I was tired, that was for sure. The day had started out less stressful, but now everything seemed confused and chaotic. I had no idea what to do about this Marla situation. I knew she was being secretive, but I wasn't sure if that was just because she didn't trust us yet, or if it was because she really had something to hide. I thought she was becoming more comfortable around me. At least it seemed like she was opening up. I mean I hadn't told Neferet everything when I first arrived at the House of Night. Then again there had been a reason that Nyx had led me not to completely confide in her. I was fairly certain that wasn't the case here. More than likely Marla was just being careful.
I sighed; in any case it was going to take some time. Marla had obviously been through some trauma and she wasn't likely to trust easily. Plus on top of everything else she had to deal with the same changes the rest of us went through; the changing schools and homes, having to leave all of her friends and family, not to mention the changes her body was going through.
Still, I wished I knew why Nyx had chosen me to see Marla's coming. There was a warning in the visions that was for sure. The danger that was surrounding Marla was clearly something Nyx wanted me to know about. But what about the silver that surrounded her? Or about the wolf? I didn't know what to make of that.
"Hey," Stark said as I walked around the corner of the girl's dormitory. I stopped momentarily surprised and then smiled. I could honestly say I was glad to see him. Though I hadn't really admitted it, everything that had happened earlier had actually freaked me out a little. I still had an eerie feeling and I could almost feel my hair standing on end.
"Hey," I said back smirking at him. He flashed his cocky smile and then leaned forward kissing me lightly on the lips.
"Heard you had an interesting day," he said taking my hand in his as we began walking. "Darius told me about the scare you had at the store."
"Yeah," I grimaced. "That was completely my fault, I should've been paying attention, but no, I was too busy dealing with Heath," I said feeling irritated and guilty that I had let the situation with Heath side track me to that extent. Marla was my responsibility and for a second I had been scared to death that something had happened to her. Something could have happened to her. I already knew someone was after her, and no matter what she said I knew she hadn't been over reacting. Something had seriously freaked her out again.
"Zoey," Stark said observing my troubled expression. "You can't always control everything going on around you. You had Marla to look after, yes, but the human boy also needed to be dealt with."
I frowned, Heath should never have been able to get in the way of my responsibilities, but he had. And with everything that had happened today I would be lucky if I could keep Neferet from assigning me a guard. Uhg, I so did not need the extra stress of having four warriors following me around everywhere.
"So what did happen out there?" Stark asked tentatively. "Darius said Marla was pretty upset."
I nodded, "I'm not sure what's going on Stark. She kept saying someone was out there, but I couldn't see anyone." I shook my head running my hand through my hair. "I couldn't see anyone, but my intuition was agreeing with her. Something didn't feel right, and I know this sounds weird, but I was afraid too. It was like fear was in the air around us, covering us. It was unnerving." I didn't know how else to explain what had happened. The closest comparison I could come up with was when the Raven mockers had first started appearing on the grounds. The night just had a strange presence, a cool evil that seemed to fill the air around you. I shook myself not really wanting to think about the possibility of there being Raven Mockers on the lose again. Besides that I knew it was impossible, Nyx had said my sacrifice would be nearly impossible to undo. And even though there were similarities between then and now it still wasn't the same.
"Do you think maybe you were just feeling what she was feeling?" Stark asked.
"Yes, no, I don't know, maybe," I said trying to figure it all out. It didn't feel like I was just feeling Marla's fear, but nothing else made any sense. I sighed, "The point is I don't think this was just a onetime thing."
"She was pretty banged up when Darius found her," Stark agreed. "You think it's somehow connected to what happened tonight?"
An image flashed through my mind of Marla running through the woods. "Yes," I said firmly and knew in my gut I was right. "She was terrified when I found her tonight. You aren't just that afraid for no reason, Stark."
"You don't have to tell me," Stark said calmly pulling me to him as I shivered a little at the memory. He wrapped his arms around me just holding me letting his body warm me up. "We'll keep an eye on her, Zoey," he whispered softly. "Nothing's going to happen to her, she's safe now."
"I know," I said shutting my eyes for a moment. She was safe for now, but that was what concerned me. How long would it be until whomever it was that was out there tried again? Nyx had given me this girl to look after, and no matter what I was going to keep her safe.
Stark pulled back and took my hand in his again. "In any case it would probably be a good idea for you to have more than one warrior with you when you leave campus."
"Yeah, I know," I said grimly thinking about Neferet's reaction to this.
"I'll be there next time," he said giving me a little smile as we walked into the busy dining hall. We quickly made our way through the dinner line grabbing our food and then went to join the rest of our friends.
