A/N: Thank you again to everybody who read and reviewed. I'm sorry for the long wait, but I think this chapter will be worth it. I hope everybody likes it, I know I do.
Chapter Three
Zoey
I was in a deserted cemetery, all the way in the back past all the graves. Neferet was there facing me, and I knew that she was about to kill me. There was another girl there, standing beside me. She was about my age, with plain long brown hair and hazel eyes. She was more than ordinary, though. I could feel that she had some kind of magickal powers; strong powers.
The girl turned to me, her mouth forming the words of a chant. I couldn't make out the words, but her power was building. Her power combined with mine, and the strength of it was infinite. Then, there was an explosion behind me and I was thrown into darkness.
"Zoey? Zoey."
I woke to the sound of Stark calling my name. Opening my eyes, I could see Stark looking at me with concern. Even though he couldn't have seen my dream, I knew he felt all the strong feelings I had. It was still a little disconcerting to know that he could do that. I straightened myself up, causing Stark to sit back against the seat.
"I'm fine," I told him, touching his arm. "It was just a weird dream, that's all."
"Are you sure? Do you want to talk about it?" Stark persisted.
I shook my head and turned toward Jack, where he was sitting on the other side of Damien, next to the door. The plane had landed about an hour and a half ago, from there we rented a van and Jack was using Damien's laptop to find a hotel for us to stay in. "Did you find anything?" I asked, to get the topic off of me and my weird dream.
"Yeah, I found a small motel in the area," Jack answered, leaning forward to look at me around Damien. "I was just giving Darius directions. You were asleep and Stark said we shouldn't wake you."
"Are we almost there?" I asked, stretching a little but not having much room to do so. This seat wasn't really designed to seat four people.
"Yes, it's not far now," Jack replied.
"Which is good, 'cause the sun will be up in about twenty minutes, maybe less," Stevie Rae spoke up, from the backseat.
I looked out the window. The sky was lighter, with the sun's rays starting to show in the sky. I looked up at Stark, touching his cheek, and glancing back at my best friend. She had her head resting on Rephaim's shoulder, and they were talking in hushed tones. Stark and Stevie Rae were both showing a few signs of fatigue from the sun. I decided then that it would be best if we went over what we were going to do now. That way, we can all sleep when we get to the motel.
"Okay, we're going to have to get started at dusk," I began, getting everybody's attention. "We need to find all the warehouses in town, check them out and see if Kalona or Neferet are holed up there."
"Zoey?" Jack said. I looked over at him. He clicked something on the computer, then looked back up. "After I found the motel, I decided to do a little research on the town. I found out that in downtown Widow's Vale, there are a bunch of warehouses on Mission Avenue."
"Good job, honey," Damien smiled, putting his arm around Jack and squeezing him. Jack smiled sheepishly, looking down at his lap.
"Yeah, good work," I agreed. "So, we have the location, and the description from Aphrodite's vision. We'll just have to find the warehouse and go from there."
"Oh, for shit's sake!" Aphrodite's exclamation cut me off, and those of us in the back looked at her. "That is it?"
Aphrodite was peering out the window from the front passenger seat. Looking out the window, I saw that we had arrived at the motel and Darius was pulling into the parking lot. 'The Sunshine Motel' the sign read, was a small motel, with two levels. It was painted a bright, cheery yellow and had orange doors. Across the street was a grocery store, and a mall further down the road that we had passed.
"I'll tell you something. The interior better be a hell of a lot better than this crap fest I'm looking at," Aphrodite replied. "That's got to be the ugliest color I've ever seen."
"Hey, twin, would call that puke yellow or the same color as a certain hag from hell we know?" Erin commented. I could hear the smile and laughter in her voice.
"I think they're the same color, twin," Shaunee replied. They both smirked at Aphrodite, letting a string of giggles loose.
Aphrodite glared at them. "Okay, I'm getting out of this car," she finally said. She opened the door, climbed out, and slammed the door behind her. The rest of us followed suit, getting our bags together.
