This is dedicated to StarofGalaxies for her work on the Immortal Daughter


The wet sound of his own coughs was more then enough to wake Deven, the sharp ache of his temples as the force of each cough wracked his body a sharp reminder of reality. He groaned, sitting up with hesitance. "Why am I alive?" He whined to the world, begging it to take him now and end his suffering. He felt awful, pain in all of his joints, feverish and exhausted. He was the picture of misery.

Rolling over he groaned into his pillow, ignoring the urge to scream. He didn't, of course, since Lil and Sunny would freak out of his did... Sunny would. Since he no longer worked at the Taxi service he was always home. His constant attitude made life impossible.

"This is why I wish I was a vampyre, no more suffering from ridiculous head colds." He kept his voice low, knowing it would offend Sunny's delicate sensibilities if he heard of his Foster son wanting to be a 'DAMNED SATAN WORSHIPPING CREATURE!'

Rolling over again, he looked at his alarm clock and and saw that it was nearly eight at night.

'Can't sleep, might as well get in some reading...'

Settling back in his bed, he pulled out a book from the bedside table, Eragon, and started to read. He had forgotten to turn off of the Light in his room before he passed out after school. His foster parents, in a rare moment of compassion, noticed he was feeling awful so they left him alone instead of forcing him to eat with them. It was a rare kindness he took advantage of.

Absently, he heard a loud knock upstairs, but he ignored it, not really seeing a point in caring even if it was late for a visitor. Stuff happened though, maybe he was getting a new foster sibling? He had come to Sunny and Lil's home around this time, so why not another?

"DEVEN!" He shuddered, the sound of his foster's father's voice, filled with something that bordered on rage. It reminded him of his own father, Dominic, far too much to tolerate. With hesitation, he walked slowly upstairs, hearing nothing but angry laboring breathes, the sound of a man utterly pissed off and scared. Peeking out of the basement door, a finished and very nice basement where his room was, he saw his Foster Father waiting for him with a tearful Lil. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, I genuinely have no idea what you are talking abo..ut." His voice stopped as he saw it, well him... Tall and powerful, radiating smug power and a gorgeous mysterious smile, was a Vampyre… a Vampyre Tracker.

"Deven Schmidt,Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee, hearken to her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night."

Then, with palm raised to show a sapphire Spiral tattoo, he sent something at Deven. Like heat rising off of blacktop made into a physical force that slammed into Deven, knocking him backward and sending him to the floor.

'''

It took minutes for the colorful splotches to fade from his vision, leaving him struggling to stand and focus on the world. The knowledge, the understanding that hit him was a powerful one.

"I'm a fledgling... now, I..." He was free... finally... 'No more Sunny and Lil, no more mom and dad fighting over me, no chance in being forced to live with abusive people... I get to choose... I...' He almost started to cry, the thought was beyond powerful.

"Get out of my house!" Sunny's voice fit his build, six foot tall and built like an aging lumber jack despite his lack of a beard, the elderly man could do damage and he was more then willing to from the look in his eyes. "NOW!"

The man reached over, grabbing Deven and literally tossing him out of the house, thankfully not down any stairs. "But your supposed to take me to the House of Night."

"Your emancipated now, I don't have to do anything. Goodbye." The door slammed shut and Deven knew he was screwed.

Tearfully, he painfully stood from the ground and turned on heel, without shoes or socks or anything he was expected to walk to the House of Night... and if he didn't...

"I'll die..." Crying without shame, he hung his head and started to walk across the grass, making his way to the road. Having moved so much he barely knew his way around, and that included the House of Night. Tulsa was just so big and he lived on the Outskirts, in the middle of nowhere... he was screwed, so screwed. "I'm going to die, drowning in my own blood, left for dead because my foster parents are religious assholes... fuck this!" He would have stomped or done something, but years of being screamed at or hit for breathing the wrong way stemmed any desire to make noise.

With trembling heart, he put his first foot on the road and started to walk down the street. He knew enough that this road led into town, he just wasn't sure how far that would be... or if he could survive going that far without an adult Vampyre…

'How long can a new Fledgling survive without an adult Vampyre nearby? How long till I drown in my own blood? Damn you Sunny.'

Looking skyward, he sighed loudly.

"I don't suppose the Vampyres are right and Nyx actually exists? I mean if you do, Ma'am, a little help would be deeply appreciated?" Nothing, silence... "That's what I thought...sigh."

"You know about Nyx?" he jumped, the familiar voice of the Tracker drawing him to a man in a black expensive looking car. He was pulled into the grass across from Sunny's House, looking rather comfortable cloaked in the shadows of the trees around him.

Unable to really answer, he just nodded.

The man seemed impressed. "Most people know nothing bout her when they come to the House of Night, why do you know anything?"

"I read a lot, and Vampyres are a curious thing to learn about. Besides, Mythology is my pastime so..." he shrugged, sighing. "Any chance you can give me a ride?"

The man just smiled.

"""

They pulled up the front of the massive compound that was the House of Night. It opened and the Tracker, who he now knew was called Charon ironically enough, pulled through the gate and parked his car in the parking space that seemed to be assigned to him. They hadn't spoken much on the way there, Deven was too shaken from what had happened with Sunny and Lil to really feel up to talking... but Charon had been kind enough to provide him with shoes and a hoodie, just in his heavy set size. Apparently they had sensed that had forseen that he'd need them, something that left him very unnerved though very appreciative.

