Disclaimer: I do not own the House of Night; this amazing series belongs to P.C. & Kristin Cast. Though I do own the OC, Nettie. And she is me; this is my story if I was to be Marked by a Tracker. Consider this My House of Night!

CHAPTER FIVE

Beginning

We were slowly making our way down the narrow hall that was curving gently, I was glad that I had the High Priestess beside me because I knew that I would very well lose my way in this labyrinth style school, (thought I still couldn't stop thinking it of as anything but a castle). The walls, I noticed thanks to the soft flickering light from the gaslights that hung from old fashioned looking black iron scones, were an odd mixture of dark stones and steel grey jutting bricks. I noticed that even though I could see clearly, the soft light coming from the gasp lamps was easy on my now light sensitive eyes.

"To begin with," I turned an interested gazer to Astra, distracting me from the splendour of the gothic like hallway, "one benefit of beginning a new life is that you have the opportunity to start over- to make choices you weren't given before." I nodded slightly at that, and she surveyed me with a level gaze, "If you could choose, what would your true name be?"

My eyes widened in shock, "I don't…" I gasped slightly, "I couldn't, my parents…" I trailed off realising that I could start afresh, without the adults and teenagers staring at me life a freak because I had been Marked by the Goddess, or whispering behind their hands in horror. I didn't hesitate as the thought of my favourite anime drifted through my mind, Vampire Knight, but I would never tell the High Priestess that was where I had gotten the idea from, "Nettie Kuran." I stated, liking the way my name seemed to roll off my tongue perfectly.

She nodded slightly, a small smile on her lips, "Then from this moment onwards, you will be Nettie Kuran." Welcome to your new life." She said as a shiver ran down my spine, at the knowledge that my new name came with my new life. "It is nearly six A.M., which mean that classes are due to start in approximately two hours." Astra said with a small smile on her lips, she must have been amused by the shocked expression on my face, "Classes begin at eight P.M., and end at 3 A.M.," she explained.

I considered this for a moment and then I realised, though I had thought about it in passing, my days and night were now reversed, which was understandable because the sunlight had been uncomfortable on my skin. I could only imagine how it must be to a fully-fledged vampyre, more than uncomfortable, and perhaps even fatal. But I was only going on the books I had read, mere fiction, I mused with a thought projected laugh. She continued to explain more about the school, classes that I could possibly take; I was intrigued when she mentioned something called Spells & Rituals. Continuing on with the areas in the school such as the Dining Hall and much to my interest Nyx's Temple but I couldn't concentrate. A meow distracted Astra as she was cut off by a black ball of fur juming into her waiting arms; I let out a shriek of surprise.

Staring into bright green eyes, my cheeks flushed as I stared at a sleek black cat, a shiver running down my spine as I thought of the superstitions connected to a black cat and then swiftly discarded it, after all I was a Fledgling now all I knew was no longer real and what I though was mere myths was quite literally real. Reaching a hand out the adorable, yet large cat rubbed his face against my out-stretched hand.

"Hmm," Astra mused for a moment, "this is Gwen, she's usually lurking around corners waiting to launch herself at me," she said with a chuckle, as I rubbed beneath her chin, the abnormally large cat letting out a satisfied purr, "she doesn't usually like other people touching her beside me but I guess there is a first time for everything." Her voice was fond when she spoke about that cat that was bundled up in her arms, as I lowered my hand.

"I love cats," I said softly, "but we could never afford another one after my dad's cat Blackie died. I loved him so much; he would always curl up at the end of my bed when I was sad." I said my voice wistful, but then I glanced away as Astra surveyed me thoughtfully with dark eyes.

"I have found that the way a person feels about cats and the way they feel about him or her in return, is an excellent gauge of a person's character." She said, giving me a genuine smile and once again I was stunned about how unearthly beautiful she was.

I had a feeling that cats were in abundance here and I smiled slightly at the thought that I may be able to have my very own cat, "Are there many here?" I still asked curious to see if there really were a lot of cats running around the mansion.

"Yes, Cats have always closely allied themselves with vampyres." She said fondly as she scratched behind Gwen's ears as bright green eyes watched me from a black face.

I nodded slightly, "Of course they would, and they too have a fondness for the night and the mysteries the darkness it has to offer." I said with a smile, "They were slaughtered, in History, because they were considered to be the reason that turned people to vampyres through witchery."

Astra glanced at me slightly, "I would not be surprised if a cat or kitten here chose you young Fledgling, there's something about you that seems to radiate the night." I flushed at her statement, but a part of me also shied away from the strange knowing glint in her eye, I don't think I wanted to be known for something so… Goddess-like.

I thought for a moment, and then something occurred to me that I didn't quite understand, "Chooses me?"

