrowed her steely blue eyes.
"How do you know that I keep having visions of Zoey dying?"
Neferet smiled.
"Because I'll personally make sure that a future ending in Zoey's death becomes a reality."
Like striking lightning, Aphrodite leapt from the bed to grab Neferet by the shoulders and shove her backwards until she roughly slammed up against the door.
"Threaten all you like, but you and I both know that reality isn't going to come without a fight," Vision Girl growled.
"I never said I was planning on doing it the easy way," Neferet's smile grew more and more wicked. "That's a rather crippling weakness, Aphrodite, this desire to protect your friends. You should never have let Zoey get to you the way she did, your soft spot will be the death of all of you."
"We'll see about that. I'm the one with the visions, remember?" Aphrodite let go of the vampyre and moved back to the bed, taking her seat at the edge of it again.
"Perhaps. But then again, perhaps not for long."
Aphrodite took in Neferet's words, and the tone of the woman's voice when she said them. The blonde shook her head and laughed quietly to herself.
"You can't take away my visions," she said confidently. "They're a gift from Nyx, and Nyx doesn't allow her gifts to be taken back."
"She also doesn't allow her children to be brought back from the dead, yet look at where we are now," Neferet retorted, bringing up the subject of the red vampyres. "You underestimate me. I have unprecedented powers that have never before been seen in the proud and ancient history of the children of night, and there isn't a force in the world that would possibly know how to deal with me. Maybe you're right, maybe we are more similar than we think. We're both the first of our kind, after all. You are a human with the powers of a vampyre, and I am a vampyre with the powers of...well, a goddess."
Aphrodite rolled her eyes.
"Oh great. Hubris. That's just what you needed."
"I've had enough idle chit-chat from you," Neferet said harshly, starting to slowly pace back and forth in front of the door. "I seized the opportunity to capture you tonight because lately I've been doing some thinking about you and your pesky habit of knowing what moves I'm going to make before I even make them."
"You've been thinking about me? I'm flattered," Aphrodite continued to remain ridiculously cool and composed.
"I've been bouncing around some ideas in my head, tell me what sounds ideal to you. One—you voluntarily let me take away your visions, and there's a 50% chance I'll let you live. Two—I forcibly take away your visions, and there's a 100% chance I'll let you live just so I can watch you wallow in your delicious agony and self-pity. Three—I put you through a series of highly volatile and highly tortuous magical rituals to see if I can alter your visions to help guide me to my future, instead of guiding you to yours. Or four—I skip all the tiresome trouble of bothering with your visions and simply kill you. Now tell me honestly, which one sounds the best to you?"
Aphrodite had stayed quiet while Neferet ranted like a madwoman, and she continued to stay quiet after the High Priestess had stopped. Neferet looked at her expectantly, legitimately waiting for an answer.
"Which one sounds the best to me?" Aphrodite repeated. "Well, personally, I'm leaning more towards...five."
A wall of spirit blasted Neferet and sent her flying down to the floor, then changed its form so the vampyre was pinned down to the ground and unable to move, trapped by the glowing white light. Aphrodite jumped to her feet and ran to the door.
"Option number five—you stop underestimating me and thinking that you have ultimate power just because I'm a teenage human with a couple of magic tricks up my sleeve," Vision Girl said firmly. "I'm already a match for you, and I'm getting stronger everyday. So if we're equals now, it's only a matter of time before I surpass you and you end up shit out of luck. Nice try with the whole hostage thing, remind me to pay you back for it when I get the chance."
Aphrodite reached out, put her hand on the doorknob, opened the door, and screamed.
A searing hot pain shot through her head like a thousand bolts of lightning striking all at once. She cried out in tortured agony and collapsed onto the floor, curling up on her side while the burning stabs struck her as if her brain was being pierced by fiery needles. Hundreds of disjointed images were flashing through her mind, rushing by too fast for her to make heads or tails of what she was seeing. Although each one only lasted for a fraction of a second, the frightening chaos of images in her head was so powerful that her actual vision was practically rendered useless. Her senses were completely taken over; she couldn't see, she couldn't feel, and even her own frantic screams were just a dull murmur in her ears. Incredibly, the pain wasn't fading away, it was just getting stronger and stronger with each passing second, and Aphrodite screamed in vain for it to stop.
Neferet triumphantly rose to her feet, unbound by Aphrodite's power due to her broken focus. A smile spread across her face as she gleefully watched the girl writhe and shriek on the floor, unaware of anything but the horrific torture in her mind.
"Unfortunately for you, I've been getting stronger as well."
After parking a few streets away from the House of Night, sneaking on foot to the school, and then helping each other hop the stone wall that surrounded the campus like a couple of delinquents, Zoey and Stevie Rae silently crossed the school's grounds, staying low and sticking close to trees and bushes to avoid being seen. Apparently, it was still early enough in the night for the school to still be in standby mode, and the pair didn't see a single person (person, vampyre, what have you) as they hurried through the cold night air.