"I got us a 10:00 am movie because that's what time the theatre opened. I figured the earlier the better since we have street cat's work at 8:00 pm," Damien said as soon as Stark and I sat down.
"Are you going to be able to go?" Erin asked looking up at me from her dinner.
"Or do you have High Priestess work to do?" Shaunee asked smiling. "You know we're expecting the whole story, right?"
"Yes, tell us about her," Damien said beaming. "How did it happen?"
"Chill nerd herd, let her at least start on her dinner before you bombard her with a billion questions," Aphrodite scowled at Damien, Shaunee and Erin.
"Easy for you to say," Erin glowered.
"Yeah, you already know the whole story," Shaunee argued. "And you know I love me some juicy gossip."
"And no gossip is juicier than when it comes right from the source," Erin smiled at Shaunee. "So what's the story?" Erin asked turning to me.
"Yeah, we are all kind of curious, Zoey," Stevie Rae said taking a drink of her wine. (Laced with blood of course.)
I looked at Aphrodite quickly and sighed. It was probably better just to get it all out now than to have it repeat it ten more times later. I took a sip of my brown pop and then gave the quick readers digest version of all the events leading up to Marla's arrival as well as what had happened since then.
"Ok, that's just kind of creepy," Erin said when I had finished telling the story of what had happened today at the store.
"Um, that's actually way creepy twin," Shaunee said exchanging a glance with Erin.
"And you didn't see anyone?" Damien asked.
"No, there was no one that I could see," I said shaking my head.
"But that doesn't mean that someone hadn't been there before," Darius said, "And it definitely felt like something wasn't right."
"That's really strange," Stevie Rae said her face becoming troubled.
"There aren't any more red fledglings lurking around, are there?" Aphrodite asked her.
Stevie Rae gave her a scowl, "No there isn't," she said fiercely.
"Is that her?" Jack asked interrupting the would-be-fight as Marla walked in with Jaylynn and a few of her friends.
"Yeah," I said smiling a little as she looked over at me and nodded.
"Awww, she's so cute!" Jack cued.
"She's not a new puppy," Aphrodite said rolling her eyes. "Speaking of, where is that dog?"
"Duchess is being groomed," Jack said defensively.
"Zoey!" Erik said rushing into the room looking breathless. "Neferet needs you now!"
"Where is she?" I asked sensing his panic.
He shut his eyes for a second as if he were trying to think, "The library."
I stood up and felt myself being half pulled out the dining hall doors as Erik rushed through them. It felt like I was flying across campus as we ran, not quite teleporting like Darius, but still running pretty fast. My feet barely had time to take the next step before Erik was pulling me along urging me to move faster.
We rushed through the library door and my heart sank. No not this! Anything but THIS! My mind screamed. There on the floor coughing up his own blood was a forth former boy I recognized only in passing. Dragon was holding a towel to his mouth and Neferet was trying to get him to drink something to ease his pain. The smell of the blood of course was intoxicating, but I forced it down as I heard him cry out in fear.
"It's alright, Jacob," Dragon was whispering. "We're here with you; no one is going to leave you."
Neferet looked over her shoulder at me, "Zoey grab another towel," she said motioning to the pile of rags behind me. I grabbed two and then made my way over to her. She took one from my hands and began trying to wipe the blood that was flowing from his eyes and ears.
"My family," Jacob said his face filled with fear and I felt a tear slide down my cheek. I should've been able to handle this better by now, but I still saw my best friend dying in my arms. This kid wouldn't be coming back.
"All will be well with them," Neferet told him softly. His eyes closed then as he gave a few final coughs and then stopped breathing. I watched as two warriors lifted the boy's body onto a stretcher and carried him out of the room. I swallowed as Neferet turned to me. "Death is a part of life, Zoey," Neferet said gently as she looked into my eyes. "It is something you must learn to deal with no matter how hard it is."
I nodded, though part of me was wondering if I would ever be strong enough to watch someone die without feeling like I was going to burst into tears. Neferet squeezed my shoulder gently and then motioned me to follow her from the room.
"His family will need to be notified," Neferet told me softly. "They will probably be in shock; they just saw their son earlier today. Jacob went home for a visit upon his father's request."
"Do you think that's what set it off?" I asked as we walked through the halls. "Was he away too long?"
"Possibly," she said though I could tell she didn't really believe that. "The truth is, Zoey, that sometimes there just is no explanation. Sometimes a fledgling's body just weakens and dies. Some bodies aren't strong enough to accept the change they're going through." She looked at me and her expression softened. "I'll see to the body this time," she said hugging me gently.
I nodded again in her arms feeling slightly relieved, "thank you."
"Go get some rest," she said softly and then walked out the doors heading to the infirmary.