Astra grinned for a moment as Gwen jumped from her arms and with a swish of her tail vanished into the shadows, "Cats choose us; we do not own them, they wander here freely." She thought for a moment, "You could consider her a gift from the Goddess, someone to confide in when you think there is nowhere else to go, someone that even though you seem to be surrounded by darkness, they will always be there to protect you." Her voice took on a strange lilt as if someone was speaking through her, a shiver passed down my spine and she must have seen the look in my eyes.

She touched her cheek for a moment, "Sorry, I noticed you seem confused and a little scared so I said the first thing I could think of that may have cheered you up. Think of it as an affinity, Intuition, somewhat like Mind Reading but not quite to that extreme." She stated fondly.

My head was whirring at the thought that she may have heard my internal babble and constant fights with myself, "Affinity?" I questioned curiosity in my voice.

"Every High Priestess is given an affinity, what one could consider as special powers or abilities, gifted to us by the Goddess. It's part of how we identify our High Priestesses." She continued but that part seemed strange to me, why would a High Priestess have to be so unearthly with affinities, "The affinities can be unusual cognitive skills, like reading minds, or having visions of past or present events, or even the ability to predict future events. Or the affinity can be something in the physical realm, like a special and powerful connection to one of the five elements, or to animals. As it happens such a Fledgling has been heard of, a young woman who has the power to control all elements."

My mind whirled for a moment, another Fledgling with unusual circumstances that had the ability to control all five of the elements, I considered what they were for a moment: air, fire, water, earth and… spirit. The last element was whispered through my mind with a familiar feminine voice, so Spirit, it sounded, strange to say the least, the one element that connects all thing together, the very meaning of life so to speak.

A shiver passed down my spine at the idea of a physical affinity, and the words that had been whispered to me before ran through my mind: Embrace the night and all the magic it has to offer. I thought for a moment and went to ask something about such an idea, if magic existed in this world. But I got the feeling I was to keep quite. Not that I shouldn't trust the High Priestess but that I shouldn't mention anything about my strange experience, and I wondered for a moment if perhaps this had been the voice of the Goddess speaking to me.

"I have a strange connection to Cats but it isn't strong enough to be considered an affinity. But I have the ability to enable Healing to quicken in a Fledgling and vampyre, but it takes its toll upon me. My main Goddess given affinity is what you saw before, the ability to soothe and calm. I tapped into your energy and was able to manipulate it to an extent," she was regarding me, as if she thought I might panic or something, "you would have been able to reject the influence if you wanted to but your subconscious knew you needed that little push."

"What do you call it?" she gave me a strange look for a moment, "Your affinity, what do they call it?" I asked after a pause.

"Aura Manipulation and I guess Healing." She said smiling at me soothingly, when I thought about it I could sense something like a calm rain fall touching my skin when I was around her, or something like the calm dew fall or, the feeling of the rays of moonlight upon my skin.

A calm silence settled between us and we continued to slowly make our way down the hall, but the sound of a ringing cell phone caused me to startle, it seemed so strange, such a loud noise in the calm of the darkened hallway. Astra smiled apologetically and turned away from me slightly as she answered the phone, out of the corner of my eyes I could see a shadow rippling upon the wall, a distortion from the normal inky blackness.

She seemed distracted for a moment, but then I heard the sound of the phone shutting with an annoyed sigh. It seems a few Fledglings have been in an," she paused for a moments, considering perhaps how much she should say to me, "altercation. I don't want to leave you but I should probably help sort out any issues between them. Why don't you just follow this hallway, to the end? There should be a large set of old wooden double doors. Could you wait there for me? This should only take a few moments."

I really didn't want her to leave me here in this winding hallway, but as soon as I gave a slight nod of my head, Astra had already disappeared around a corner of the hallway. The once comforting flickering light now left strange casting shadows against the odd stone wall, with a shiver I continued to walk. Though at a much slower pace, and checking around the corner before I moved in case I might see any vampyres, or Fledglings. Ghostly shadows were cast along the walls, but I almost cried out when one of the shadows moved, I bit back a scream, hoping that whoever or whatever was there heard me scream, I didn't need someone thinking I was a complete moron before I met them, it, whoever.

Anything was possible at the House of Night, I told myself, and it could well be a ghost for all I knew. I mean there are vampyres, and humans turned Fledglings and Cats. Straightening my shoulders, I was determined not to scare myself on my first night (day?) and slowly made my down the hall in the general direction that Astra had sent me. Pretty soon I began to think that maybe this hallway was never going to end and after a while I hoped I would run into someone because these halls were just too quiet. But that's when I noticed it, the moving shadows and soon enough I realised I wasn't as alone as I thought.

Read and Review: So, did I capture the House of Night well enough, with the moving shadows and what not? I am I guess in a way using the actual books as a basis for my own story but characters may be different, and some things will be completely insane. Just so you all know I am making the characters up as I go along so some things may not be consistent and I apologise for that.

But anyway, I hope how you like the story is progressing and I hope you like the Chapters to come…