"That's the main school building," Stevie Rae pointed to the looming structure that stood proudly at the center of the campus, remembering it from her last visit. "You don't think they'd keep the morgue in there, do you? So close to all those classrooms?"
Zoey looked up and carefully studied the building, illuminated just enough by the sliver of a moon high in the sky. She subtly shook her head, and slowly turned in a circle as she scanned the rest of the grounds.
"...There," she pointed at a small building a good distance away, at the complete opposite end of the school and almost totally obscured by a grove of pine trees.
"Huh? How can you tell?"
"It has a chimney," Zoey answered somberly. "Crematorium."
Stevie Rae shuddered.
"Ugh, creepy. Okay, let's—"
"NO! !" Zoey suddenly yelled, dropping to her knees and covering her ears as if a high-pitched shrieking were filling the air.
"Zoey! What is it? ?" Stevie Rae recognized this reaction from earlier that night: Aphrodite was in trouble.
The brunette cried out mournfully and closed her eyes tightly, fighting the pain that was shooting throughout her. Aphrodite's pain.
"What's happening now?" Stevie Rae repeated.
"Go! Go find her!" was all Zoey said, blindly pointing towards the morgue again.
The country girl took off running without another word, leaving Zoey behind and sprinting as fast as she could across the grass. The biting winter air brutally stung her face as it rushed by, but she couldn't stop. In her frantic running she was able to cross the length of the campus in no time without even realizing it, and the morgue building grew closer and closer. When she finally reached the entrance she yanked open the door and sped inside, not even thinking about what might be awaiting her.
"Aphrodite!" she called, breathing heavily, feeling her cheeks flushing with an overwhelming wave of heat as her sprinting caught up to her.
Doing her best to ignore the horrific sight of the metal cold chambers, she hurried across the huge room to a door at the other end, and upon opening it she found the stairwell Zoey had described to her. Without wasting a second she started down the stairs, which were lit up by the same gas lamps on the walls that brightened the corridors of the main school building.
Now she was in a long hallway, with rows of doors on either side of her. It would take up too much precious time to check out all of them, but she didn't need to; she could hear Aphrodite. She jogged down to the third door on the left, it was locked from the outside but she could definitely hear the blonde on the other side. It sounded like she was crying.
"Vision Girl! Hang on!"
She unlocked the door and pulled it open, but couldn't step into the room because Aphrodite was blocking the way. She was collapsed right in front of the doorway, with bloodshot red eyes and dried tear streaks down her face along with a still-flowing stream of tears. Her hair was fanned out all around her and she laid there quietly sobbing, her gaze seemed to be a hundred miles away as she stared into space with glassy, half-closed eyes.
"Shit! ! Aphrodite!"
Stevie Rae knelt down next to her. She had never seen her look so beat up before. She gently tried to help Aphrodite sit up, but it was tough. Vision Girl was completely unresponsive and her body was limp, Stevie Rae had to work to balance and steady her. Eventually, she managed to prop Aphrodite up enough so that she could lean the blonde back against her, but still the girl made no sign that she knew Stevie Rae was even there.
"Holy hell..." the country girl whispered, shaking a little as she held and checked over Aphrodite.
The sound of footsteps came from above her, and soon the footsteps were racing down the stairwell.
"...Aphrodite! !"
Zoey saw the two girls sitting in the doorway and rushed over, almost crashing to the floor as she dropped down beside them.
"No...no no no no! Aphrodite, what happened to you? ?" she said to the blonde, not knowing that she was catatonic.
Stevie Rae gently passed her over to the brunette and Zoey held her tightly, reflexively starting to rock her back and forth. The curly-haired blonde bounced to her feet and began to search the room, not at all sure what she was looking for but somehow trying to find a sign of what might have happened in there.
"Aphro it's me, Zoey! Can't you hear me?" Zoey asked. Still, Aphrodite's eyes remained glazed over and her only movement was the occasional shake that accompanied her soft sobs.
"Z, I got no clue what went down here," Stevie Rae sadly shook her head.
Zoey wasn't paying attention, she was completely focused on Aphrodite.
"Aphro, say something!" Zoey pleaded. "What happened here? ? I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong!"
Aphrodite didn't seem to register Zoey's voice at all. Her gaze continued to remain glassy and she stared blankly at nothing in particular. Stevie Rae was in her line of sight but the girl completely looked through her. The desperate expression on Zoey's face was heartbreaking as she spent the next few minutes futilely trying to get Aphrodite to respond to her.
"Baby, please talk to me..." Zoey quietly begged, holding Aphrodite tighter.
Finally, Aphrodite started to stir. Ever so slowly, she lifted her head and glanced up at Zoey. As the brunette watched, a tiny spark of light began to return to Vision Girl's vacant blue eyes.