"I don't care what it looks like," Stevie Rae twanged, slipping her bag onto her shoulder. We all began walking to the main office to check in. "I might fall asleep right here."
"You guys go on. I'm going to... take a walk," Rephaim said, hanging back.
We all knew what he meant. Stevie Rae looked like she was going say something in acquiesce. Then, she nodded to him and leaned up to kiss him. After they parted, she watched as he sprinted past the motel to the trees that lie behind it.
I slowed my pace, letting the others walk ahead of me until Stevie Rae caught up. "You okay?" I asked her, as I started walking again. "I know it's probably hard for you to let him go."
"Yeah, I'm okay," Stevie Rae answered. She took a deep breath. "He doesn't want me to see...you know. He wants to do it alone. As much as I would like to be with him through it, I respect what he wants."
I nodded in understanding, and put my arm around her as we caught up to the others. We managed to get two side-by-side rooms without causing too much of a commotion. For one thing, the guy at the front desk looked bored and didn't seem bothered by a group of teenagers checking into a motel. In fact, his attention was only on us when he was asking the standard questions. We got up to the second level to our rooms, and decided who was sleeping where. Boys in one room, girls in the other; it was the fastest and easiest way.
Come dusk, we will all gather in one room and prepare ourselves for what we need to do. For now, it was time for sleep. It very well might be the last time we get to sleep, for a while.
Kalona
The sun glinted off the trees, and onto the ground, painting it with shades of light and dark. The wind blew by, rustling the leaves and sending the fallen leaves swirling around and around before landing in a different spot. The croaking sound of ravens called out sporadically, as if the wind was disturbing them. Of course, they were more than ravens; they were nightmarish beasts. His children. It wasn't all of his children. One was gone, missing from his side. Rephaim. He had turned his back on him, and chose to walk the same path of the red vampyre high priestess. The same path he was on before he fell from the Goddess, Nyx's, side.
Kalona stopped in the center, looking up into the trees. Shadows moved on the branches; they were getting anxious. His massive black wings ruffled behind him, itching to join his children up in the sky. Kalona stretched his wings, letting them unfurl to their full length.
"My sons! Join me!" Kalona called.
A swarm of raven mockers burst from the trees and flew to the ground. They landed in a half circle around Kalona. "Nisroc." he began.
The raven mocker stepped forward. "Yesss, fattther?"
"Are you all ready for tonight?" Kalona questioned. He would be asking Rephaim these questions, had he still been here. Nisroc just grated on his nerves.
"Yesss, we all rready," Nisroc confirmed.
"Well, this is a cozy, little spot," a voice said, from behind Kalona. It was spoken with such confidence and calmness, he knew who it was. "Do you always stay in such...charming dwellings?"
The raven mockers stirred restlessly, flapping their wings. Kalona turned around to face the woman who had spoken. She was an attractive woman, with dark hair and gold-colored eyes. But, she was far from being weak or vulnerable. She was a very powerful witch.
"Ah, Selene, nice to see you again," Kalona replied, turning on the charm. "How are you doing?"
"Cut the pleasantries, Kalona," Selene said, "It's done and ready."
"It is?" Kalona repeated, an eyebrow raising. "Everything is spelled, set, and ready?"
Selene crossed her arms, and walked closer to the immortal. "Are you questioning me?" she retorted. "I don't like being questioned or doubted. Don't you forget that."
They stood just a hair's width away from each other, neither one backing down. The raven mockers grew even more restless, calling out now. "And, you, don't think you can order me around," Kalona growled, a low deep intensity in his voice. "Don't make the mistake of threatening me again."
Selene stared at him, unwavering. Then, her hand shot out and witch fire flew outward. It hit a few raven mockers, knocking them to the ground. Of all the things Kalona could have done, he laughed. Selene smirked, cracking the tension as well. The tension was still there, it was just cracked a little bit.
"Very well then," Kalona stated. He leaned against the closest tree, crossing his arms. "Where are the fledglings?"
