I stood in the center of our circle breathing hard. We were positioned just outside the schools walls and I knew as long as we all remained inside the circle we would be safe from whatever was out there. There was only a few of us out here. Besides my circle, was Neferet, Natasha, Stark and Marla. Aphrodite, Darius, Jack and Erik had chosen to waft the smudging stick all throughout the campus while we tried to set up a circle of defense around the school grounds.
"Concentrate," Neferet whispered as she gripped my upper arms tighter in a desperate attempt to give me a little more strength. My energy levels were already draining extremely fast, my heart beat was racing as if I was running a marathon, and my legs were already starting to feel like wobbly jello. "Slow your breathing down," Neferet said calmly. I was trying, but it wasn't that easy. I had been learning how to use and control the elements over the last month or so, and I was getting better, but I had never had to try and focus that energy around anything as large as the entire school before, and it was taking everything I had.
I thought about Nyx centering myself around her. I could see her face, and hear her voice as if she were standing right next to me. I wished she really were standing right next to me. How could she possibly expect me to fight against what I couldn't see? I felt like my knees were going to buckle and groaned.
"Just a bit more, Zoey," I heard Natasha say from somewhere on my left as Neferet sent me another burst of energy.
"That's it!" Neferet whispered fiercely. "You're there! Now begin focusing on an element, trust in Nyx to lead you to the right one."
I took a deep breath in feeling like I would probably be able to sleep for days after this. I was so tired and all I wanted was to rest. I watched Nyx's face focusing on her and listening carefully to my intuition. Nyx had led me in several different ways before whether by appearance or just by a thought or a feeling. Any of those would do.
Fire and water, though most consider them opposites, often work together in many ways, Nyx's voice whispered to me.
Two? She wanted me to use two elements as a defense for the school. I hadn't even attempted that in my morning studies with Neferet yet!
Trust in yourself my u-wi-tsi-a-ge-ya! Trust in your gifts and know that I am never far from you.
I did as she said and began focusing on fire and water as a combination, letting both the elements flow through me. I could feel them mixing within me and I made a face. It felt strange like the fire was becoming thicker, more dense to match the water.
"Zoey?" Neferet questioned softly, sensing the power I was using to control both elements. She seemed to understand I was focusing more than one and gripped me tighter than before. "Stay focused," she whispered coaching me through it.
I nodded as I began to feel the familiar tickle of the elements flowing around and through me. I heard Marla gasp beside me and smiled a little. "I need to be able to see," I whispered over my shoulder.
"Open them slowly, Zoey," Neferet replied. "Make sure you stay focused on your task."
I gave one last nod and then slowly opened my eyes. A small fire rope was weaving itself through the fingers of one hand while water flowed through the fingers of the other. Ever so slowly, taking deep calming breaths, I lifted my hands, aligning my palms so that they were facing each other and then brought them together. The effect was immediate. Steam flew from my clasped hands rising into the air around us. Within moments electricity seemed to fill the air as the two elements battled with each other. I threw my hands forward separating them and concentrating on covering the school grounds. I watched in awe as a silver line like the one that bound our circle began spreading along the ground circling the school and then disappeared into the earth. I looked at the grass and noted that though it looked the same it was entirely different. Heat seemed to be rising from it but not straight heat like from a fire. It was like lightening, filled with energy that would strike out at any who tried to cross its path.
"They're retreating," Marla whispered.
"You're sure?" Stark asked.
"Yes. I can still see them, but they have moved back," she said softly. "I think they'll try to keep their distance," she said slowly, "at least for now."
"Zoey, release your elements," Neferet said softly as well.
I nodded closing the circle and then releasing the elements I had used to create the defensive perimeter. Neferet caught me as began to fall and I clung to her desperately trying to remain standing.
"Don't fight it, Zoeybird," She whispered tenderly to me in her motherly voice. "You did well, but you are going to need to rest."
She wasn't going to get an argument out of me. I wanted to rest and I felt like sleep couldn't come soon enough.
"Here," Natasha whispered handing me a pouch of warm liquid and I knew she was giving me the one thing that would give me enough strength to at least make it back into the school. Blood. I lifted the bag to my lips and downed its contents, sighing as the rich taste exploded in my mouth and a warm energy began to spread through my body renewing me slightly. I licked my lips as I finished and took a deep breath looking at each of my friends.
I smiled sheepishly as I took in Marla's surprised expression. I had forgotten that she had only just arrived at the House of Night, and though she had to know that vampyres needed blood, it was probably a very different experience watching someone drink it.
"That was remarkable, Zoey," Damien said pulling my attention away from Marla's stunned look. He grinned at me, "you're definitely getting stronger."
"I particularly like that you used both fire and water," Shaunee said looking at Erin.
"I completely agree twin," Erin said looking a little smug.
I rolled my eyes, "that was Nyx's decision, not mine," I said giving each of them a small smile. "Trust me, had it been my decision I…" I stopped speaking as a gurgling noise caught my attention. My eyebrows pulled together in confusion as I looked around and then screamed, "No!"
Stevie Rae was standing completely rigid gasping for air, that she was clearly not getting. Her eyes were wide with terror and her fingers were closed around her own throat as if she were choking.
"Stevie Rae!" I yelled trying to pry her hands away from her neck. She didn't even move but stood still as a board, her eyes were completely blank and unseeing as they stared straight ahead. I looked down trying to figure it out. She was inside the line; the spirits shouldn't have been able to reach her. "Marla, what's happening?!" I looked over my shoulder at her to see her face just as panicked and confused as everyone else's.
"I…I'm not sure," she stammered looking past me. "They're not moving," she said shaking her head.
"Zoey, try to move her into the school grounds," Neferet said coming to stand beside me.
