Thank you all for the massive support on the last update! It genuinely means a lot to me. I also have some questions to answer. So feel free to skip this part, I just want to give my supporters some support.

Chimera629 I want thank you for pointing out a continuity error that I had between chapter 9 and 10. I thought I had edited the bet moment to be for something else, but looks like I didn't so thank you for bringing it to my attention. Second part, Percy's experience is going to come into play later on, when Zoey start's to be more reclusive and secretive. That's when him being a mentor is going to come out. I mean come on, Zoey tells Persephone everything and Horses are terrible gossips.

Mossfire it's always nice to see a review for you. To answer your question, I don't plan on having Percy and Jason be a couple. I have different plans for his love life.

The next morn—evening, I woke up to Mrs. O'leary crushing me as she laid on top of me. I ended up fighting with her to get out of bed and shower. It was a pretty easy morning, everything seemingly back to normal so soon after Elizabeth's death—I won't lie, it did feel weird for everything to seem so normal. Even at camp, we had a week of the morning after all the lives we lost, and we all knew that it was likely we would all die the same way. So it was disorienting that after a day, it was like my first day here in Oklahoma again.

Damien and I ate breakfast with Stevie Rae and Zoey—Mrs. O'leary was hanging out with Nala and Cammy. We whispered about Elizabeth, Zoey, and I explained what we saw to Damien and Stevie Rae. Poor Stevie Rae looked terrified, while Damien reminded me of an awful lot like Annabeth. He had this look like he was trying to think back to old lessons trying to make sense of what we saw. I couldn't help but try to ease Stevie Rae, starting to talk about my past adventures, how an un-undead vampyre fledgling couldn't hurt her because I wouldn't let that happen. Then we were off to Vamp Soc, where we learned about more ancient greek things—this time, it was a vampyre ritual called Correia. I started to relax a bit; the upcoming Dark Daughter's Ritual was only a little thought in the back of my mind. When we left class, Neferet took Zoey and me aside to see how much of the upper-level Vamp Soc book we had read. I admitted that I hadn't started while Zoey said she hadn't gotten far into the reading. I could feel the disappointment radiating off of Neferet—but when she looked to me, her gaze wasn't as forgiving as it was towards Zoey. It reminded me of Mrs. Dodds—Acleto. I was never more glad to be headed to Drama.

Drama was great. I ended up doing a monologue from The Secret Garden. One of Colin's, talking about how he had never experienced springtime before. How Mary's reaction to it was weird to him. It resonated with my inner 12-year-old. It reminded me of how lost I felt at camp when I first arrived, how everything was—well, in the words of Colin—queer to me. Professor Nolan ended up taking me aside at the end of class, speaking with me on how reading the reading Neferet assigns is crucial for me to read. I ended up confessing about the reason why I didn't read it. Professor Nolan pulled me into a hug, and it felt warm, like one of my mom's. I hugged her back, trying my best not to cry. Then Zoey and I headed to Literature class. It started normal, but looking back on it now, it was clear that this what just the start of our wild journey.

Professor Penthesila read Chapter Four, "You Go and I'll Stay a While," of A Night to Remember. Like I was on the first day, I was utterly engrossed in listening to her voice as we read along with her. Then I heard coughing; maybe it was because I was already on edge, but I knew that wasn't good. I looked up from the reading, seeing the annoyed looks on everyone's face. I looked to where they were looking, and I smelled something sweet—gods, the smell was addictive. Then I saw that they were staring at the kid who had called Damien a slur. Yet, my past anger turned to shock as I saw the scarlet liquid dripping from his mouth onto his hand. Everything happened like a blur after that.

"Get Neferet!" Penthesila ordered to the student closest to the door. They took off as Penthesila opened one of her desk drawers, pulling out a towel and making a swift motion to the kid. She got to the kid just in time before he made another bloody cough that made the smell in the room more potent. I wanted to vomit. A kid was dying just two rows away from me, and my mouth was watering like I just smelled my mom baking her blue chocolate chip cookies. I couldn't help but watch as the blood poured from every orifice in his face. It caused my hands to grow sweaty and my heartbeat fast.

"No!" Then this kid spoke with so emotion that I had to force myself to not disassociate from the situation. "I don't want to die!"

"Shhh," Penthesilea said in such a gentle tone as she moved his ginger hair out of his face. "Your pain will be over soon."

"But—no I—" He tried to protest, but he was interrupted by another round of bloody coughs. He gaged puking blood into the towel Penthesilea held to his mouth.

I was horrified. In the two months I had been Marked; I was lucky enough not to witness a fledgling reject the change. I found relief when Neferet entered the room with two powerful-looking vampyre men. They carried this flat stretcher with a blanket; Neferet held this vial of milky-colored liquid. She started over to the kid, and not even a second behind her, Dragon entered the room.

"He's Elliott's mentor," I heard Stevie Rae whisper to Zoey as Dragon took the vial from Neferet as she moved behind Elliot putting her hands to his back.

His coughing subsided, and Dragon spoke to him gently. "Drink this quickly, Elliott," Elliott started to shake his head slowly, but Dragon gave him a look that reminded me of Chiron during the battle of manhattan. "It will make your pain end."

"Will—will you stay with me?" Elliott gasped, his breathing labored.

"Of course," Dragon said, his voice low and gentle. "I won't leave your side for a moment."

"Will you call my mom?"

"I will."

Without another word from Dragon, Elliott took the vial in his shaking hands, drinking it. As Elliott closed his eyes, Neferet nodded to the two men who moved Elliott to the stretcher. Dragon stayed by Elliott's side and left as they hurried out of the room. Neferet lingered in the room and faced the shocked, horrified, and scared Third Formers class.