She quirked an eyebrow, and started to walk a circle around Kalona. "Oh, do you mean those gross fledglings and their vampyre leader, who is one comment away from getting his head burned off," Selene snipped.
Kalona nodded.
"They're back at the warehouse, making a meal out of every homeless person they find," Selene explained, "The two witches were in the neighborhood, searching."
Kalona stood up straight. "Did they see you?" he asked.
"Kalona, you hurt me," Selene smiled, sweetly. "I know how to cloak myself. No one will know of my—our—presence, until the time comes."
"Excellent, let's go," Kalona grinned. He nodded to his sons. He and Selene began their walk back into town. Nisroc took off from the ground, and led his brothers into the sky.
Stark
"Dammit! Open up!" Stark growled in frustration. He pulled the crowbar out, then stuck it back under the hood of the car to open it. They were on their way into downtown Widow's Vale. They were only a few streets away from Mission Avenue when the car broke down. It made a sputtering sound once, and Darius just had enough time to pull over to the side of the road before it went dead.
"You're doing it too hard," Darius said. He took the crowbar from Stark. "You have to wiggle it a little bit to hit the latch."
"I know there's a button here somewhere," Damien murmured. He had found a manual in the glove compartment. The front passenger side door was opened and he was sitting on the seat, reading through the book.
"That book is not going to tell you how to open the hood," Stark told him. He stood with his hands on his hips, seeing if Darius would get it.
"It's worth a try," Damien just said.
"Oh, for shit's sake, how many guys does it take to open a hood," Aphrodite snorted, leaning against the side of the car.
"In case you haven't noticed, Darius is one of those guys," Zoey pointed out, from the driver's seat. Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at her. "Oh, I think I found it!" Zoey leaned down, pressed something, and then she was getting up out of the car. Her face fell as she saw the hood still down.
"It's okay, Z," Stark assured her, putting his arm around her shoulders. Zoey leaned forward, her hands resting on the hood. Almost immediately, her brow furrowed and she was looking at the hood in concentration. "What is it?" Stark asked her.
"I'm not sure," Zoey answered, "I feel magick...like someone used magick on the car."
"You mean, like someone used magick on the car to make it stop," Stevie Rae added, joining the others.
"Yeah, as if someone was trying to stop us from going where we're going," Zoey said, thoughtfully.
"What are you thinking?" Stark asked her.
"I'm thinking that we need to find that warehouse now," Zoey said, looking around at everybody.
"I hope you're not saying that we walk," Aphrodite sneered.
"Do you see any other way to get there?" Zoey replied, "Besides, it's not that far." She pointed down the road. "I think I see a fence. There's got to be a building behind it; so we must be close."
The sound of a car driving down the road made them all start walking. It was a black car, with tinted windows. They expected it to go past them, but it slowed down and stopped beside them. The window rolled down, revealing a man with cropped, dark hair and piercing hazel eyes. He leaned his arm on the window, his other arm resting on the steering wheel. He smiled.
"You kids alright out here?" the man asked, loud enough to be heard over the hum of the engine.
Zoey stepped forward to speak to the man. Stark put his hand on her arm, pulling her back. "Zoey, I don't like this," he whispered, "I have a bad feeling."
Zoey smiled at him reassuringly, but walked to the man, nonetheless. Stark followed next to her, extremely close and gripping his bow. Darius flanked her other side. Stark watched as Zoey spoke to the man, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.
"We're fine," Zoey told him, "Our car just broke down. We were going-"
"Do you need a ride?" the man offered.
Stark put his hand on her arm again. Zoey put her hand on top of his. "No, it's okay," she replied, "I live down the street a little bit. It's not that far."
The man nodded. "Well, if you're all sure," he finally said, his hand rested on the gearshift. "Just be careful, this can be a very dangerous neighborhood at times."
Zoey smiled thankfully at him. "Yeah, we'll be-"
Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, another man clapped a hand over Zoey's mouth and an arm around her waist. He dragged her backward, skirting around everyone and was heading toward the car.
