A/N

Thanks to all who reviewed! Specifically…

-IloveZimandNny16

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I'm am soooooo soooooo sooooooo sorry it took me this long to update. Please, please forgive me! Look, see new chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own HON or the characters or anything related to HON!

~Smiley

Chapter Two

Thanatos

What a marvelous truth question, my warrior, Thanatos thought angrily at Kalona.

They have a right to know, he thought back, and you said you would tell them.

Yes, but I didn't want them finding out this way! She thought furiously.

Would you rather I tell them? he asked.

No!

Then why are you upset?

Because Stevie Rae looks like she's been slapped in the face, Rephaim is expressionless, Zoey looks like she wants to disappear, and Stark looks like death!

You are exaggerating, priestess. He's looked like that since he was told he couldn't sit with Zoey, Kalona said, or thought, to her soothingly. Just tell them. It's not that bad, he continued as Darius, Stark, and Rephaim told her to answer the question.

Thanatos closed her eyes and looked down. So you say! She thought frantically.

Tell them or I will, Kalona threatened.

You wouldn't dare! Thanatos screamed the thought.

You're right; I would not. It is your past, and therefore your decision is just that: your decision. He squeezed her hand. It is your decision whether to tell them or not, but I think you should. They have a right to know. Tell them. Thanatos opened her eyes.

"As you wish…" she said aloud, but her voice trailed off.

Kalona squeezed her hand again, rubbing his thumb back and forth, a small, rhythmic motion that automatically calmed her. You can do it, he thought to her. You are strong. I believe in you, my priestess.

That was what she needed to hear. That was all she needed to hear. She could do this. She could do this. So she unlocked the door to her past and beckoned for everyone to follow…

"No!" she screamed. Her heart was racing and her hands were sweaty, but still she stayed still, right by his side. This couldn't be. This couldn't be happening.

Some said it came from the foreign traders—that they brought this upon them. Ports had been closing and towns and cities were closing themselves off from the rest of the world. Little did they know that they were sealing their own coffins.

Some said it was God's will. They said that the world had become too evil, and this was God's way of cleansing the earth of its impurities.

Others blamed vampyres. After all, they didn't fall to the Black Death. Some vampyres tried to help the rest of the world, but there was simply nothing they could do. It could be that the black magic they possessed was too powerful to be undone, and they had unleashed that dark power on the world. However, she didn't believe that.

Her brother Darren had been marked exactly two years ago. Her mother and father had disowned him for it—disowned him for something he had had no control over. It wasn't fair. Why should he be punished and shunned for something another had done to him? Her parents had told her that it was his fault—that he could have prevented it. They told her to never speak or see him again, but she still wrote to him in secret and visited him on his eighteenth birthday.

Nonetheless, that didn't mean the darkness that had spread across the land was any less terrifying. In fact, that only made it more so. Because she knew that vampyres didn't cause this, she didn't know what was. It seemed that no one could escape. No one survived the Black Plague, a disease that was terrifying the land, and that included her parents.

Five days ago, the coughing had started. Circular rashes had appeared on their bodies, and she had noticed despite their best efforts to hide them from her. However, five days was their limit. Once the plague had seized them, Death had claimed them as its own.

She remembered how they fell. Her father had gasped, and before he could explain why, the life drained from his eyes. Her mother's eyes had widened, and she managed to whisper, "Tell your brother that we still love him." Then the life drained from her too.

She tried to wipe her eyes, but the tears wouldn't stop flowing. She didn't even have time to wonder about her mother's last words. In the space of a second, her world had completely changed. The words from behind her only proved it.

"Maria Smith! 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!"

Her forehead exploded in pain, but when she wiped her eyes again and looked at her parents bodies, she saw them rise and smile down at her. The logical part of her mind argued that that was impossible because their bodies were on the floor right in front of her. But she could clearly see them standing a couple feet above their bodies, smiling and waving at her.

She felt her hand rise and wave back at them. They grinned, held hands, and rose up and up and up, through the ceiling and into the clouds—into another world.

"Come with me," a deep voice from behind her said. She felt a hand lay gently on her shoulder. "I will take you to the House of Night."

She didn't say a word or nod, but she woodenly stood up and followed the man from her house and down the street.

More people than she could count coughed, and before they fell, she could see two bulls fighting right behind them. She wondered how no one else saw or reacted to the dozens of bulls, but she couldn't bring herself to do anything more than stare as the white bull defeated the black bull, and a person fell. She couldn't do any more than stare as the people rose above their bodies, and then rose up and up and up or lingered and refused to leave.

She knew she was following the Tracker even though she was too out of it to feel her feet move. Then, quite suddenly, a man jumped in front of them, pointing a wicked looking sword. She bumped into the Tracker, who had stopped, and her gaze snapped from the coughing little boy to the man with a white bull standing behind him.

"What do you want, vampyre," the man said.

"I mean no harm," the Tracker stated peacefully.