"I could tell you that Elliott will be fine—that he will recover, but that would be a lie." Her voice was gentle, yet it had an air of caution within it. "The truth is that Elliot's body has rejected the Change. He will die the permanent death in minutes and will not mature into a vampyre. I could tell you not to worry, that it won't happen to you. That is a lie. The truth is that one out of ten fledglings will not make the Change." The statement rang in my ears as the scene I just witnessed morphed into any of my new friends instead of Elliot. My heart started to pound in my chest. "Some fledglings die early in their third former year, as is Elliott. Some of you will be stronger and last until your sixth former year." Her words became echoey and distant as the truth to her statement stayed with me. Why was life so unfair that we would get so close only to not make it to the end? What were The Fate's game? I felt tears start to form as I snapped myself back to reality. "I ask that Nyx's blessing comfort you today and that you remember death is a natural part of life, even a vampyre life. For someday, we must all return to the warm embarrass of our Goddess." Neferet closed the door behind her as she left, which seemed to echo the finality of her words.

We watched as Penthesila worked quickly, matter-of-factly, to clean up the spatters of Elliott's blood that stained his desk. When all evidence of a dying kid was gone, she moved to the front of the class and led us in a moment of silence for Elliot before she picked up her book and started reading where she had left off. I tried to listen, but my mind was too focused on my friends, and they could all die the same way. My stomach also churned with the thought that I would find the smell of their lifeblood addictive, just as I thought Elliott's was.

The rest of the day was supposed to go on as expected, but it wasn't normal for two fledglings to die so closely together. So naturally, everyone was on edge and unnaturally quiet for the rest of the day. Fencing class wasn't as lively; in fact, Dragon gave us a free period as he was still occupied with Elliot's death. Zoey, Damien, and I used it as an excuse for us to all get to know each other better. I learned that Damien's parents excepted him as a vamp but not at all for being gay. I also learned that Zoey has her version of a Smelly Gabe back at her former residence. We all talked in low tones. I told them about my best friend, explained the empathy link, and how after the dark daughter's full moon ritual, he probably had all kinds of alarms going off. I played it off as a joke, but I was genuinely worried about what Grover was experiencing. Especially after witnessing Elliot reject the change.

Lunch wasn't any better. Erin didn't bicker with Damien about discussing how hot a guy is. Shaunee didn't argue against Damien and his passion for vocabulary. Damien didn't use any new higher-level vocabulary. It might have been a nice change, but we all knew the reasoning behind it. Stevie Rae then came up with a lame excuse to leave lunch early and go to the bathroom. Zoey followed her, and it was just Damien, the Twins, and I. I picked at my food, my stomach churning, still thinking of the smell of Elliott's blood, and from the guilt as I didn't feel bad that he died. I was just upset that I saw what could happen to us.

I ended up standing, maybe a bit too quickly, leaving lunch early, without thinking about the others. I needed to get out of there. I felt Mrs. O'leary rub up against me, so I absently put her as I heard hurried footsteps and then heard Damien's voice.

"Percy! Hey, wait up," He said, concern lacing his words. "You should warn me when you get up like that."

"I'm sorry," I muttered absently, trying to get out of my head. Hoping the night air will help me with that goal.

"I don't think anyone liked Elliot," Damien said, which surprised me. I didn't know where he was going with his statement, but it snapped me out of my thoughts. "Which would lead someone to think it makes it easier; it makes it worse somehow."

"Yeah. . ." I said, thinking back to when Luke Castellan died. "I understand what your saying; I agree."

"At least it happens fast," Damien said, and I smiled, and he gave me back the same small smile that I wore. He then nudged me a bit. "You, however, seem more disturbed than anyone else that was there besides Zoey."

I inhaled a shaking breath and pierced my lips. "My blood lust reacted to Elliott's blood. The smell was so—intoxicating." My voice shook. "What if that was any of you? It disgusts me that my body reacted that way." I couldn't look at Damien but felt him move closer to me. I retook a deep breath, trying to calm down. Why did I have to be so different? I then cleared my throat, looking over at the Rec Hall. "Do you think they'll cancel the Samhain Ritual tonight?"

"The Dark Daughters' Rituals are never canceled," Damien answered simply, and a pit in my stomach started to grow.

"Well, shit," I muttered and then looked at Damien. "Even if they don't have a refrigerator?" I asked, wincing at the word refrigerator.

"They'll have a ref—wait, are you telling me that Elliot was their refrigerator?"

"Yeah," I answered and shook my head. "Are you sure Aphrodite won't cancel? I mean, shit, even if it is normal for fledglings to reject the change, it never happens this close together."

"That won't matter—and the Dark Daughters don't care about the kid they use as their refrigerator. They'll just get someone else." Damien answered, and I saw this look as if he were weighing his options. "You know Percy, maybe you and Zoey shouldn't go to the ritual tonight. Aphrodite is a hag from hell; she'll make sure you and Zoey aren't welcome."

"I've not been welcome at many places, and Zoey is going to go to the ritual no matter what." Damien's expression turned from determination to annoyance. "She won't want Aphrodite to believe she got under her skin. I can't let her go alone."

"Shit," Damien said and I knew he realized I was right. "Well, we can't let you guys go in alone."

"What do you mean?" I asked and Damien shook his head.

"You won't be okay with it," Damien said which confused me and made me concerned. "Come on. Let's get you to Spanish class."