"No!" Stark yelled. He lunged forward to grab her, but was stopped in his tracks. He seemed to hit a magickal, invisible wall and was flung backward. Zoey was pulled into the backseat of the car, hanging limp. "No, Zoey! Dammit!"
The car made a quick u-turn, and sped away with his queen inside. Stark started to run after it, but Darius grabbed a hold of him before he got too far.
"Get the fuck off me!" Stark struggled to get loose. Darius was strong, but Stark was putting up a good fight, too. "Let go!"
"You can't go running off without a plan, especially with the way you're feeling right now," Darius reasoned.
"Would you still be standing here if it was Aphrodite who was taken right in front of you?" Stark snapped, pulling one arm free. Darius quickly grabbed him again, pinning his arms behind him.
Stevie Rae stepped in front of Stark. "Calm down," she told him, "This isn't going to help Z. Okay, if we find the warehouse, maybe there will be some clue to where-"
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Stark exasperated. "The guy drove off in the opposite direction. The longer we stand here, the farther away she's getting!"
"I know, but you need to calm down," Stevie Rae said, "This isn't helping."
Stark broke away from Darius, and back away from everybody. "You know what, screw you all," he exclaimed, "I got her out of the Otherworld. I don't need any of your help saving her this time."
Making sure his quiver of arrows were strapped securely across his back and gripped his bow, Stark ran off down the road where the car had went.
Stevie Rae
"It's about damn time," Aphrodite complained, "Bumpkin, if my shoes are ruined, you owe me big time."
Stevie Rae ignored her. The neighborhood was old and dilapidated, with rows and rows of apartment buildings on either side of the street. Further down, there were warehouses. "Okay, it's not that far now," Stevie Rae said.
There were a few groans of protest, but they all started walking again anyway. As they grew near, Stevie Rae realized there were more warehouses than they counted on. Some were in better condition than others; some were condemned, while others just had boarded up windows. Still, a lot were in working condition.
Stevie Rae stifled a groan of frustration. Rephaim place his hand on her shoulder in reassurance, know how she was feeling. She turned toward the others, Aphrodite in particular. "Does any of them look familiar?" she questioned, getting right to the point.
"Oh, so that's it?" Aphrodite replied, "That's your big plan? Just go on a guess and go from there?"
"It won't be a guess," Stevie Rae argued, "You're the one who had the vision, you should be able to pick it out."
Aphrodite huffed and crossed her arms, but she looked out at the warehouses. She concentrated on each one, before she moved on to the next one.
Crooaaak.
Everybody stopped, and looked around. It didn't seem to come from any specific place. It was silent now, like there was never even a creepy sound.
Aphrodite suddenly pointed. "There. I think it might be that one," she explained, "It looks vaguely familiar."
"Are you sure?" Stevie Rae asked, turning to see the building Aphrodite had pointed out.
"Um, guys, who are they?...over there?" Jack spoke up. He was looking at something across the street.
Everyone turned to where Jack was looking. Across the street, two people were standing by a car. A boy and a girl, both blonde, the guy had on a brown leather jacket and the girl had a black one. They both looked to be about nineteen, and they were staring at them.
"What does it matter?" Aphrodite dismissed, with a wave of her hand. "The blonde twins are probably jealous of seeing someone as fabulous as me. Oh, great, now they're coming over here."
Sure enough, the guy was crossing the street toward them, with the girl following quickly behind him.
"Be nice," Stevie Rae whispered to Aphrodite. She turned to face the newcomers.
"Wait a minute," Aphrodite murmured, "They were in my vision...in the warehouse...with the rest of us."
Stevie Rae turned back, once more, to the blonde duo, holding onto Rephaim's hand. She stepped forward as guy reached them. Up close, his hair was more white blond, he had green eyes, and he was a lot taller than he looked far away.
"I'm Hunter Niall," the boy introduced himself, holding out his hand. He nodded to the girl next to him. "And this is my cousin, Sky Eventide."