"...It hurt...so bad..." she whispered, her voice hoarse and raspy. She may not have even realized she was talking to Zoey.
"What hurt?"
"Neferet...attacked...my mind..."
"...Neferet," Zoey growled, sounding absolutely murderous. "...Stevie Rae, take Aphrodite."
"Zoey, no. You're not swearing vengeance right now," the country girl said sternly. "I don't care how pissed you are, we're not stayin' here a second longer. Neferet can wait, we need to get Aphrodite out of here now."
Vision Girl slipped back into her comatose state and went quiet again.
"...Alright. Alright, let's go," Power Freak agreed.
Slowly, Zoey slung Aphrodite's arm over her shoulder and helped her stand. Zoey had to carry all of her weight, but at the moment she didn't care. She reached into her jacket pocket with the hand that wasn't supporting Aphrodite and pulled out her car keys, tossing them to her best friend.
"Stevie Rae, go on ahead of us. I'll drive her Lexus back for her, so I'm trusting you to get Aphrodite home. Go back down the block and bring my Bug up here so Aphro won't have to be carried all the way to the car in this cold. And if anyone tries to stop you...open up the earth and bury them alive."
It was pitch black when Aphrodite opened her eyes, but she still immediately closed them again as if she had woken up to blinding sunlight. She had only been conscious for a few seconds, but that didn't stop the headache from slamming into her like a sports car speeding in and screeching to a halt. She groaned miserably, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep.
"...Hey, are you awake?"
From somewhere within the dark came Zoey's voice.
"...Zoey? Where are you?" Vision Girl mumbled, not opening her eyes in an attempt to search for the girl.
She felt a slight movement, and then Zoey's hand was sliding into hers.
"I'm right here, Aphrodite. Right here."
"...And where am I?" the blonde asked.
"At home, in bed. Stevie Rae and I brought you back. You passed out in the car on the way over," Zoey's voice was dull and lacking any expression.
"You're lying," Aphrodite muttered. "I'm dead, aren't I? I'm dead and my punishment is to suffer through this headache for all eternity."
"No, you're not dead. Don't say that."
After taking a deep breath, Aphrodite forced her eyes open and let them adjust to the dark. She couldn't turn her head, but out of the corner of her eye she could just make out Zoey sitting at the edge of their bed.
"...I thought I was going to die," Aphrodite whispered. "It happened so fast, and it was so painful...I thought there was no way I could make it through that. I'm sorry, Z, I didn't want you to have to come after me."
"I didn't want to leave that school without hanging Neferet from the ceiling by her thumbs. It's been a disappointing night for all of us," Zoey said emotionlessly.
"I wanted to show you that I could do this on my own, that I could help out by doing this big thing for everyone. But look at me, I just crashed and burned..."
"...What?" Zoey's voice was hushed and confused.
"I just...I felt that if I could go to the House of Night and uncover all of Neferet's secrets, then you would—"
"Aphrodite, you don't ever have to prove anything to me," Zoey said firmly, finally starting to get strength back in her words. "Don't you dare think that you need to jump through hoops to win my approval. I know what you're capable of, and that's more than enough for me. It's fine to want to do things on your own and without me, but don't ever convince yourself that your actions need to show me what you're worth."
"...Yeah, there was a voice in my head telling me that exact same thing, but it was a really quiet voice. Hard to hear."
"Well maybe you need to start listening. I don't think you realize how terrified I was when we found you," Zoey said softly.
"Probably about as terrified as I was when I found you unconscious in the high school's basement, remember?"
Zoey finally cracked a smile.
"We've got to stop meeting like this," she chuckled.
"If we get freaky magic shit to happen to Damien and the Twins we could start a club. You want to hear about the rest of my exciting night?"
Zoey shook her head.
"All I want is for you to relax," she insisted. "This wasn't the same as you finding me after the nightmare spell. You weren't unconscious, Aphrodite, you were...you were gone. I've never seen that look in your eyes before, or in anyone's eyes for that matter. There was a moment when I thought I wouldn't even be able to snap you out of it."
Zoey felt Aphrodite's hand tensely tighten around hers.
"I don't want to talk about it..." she said quietly.
"I didn't think so. Where did Neferet scurry off to afterwards?"
Aphrodite's head throbbed as she tried to remember, the memory of the blindingly intense pain of Neferet's powers wasn't helping matters. But somehow, she was able to recall that she had miraculously seen something through the white-hot lightning strikes of torture and the harsh dissonance of images flooding her mind while shutting down her senses.
"...Something happened to Neferet too. She was fine at first, but then she started moaning and holding her head in her hands, then she suddenly stumbled out of the room and slammed the door behind her. That's when the pain ended," Aphrodite explained. "I think this power is new for her, and she's not strong enough to keep it from draining her yet."