"Then why are people falling down around you, vampyre?" the man sneered.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he replied. Even though the man had his sword drawn, the Tracker hadn't reached for his sword, even though he did have one.

"You lie! Die, you villan!" the man shouted, thrusting his sword at the Tracker. With lightning speed, he pulled out his own sword and pared the blow, taking a defensive stance. Two more men joined the fight, but the vampyre continued to only defend himself and her.

"Down the street and to the left, then take your first right and go to the first gate you see. She should be waiting there with your brother," the Tracker said. "Go! Now!" he shouted as he blocked another blow. "Run!"

She did as she was told, but she couldn't help but run wide-eyed to see all the bulls and the spirits surrounding her. There were even some spirits floating where there wasn't even a body.

"Go," she heard herself whisper. "Pass. Your path is open." Several spirits immediately disappeared. "Be happy and find peace, my friends."

When she reached the gated, a woman opened them and ushered her inside. She didn't have time to observe her surroundings or even breathe when her brother enveloped her in a big hug.

"Goddess, it's been forever," he said; all she could do was hug him back. When they broke apart, he cleared his throat and introduced, "Maria, this is the lovely High Priestess Selene. Priestess, this is my little sister."

"Nice to meet you," she said, offering a hand. Darren had said in his letters that High Priestesses were in charge, so she knew she had to be respectful.

The High Priestess smiled and greeted, "Merry meet." Then she gripped her forearm. It was strange, but she noted that it felt right.

Darren coughed again. "Priestess, I can show her around if you would like," he said respectfully.

"That would be—" Selene was interrupted as the Tracker jogged to the gates, which the priestess opened with a smile on her face.

"Priestess, they're coming. We don't have much time," he said, and the priestess's smile faded. Darren's eyes widened and he stifled another cough.

The High Priestess paled. "Alert the warriors. Get the fledglings inside. What will it take for the humans to understand that this disease is not our fault?"

Darren couldn't stifle the coughing fit that took control of his entire body; it caused him to fall to his knees. "Darren, are you well?" she asked her brother.

"I'm fine," Darren managed.

"Priestess," the Tracker said cautiously.

Selene sighed. "I know."

"What what's happening?" she asked, holding her brother's hand.

"I-I'm rejecting the change, aren't I, Priestess?" Darren asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid you are, Darren," Selene said sadly.

"No!" she screamed. Her heart was racing and her hands were sweaty, but still she stayed still, right by his side. This couldn't be. This couldn't be happening.

Darren coughed again, and the blood erupted from his mouth. She took off her shawl and covered Darren's mouth, trying desperately to stop the blood.

"It's alright, Maria. This happens sometimes. It is alright," Darren soothed.

But she couldn't help but notice the black and white bulls fighting right behind her brother, and the white bull was winning.

"No! You can't leave me!" she screamed, new tears falling from her eyes.

"It's alright. I'll be with the Goddess," Darren said. The life was draining from his eyes as fast as the blood was draining from his body.

And just as the last of his life left his eyes, she whispered, "And you'll be with Mama and Papa too."

The white bull conquered the black one, and her brother's soul lifted above his body. He smiled sadly and apologetically at her, and she smiled back at him through her tears. He started waving.

"Mama told me to tell you that they still love you," she said, then added, "and I still love you, too."

Her brother smiled happily at her and rose up and up and up. "Good-bye," she whispered. "I'll see you again."

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up into the eyes of the High Priestess. "Fledglings can choose to change their names to accompany their new lives. Would you like to change yours?"

"Yes," she answered.

"And what would that new name be?" Selene asked.

She had seen far too much death in one day, and Thanatos vowed to never succumb to the white bull, even if she didn't know what it was exactly. However, she did know it was the cause of these untimely deaths. "Thanatos."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to retire to my tent," Thanatos said, standing up and walking to the covering of the shadows.

She was hardly gone when Kalona stood and said, "I am going to accompany my priestess."

No one spoke.

When Kalona caught up with her, she was already at the tent. "I'm alright, Kalona. You can continue with the game." Then she turned to enter the tent, but Kalona caught her arm and kept her from advancing.

"If you think I'm going to leave you alone after that, then you need to think again," Kalona said.

"Kalona, I'm—" Thanatos started.

"No, you're not fine," Kalona said, "so stop trying to send me away."

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Thanatos asked.

Kalona's gaze flicked from her eyes to her lips and back to her eyes again. "Because you need me," he said; then he bent down and gently kissed her on the lips, gentler than he ever thought himself capable of.

Thanatos returned the kiss and let herself melt into her warrior. One of his strong arms wrapped around her waist while his other hand cupped her face. Both of her arms reached up and wrapped around his neck. It could have been seconds or eternities, but when they broke apart, both of them were breathless and both of them entered the tent.

A/N

Well, hope you enjoyed that chapter. Hopefully I'll update sooner than I did this time, but I'll update faster if more people review!

~Smiley