Stevie Rae shook his hand. "I'm Stevie Rae Johnson," she greeted. She motioned to the others gathered around her. "These are my friends. Rephaim, Darius, Aphrodite, Damien, Jack, Erin, and Shaunee."
"Pleased to meet you," Hunter replied. "It's awfully late for a bunch of teenagers to be out, especially in this part of town."
"I could say the same thing about you two," Stevie Rae said back. "It's a little hard to explain, but something is telling me you will understand."
"Point taken. Okay, first things first, you are..." Hunter began.
"Well, those of us with crescent moon outline are fledgling vampyre," Stevie Rae explained, "Only Darius and I are vampyres with the complete mark."
"Oh, so you're..." Hunter started to say, but he was interrupted by a terrible croaking sound. They looked around, but there was no sign of anything moving in the darkness or under the street light.
"There's that hawk again," Sky replied. She turned to her cousin. "Do you think it might be hurt?"
"That's not a hawk," Rephaim stated.
"Okay, anyway, if you guys are vampyres, that means you feed on humans," Hunter gestured toward Rephaim and Aphrodite. "Are these two you next meal?"
"Ew, hell now will I be a human blood bag," Aphrodite sneered, looking pointedly at Stevie Rae. Then, muttering under her breath, "I can't say the same thing about him."
"Okay, we're not completely dependent on blood," Stevie Rae explained, "Some of us crave it a little more than others, but that's it."
"So what are you guys doing in this part of town?" Hunter asked, "It's not exactly the scenic route."
Stevie Rae took a deep breath and centered herself. Earth, help me know this is the right decision. The element swirled around her in waves of freshly cut grass and the scent of new flowers. She trusted in her element; it never led her wrong. "Well, Aphrodite," she motioned to the other girl, "She had a vision about a bunch of hostages in one of these warehouses. Actually, we were the hostages, you two included."
Hunter gaped at her; she clearly caught him off guard. "We saw the same vision," he said.
"Well, shit," Aphrodite muttered.
"How is that possible?" Stevie Rae questioned, trying to mask her shock.
"We scryed using my scrying stone; us and two other blood witches," Hunter stopped when a red BMW sped down the street and stopped by the curb three feet away them.
"So, they're witches," Stevie Rae whispered, low so only their group could hear.
"Great, all we need is a werewolf to join us," Aphrodite mumbled.
Stevie Rae rolled her eyes and turned back to see Hunter approach the car, Sky joining him. A young woman, about seventeen, got out of the drivers' side. She was tall, and had minky dark hair that fell in perfectly tousled waves to the bottom of her neck. Then, the passenger-side door opened, and a guy about the same age with dark hair, climbed out. Stevie Rae could just make out out two young girls in the backseat.
A low whistle came from the back of the group. Stevie Rae knew it was the twins. "Twin, check him out," Erin grinned, "He is sooo fine!"
"Mm-hmm," Shaunee agreed. They launched into a round of flirtatious comments, and waves and hair flips.
Stevie Rae tuned them out, turning back to Hunter and Sky. She just managed to hear the girl tell Hunter that someone named Morgan is missing. She saw Hunter go completely white. They all looked very concerned. What if this Morgan was a witch, too? Suddenly, something dawned on Stevie Rae. Zoey was taken, and now this girl. It can't be a coincidence.
Stevie Rae walked up to Hunter, Sky, and the two newcomers. She could feel Rephaim following her, protecting her. Hearing the raven mockers' call was putting him on edge. "Excuse me," she replied, "Did I hear you say that someone was kidnapped?"
"We don't know that for sure," Hunter told her.
"Well, our friend was kidnapped, and it seems awfully suspicious that another girl was kidnapped too," Stevie Rae said.
"Look," but that was all Hunter had time to say before a scream came from inside the car and something crashed through the windshield. There was an explosion of glass, everybody shielded themselves and others from getting glass impaled in their skin. One of girls left in the car,-dark hair, olive skin, dark eyes-was able to get out before the raven mocker crashed. The other girl wasn't so lucky.