"Wonderful, Neferet 2.0," Zoey groaned. Like she was so used to doing, she lightly placed her free hand on Aphrodite's forehead and asked for spirit to soothe and heal her mind. "I promise you, one of these days we're going to be a regular, normal couple whose biggest problem is trying to agree on whose turn it is to do laundry."
"Let's face it, as long as I have visions and you juggle the elements, we'll never be normal. Nothing about our relationship has ever been normal," Aphrodite said. "I think non-life threatening is the best we can hope for."
Zoey sighed and hung her head.
"I was so scared, Aphrodite. On the surface it looked like anger and a drive to find you, but in reality it was fear," she admitted with a whisper, her voice shaking. "I just want to be strong. For you. For you, and Stevie Rae, and Damien, and the Twins, and even my grandma too."
Aphrodite's eyes fluttered closed again and she turned her head to the side, resting comfortably on her pillow.
"Do you need anything? Want me to get you something?" Zoey offered.
Aphrodite didn't answer right away.
"...Do you think I'll be okay, Zoey?" she anxiously asked.
"It's the only thing I can think. I mean, you're definitely better now. You're talking, which is more than I can say for when we first got to you."
"I've never felt pain like that before...not even during one of my worst visions. I can't even compare it to a vision, this was a thousand times worse. Visions are going to be a walk in the park after this."
"You just need to get some rest. You'll be alright, and I'm going to make Neferet pay for doing this to you," Zoey resolutely assured her.
"Mmm...you're kind of sexy when you're bent on revenge," Vision Girl sounded like she was falling asleep, and her tone was filled with drowsiness.
"You're still tired, I'll let you go back to bed," Zoey carefully stood up, making sure not to jar Aphrodite by rustling the bed too much.
"You aren't staying in here with me?"
"I will, but Stevie Rae is still downstairs. I'm gonna go talk to her and then I'll be back up, okay?"
Aphrodite mumbled something unintelligible as she fell deeper into dreamland. Zoey bent down to kiss her on the cheek, and then she quietly left the room. Stevie Rae was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, apparently too anxious to sit still while Zoey checked on Vision Girl.
"How's she doin'?" the curly-haired blonde asked.
"I think she'll be alright after sleeping the night away and taking some industrial-strength aspirin," Zoey answered.
Stevie Rae held out her arms and gave Zoey a big hug.
"I'm so sorry this happened, Z," the country girl said softly. "But you did good. You brought Aphrodite home and put aside your anger towards Neferet to do it, that took a lot of strength."
"...Yeah?"
"Absolutely. And I know you want to get back at her for hurtin' Aphrodite, but I don't think beating the ever-lovin' hell out of her is the way to do it," Stevie Rae said. "The best revenge is stopping her for good, stopping her plans to unleash Darkness and making sure she never hurts anyone again. Bruises and black eyes are only temporary, but shattering Neferet's twisted dreams will probably haunt her for the rest of her life."
They let go of each other and Zoey gave her best friend an impressed smile.
"Is this whole wisdom thing new? I don't remember you ever being this wise before," Zoey teased.
Stevie Rae laughed.
"Well, it's true. Ruining Neferet's life would be a much smarter choice of payback than using her as a punching bag. Now go on, I'm sure Aphrodite's waiting for you. Call me tomorrow and let me know how y'all are doing, okay?"
"Sure thing. Thank you so much for sticking by me tonight, Stevie Rae," the brunette said gratefully.
"Hey, what are newly-unevil friends for?" Stevie Rae said. "Besides, I had no plans, if I didn't come over I would've been bored outta my mind."
"I think you may have had more excitement than you were counting on."
Stevie Rae shook her head and grinned.
"Nah, are you kidding? Danger, mayhem, pandemonium—this is just a regular Monday night for me."
She took the time to work in one more hug, and then she was gone. Zoey stood in front of the door and watched her head down the driveway through the glass. Minutes later, the headlights of her dad's truck were illuminating the dark street, and with a bit of a roar the car and Stevie Rae drove off into the night. Zoey turned and slowly shuffled back towards the stairs. Without any warning, the image of Aphrodite horrifically weak and helpless suddenly rushed into Zoey's mind and burned itself there like it was a branding iron. Then she remembered the pain. The pain that had coursed through Aphrodite and transferred over to Zoey. She knew it was only a tiny fraction of what the blonde had felt, but that didn't make matters any better. All the memories of that short span of time came flooding back in full force; seeing Aphrodite collapsed on the ground with Stevie Rae, the terrifying vacant expression on her face, her eyes completely lacking any sort of shine or luster, and the way Zoey felt the girl shaking in her arms as she held her.
Unable to stop herself, Zoey dropped down onto the bottom stair, sighed heavily, hugged her knees to her chest, and burst into tears.