They had barely turned off the car when Charon stopped, tipping his head to the side. "I completely forgot about this New Moon ceremony that we're doing tonight." He said

"Oh." Deven said, biting his lip with curiosity running through his veins.

He bit his lip. "If you want, you could come with me to that. I should have warned you, my bad. You don't have to dress up for it, just follow what everyone does and be quiet. It's a religious ceremony."

Ignoring the urge to roll his eyes, Deven nodded. "I just came from uber Religious Foster parents, I am more then used to ceremonies and prayer. It's all good, I know the drill.."

"No one will notice, I'm sure. ." He said. He looked over at what was now an amassing amount of people and must of seen someone he knew. "Come here." He took my hand and led me up to a girl.

Deven knew in an instant she wasn't your average fledgling or even vamprye. Her Mark was filled in and lacey symbols decorated her face and down the visible part of her shoulders. High cheekbones and thick dark hair, she was a beautiful girl, clearly marked by strong native heritage.

"Merry meet Zoey." Charon said, bending over slightly with his fist over his heart.

"Merry meet Charon." She said, a little confused, then she looked at Deven. "Hello there, are you a new Fledgling?

"Um, merry meet. I'm Deven." He said, bowing in equal measure before offering his forearm, grasping hers instead of her hand to her shock.

"Yeah, he's familiar with some of our traditions." Charon smiled at the girl respectfully." He said. "I forgot about the Ceremony. It is tradition for each student to meet the High Priestess in training, which is you, at some point for guidance. I figured you could help him find his place in the Ceremony. I can help if you need your space?"

She bit her lip, glancing nervously at the huge oak. "It's alright, I don't mind. I am not busy, yet..."

"Thank you." He bowed to her again.

"Thanks." Deven bowed again, and followed the pretty girl but only after bowing to and thanking Charon. "Your Charity is more then appreciated, really thank you."

He smiled, a sexy sort of smirk that made Deven flush a little. "Not a problem. It's a rare day that I get to bring a Fledgling personally... I hope your night gets better, I am sorry is started so poorly."

"It didn't... you freed me from abusive Foster parents and a custody battle. I am happier the ever... really, this was a good thing. Thank you."

With that, he followed the pretty girl into the crowd, landing somewhere to what he assumed was the North, since it was where the tree was. He knew, from studying and being curious about all things pagan, that Earth was centered in the North. "So, if your the Training High Priestess, what's your role in the ceremony?"

Zoey turned to him, a little curious. " Your handling this, ceremony and all, a lot better then I'd expect."

He shrugged. "I've always wanted to be a vampyre this was just my chance at happiness that I couldn't get on my own." he smiled, sighing happily. "I never thought I'd become one though... it always seemed so far away. I know I might die but with how my life was going... it's a bit fast paced though, but honestly it's almost a perfect mirror for my life as a foster kid. Being scooped out of one home for another in a heartbeat, with nothing but the clothes on my back...Sorry, that was a lot. "

She blinked, a little thrown. " A little... but I get that, I think... anyway... " She lead him to a gorgeous lady with full Tattoos that were in a pattern of vines and birds. " This is Professor Anastasia. This is Deven, he is a brand new Fledgling... this is his first ceremony, obviously so..."

The lady laughed. "Merry Met, Deven." She put her finger into a bowl he now saw in her hands, before tracing a pentagram over new blue crescent. It tingled, sending a weird sensation down his spine. "Welcome to the House of Night."

"Thank you for welcoming me. Merry Met, Anastasia."

Her smile was radiant. " Now just take your place, find somewhere to stand and enjoy the show, it really is quite remarkable. Zoey here is a rarely gifted fledgling."

Zoey flushed a dark red, turning away. "Yeah, thank you for that." She turned back to him. " Come on, I have a friend you can stand next too." After saying goodbye to Anastasia, she led him away past a host of beautiful fledglings right to a very pretty but girlish boy. He was playing with a boombox, looking very busy when he saw Zoey he turned into a puppy.

"OMG Zoey, who's this?"

After another round of introductions, learning the pretty boy was named Jack Twist, she said. " Can he stand next to you? He's brand new and has no friends here yet."

"Sure, I'd love the company!" His smile was as radiant as the warmth around him. Deven actually smiled back, oddly content being around the pretty boy. "I'm in charge of the music for the ceremony, and I help with collecting the supplies. You'll have a great seat with me."

"Thanks, Jack."

And so he settled back, standing with the pretty boy, and waited for the ceremony to start, laughing about how odd his life was... why was it that everything changed with such rapidness like it did. Big bursts of change all at once... just an hour ago he was human, reading a book and now he here he was, in the middle of a vampyre ceremony like it was any other Tuesday... what a weird thing life was...

He wondered if anything else would change... he had a feeling it would...


Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

I learned my oldest problem with FF's is that I try to fix the series instead of just writing with it... and so I have vowed to do better. I succeeded with My Arryn Lannister, CGP story, and Chronicles of the Cursed... so this is the next world to write in. I love the plans I have for Deven, and so will you! I am not trying to fix or flex just write and there is a beauty in that...

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.