The raven mocker stood up on to the hood of the car, completely unharmed. He stretched out his wings and let out a low croaking sound, sending the tall girl-who was helping the other girl out of the car-back to the rest of the group.
"Nisroc?..." Rephaim started to say, taking a step forward. Stevie Rae put her hand on his arm, stopping him. He gently took her hand off his arm and squeezed it. He turned back to his brother. "Nisroc, what are you doing here? Where is father?"
"What is he doing? Is he one of them?" Hunter asked her.
"It's a long story, for which we don't have time for right now," Stevie Rae explained, "Let's just say he was, but not anymore."
"Maybe you can tell us next time when we're not facing imminent death," Hunter told her, his hand striking out and blue witch fire shot from his fingertips.
Nisroc barely spared Hunter a glance. He swiped his wing through the air, dodging the witch fire with one swat. Then, he tucked his wings back in, tilted his head up to the sky, and cawed another loud croaking sound.
Rephaim knew automatically what was going to happen. He grew a little frantic, rushing toward his brother again. "Nisroc, no! What are you doing?" He exclaimed, "You don't have to do this! There's another way; you don't have to live this way!"
"Guys, I think we should go now," Jack spoke up. He sounded scared, and when Stevie Rae turned around, she found out why.
Stevie Rae's mouth slowly fell open at the sight before her. There was a swarm of raven mockers flying down toward them.
"Yeah, I second that," Sky agreed, from where she stood next to Hunter.
Suddenly, Nisroc jumped off the car and lunged toward everybody. Everyone began running, except Rephaim. Stevie Rae pulled on his arm, trying to get him to come with her. He wasn't moving. She looked around worriedly, but all of her friends were already running. Though, there was still one person standing there. Hunter.
"What are you doing?" Stevie Rae asked him.
"They're not going to go away on their own," Hunter said, and turned back to the raven mockers, whispering something.
"You can't fight them; they'll kill you!" Stevie Rae warned him. Her voice was rising, and taking on an authoritative tone. She sounded like a high priestess. "Both of you, let's go!"
Hunter looked from Stevie Rae to the raven mockers. Rephaim stood very still, looking at Nisroc. There was one more loud croaking sound from Nisroc, and Hunter finally spoke. "Alright, let's go," Hunter relented. Rephaim nodded as well. With Hunter leading, the three of them ran in the direction the others had went.
They caught up to the others about a half a block away, looking tired and confused. Sky pushed her way through the group toward Hunter. "This isn't just some random chasing," she panted, "They're herding us somewhere."
"We have to keep moving," Hunter replied, "Maybe if we split up in small groups, we'll confuse them."
"So that we don't have to watch them kill us altogether, yeah good plan," Aphrodite sneered.
"You have a better one?" Hunter shot at her.
One of the raven mockers suddenly flew down toward them, getting a little too close to one of the younger girls-the one with brown hair and brown eyes-, causing her to scream, sent them running again.
"We can't keep running like this," Stevie Rae pointed out. "We need to take cover."
Almost immediately after she said that a warehouse rose up ahead of them. There was something foreboding about it, but Stevie Rae was right. They couldn't keep running forever, they needed shelter.
Hunter was the first one to the door. He pulled on the door, revealing that the door wasn't locked, but it only opened halfway before it stuck. "Everybody, hurry up! Get inside!" he called to the group. After everyone made it inside, he started to close the door but it wouldn't budge. The flapping of wings sounded like thunder as Darius darted forward to help Hunter close the door. Together, they battle with the door until it shut with an audible thud, leaving them in complete darkness.
"Now what do we do?" Jack asked. His hand must have brushed against the fourteen year old girl, because she yelped a little in surprise.
Laughter floated toward us from somewhere in the warehouse and there was a faint rustle of wings. Then came the soft thud of boot heels on concrete, coming toward them.
"Who would have thought it was going to be this easy."