I pulled on Stevie Rae gently and felt my heart beat accelerate when it did absolutely nothing. It was as if she was glued to the ground and nothing I did could move her. I reached back for her hands trying to move them again. I knew we only had seconds before she passed out all together.
"She's not in the line, she's on it!" Marla said suddenly. I looked back down. She was right. Stevie Rae hadn't completely crossed the line when she had moved from her position in the circle casting, but neither was she completely on our side.
"I thought you said that they were backing away?" Stark asked raising his bow and arrow and aiming in every direction, though he had no clue who or what he was aiming for.
"They did!" Marla said desperately. "None of them are near us right now…"
"They wouldn't necessarily have to be," Neferet's voice cut through our panic easily. Her voice was completely cold as she gazed out into the trees. "Marla, are you using your gift right now?" Neferet asked her, her voice calmer but still very intense.
"I can always see…" Marla began.
"But are you using your gift?" Neferet questioned intently. I had no idea where Neferet was going with this. All I could do was keep trying to pull on Stevie Rae in a desperate attempt to free her from whatever had a hold on her. "When Natasha and I walked into the temple this evening you were surrounded by spirit, you were half in that world, were you not?" Neferet asked directly.
"Yes," Marla said slowly seeming to understand and I thought I did to. Marla could see the spirits all the time, but she may not have been able to see the spirit world unless she was in spirit form. I watched as the silver wisps began flowing out and around Marla. Her skin became paler than normal, even for a fledgling, almost as if she were becoming transparent. She almost reminded me of the ghost of Christmas past from the Muppet Christmas carol only with brown hair and dark eyes. I watched Marla's breathing become easier as the silver grew brighter around her. It was like she was gaining strength and light. She looked around her, her eyes darting every which way. Finally her eyes seemed to focus and her breathing hitched for a second. "The trees!" Marla gasped pointing at a nearby oak. "They're using the trees."
"Shoot it!" Neferet yelled fiercely causing me to shiver at the power in her voice. She looked at Stark who raised his bow pulling back the arrow and then quickly releasing. The arrow sliced through the air shimmering as it found its mark in the heart of the tree. I shuddered again as a high pitched hissing sound like a tea kettle sounded from the tree. It was a sound of agony and of pain. The leaves slowly folded up falling to the ground and disintegrating, while the branches began to curl in on themselves. The bark turned black and I watched in horror as the tree died before our eyes.
"They can posses' trees?" Erin asked looking freaked. I looked up to see both Natasha and Neferet exchanging glances and knew that this turn of events had them as worried as the rest of us despite the way they appeared to everyone else. I had to admit, this wasn't good. If they could posses trees that meant they could probably also possess other things as well. Marla had told me that everything on the earth has a spirit. That meant, right now, nothing was safe.
I heard Stevie Rae taking in deep shaky breaths and looked back to her. Around her neck now slacked was a vine that had not been visible only moments before. I reached up quickly pulling the dead plant from around her and then hugged her to me, making sure we were both safe inside the protective ring that surrounded the school. She was breathing heavily and more than a little shaky. I pulled back slightly examining her and felt my own anger beginning to rise as I saw the purple bruises that wrapped around her neck and arms.
"She'll heel quickly, Zoey," Neferet whispered reassuringly while also examining her. She sighed seemingly content that the damage to Stevie Rae was not as serious as it could have been, but I could tell she was still upset. She looked at me her green eyes filled with concern for us, but beneath that I could see the power that she still held. She was definitely struggling, a struggle she was letting me see. I could almost feel the hatred and anger that were filling her in this moment and at the same time there was the desire to follow Nyx and do what was right.
"It's not all humans," I reminded her as well as myself. Though in my case it was more of a reminder that it wasn't all of the People of Faith, it was the Elders.
"We will make this right," she nodded as Stark and I helped Stevie Rae back through the trap door.
"What happened?" Aphrodite asked running around the corner of the temple with Darius right next to her looking concerned. She looked at each of us before her eyes stopped on Stevie Rae. "Shit!" She said approaching her glancing at the bruises that ran along her neck. "I could feel her pain and how freaked out she was, but I didn't think…" Aphrodite said shaking her head.
"I thought your imprint was weakening," Shaunee said looking at Aphrodite's demeanor. She looked almost as bad as Stevie Rae did, only without the bruises. Her hair was messed up and she looked extremely pale.
"Clearly not enough," Aphrodite replied scowling.
"They don't share every emotion anymore," Darius explained, "But when the feelings are intense, such as overwhelming fear, it still is passed on to the other person."
"And at times like this, it pretty much bites," Stevie Rae murmured.
"No. Biting is how it happened," Aphrodite said glaring as we walked across the grounds heading towards the infirmary and the red fledgling dorms.
"Are you ok?" I asked Stevie Rae.
"I'm fine," she whispered in her okie twang as Stark and I helped her over to one of the chairs upon entering the infirmary.
"She just needs a little blood," Natasha said smiling as she poured some blood from the mini fridge into a glass for her. I could feel my own mouth watering as the smell hit the air, once again reminding me of how tired and drained I was. Stevie Rae consumed the glass in seconds, the black and blue lines clearing slowly from her skin as she drank. It was amazing how fast red Vampyres healed. They actually healed even quicker than regular vamps as long as they had human blood around.
I sat down next to her letting my head rest against her shoulder. "Stevie Rae, scaring your bff really isn't all that nice," I whispered as I shut my eyes. I yawned slightly as she giggled and I felt myself smile in response as I started drifting off. I could hear everyone around me still discussing what had happened with the tree, but my mind was already wondering off through cloudy mists and starry skies as I fell into a deep sleep, the last hour finally catching up with me.
