It was dark, which normally wouldn't be a problem, considering I have amazing night vision as a fledgling, but this was a different kind of darkness all together. There was no moon and that had to be because there was no sun either. I couldn't remember what happened to the sun or the moon, just that they were no longer admitting any light. I ran through the thick forest searching. I couldn't remember what I was searching for, but I knew it was important. I could feel it over the overwhelming sense of fear and dread that seemed to be following me. Were the trees getting closer together? That wasn't possible was it?
"Zoey!" My name echoed through the forest and I stopped spinning around searching for the source. "Zoey!" It cried again.
I knew that voice! "Stevie Rae!" I shouted feeling panicked. "Stevie Rae where are you?!" I spun around trying to see through the forest but the trees just kept getting thicker. It was getting harder and harder to walk, let alone run. I started running to my left. I was pretty sure that's where the voice was coming from.
"Zoey!" I stopped dead in my tracks turning in the opposite direction. Damien? I knew it was his voice. "Help us, Zoey!" His voice was rugged and terrified. I spun in a circle not sure which way I was supposed to go or who I was supposed to save first.
"Zoey, help me," Marla's voice whispered to me and I looked over to see her walking towards me covered in blood. Cuts and bruises covered her body. "Please," her eyes pleaded with me, "You're my mentor." I walked over to her breathing heavy. She was injured worse than she had been last time. I reached out for her just as something grabbed her and pulled her back into the forest, away from me. Her screams of terror filled the night sky and I followed her, sure that I would also find Stevie Rae and Damien there.
I pushed aside the branches as I ran feeling thorns and twigs dig into my skin. I could feel the hot trickle of blood as it ran down my arms and legs, but I didn't care. I broke through the trees nearly falling into a clearing I hadn't been expecting to come. I placed my hands on my knees and stood trying to catch my breath. I could hear the forest moving around me. The trees were shifting again and I could hear hissing and roaring as the shadows seemed to move with them. I felt the earth move as the creatures walked, though I still couldn't see them and I felt like I was in Jurassic Park!
"Help us," Erin's voice whispered. I spun around widely, gasping when I saw every single one of my friends tied to trees by vines that were still moving and growing, tightening their hold. I looked at the trees and shivered. Their bark was darker and even the green leaves that covered them seemed less bright. It was as if something had changed the heart of the trees, taking away the life that usually filled them.
I began walking towards them trying to block out the fear I was feeling. I took two steps and stopped as Stevie Rae let out another scream. The closer to them I moved the tighter the vines closed around them. I raised my hand ready to call fire to me to burn the vines away and stopped as the trees started shaking. Then, as if they had been part of the trees all along, the People of Faith Elders stepped out from inside the trees and I gasped again. They formed a half circle all looking at me, hatred and disgust decorating their features. I took an involuntary step back as they moved forward.
"You should have let us save you," my mother's voice sounded from behind me. I turned to see her coming towards me holding a vile of 'secret medicine.' "Drink this, Zoey," my mother said her voice soft and tender. She almost sounded like the mother I used to know, when she had been giving me cough syrup as a child. "Drink this it will help you," she encouraged. I took a step away from her and felt hands grab me from behind.
"NO!" I screamed trying to fight my way free.
"Zoey!" Starks voice screamed through the chaos.
His voice seemed to clear my head from the fear that was flowing through my mind. "Fire I need you," I yelled as that hands began to force me down while my mother got closer to me with the vile.
"Zoey, Wake up!" Starks voice yelled again.
Wake up?
"Zoey, Zoey!" Starks voice repeated as he shook me awake. "Are you alright?" he asked as soon as I opened my eyes. He looked concerned, perhaps even frightened as he leaned over me, examining my face.
I looked around me completely dazed. I didn't remember going back to my room, but that's where I was. Stark or somebody must have carried me back from the infirmary. Either way I wasn't in any forest; I was at the House of Night. I sighed wiping my hand across my forehead. My skin was cold and sweaty and completely gross. I was definitely going to need a shower.
"Zoey?" Stark questioned and I realized I still hadn't answered him.
"Bad dream," I said clearing my throat as I sat up. "I think those demon creatures are starting to get to me." I shook my head trying to clear the images of the Elders surrounding me.
"You were really screaming," Stark said sitting down next to me on the bed. "You had me kind of worried."
I knew this must've seemed like a replay to him of win Kalona and Neferet were entering my dreams. "It was just a dream," I told him softly and I knew it was. "My mind is just trying to take everything in, including the fact that my parents might be involved."
"You're parents?" He questioned pulling me to his chest as we both leaned back against the bed frame.
"The step-loser is an Elder," I whispered even though he already knew that. Everyone in the whole state had to know. Since we had returned from Venice he had made it quite clear who he was and who he thought I was. "They were trying to poison me like the others," I said looking up at his face, "in the dream, I mean," I added quickly as Stark's eyes started to narrow. I didn't want him getting worked up even though it could very possibly have been true. Had the step- loser intended to kill me the day I was Marked? Even more disturbing was did my mother know it? Would she have gone along with it and just let him?
I thought that now she probably she would. I remembered her words to me when I had released her from Neferet in Venice. She had sworn that I was no longer her daughter, and that I was too consumed with evil. She now believed as the Step-loser believed, which was that Vampyres were all evil monsters. But would she have let him kill me then?
"Well hopefully we'll find out more about the situation today," he said confusing me slightly. "Parents visitations are just after lunch," he said in response to my mystified expression.
I had completely forgotten about parent visitations being today. The one good thing was that that meant I would get to see my grandma, and since I was pretty sure that my mother and the Step-loser wouldn't be coming, my day probably wouldn't be that bad. At least not a on a personal level anyway, I would still have to keep an eye on the other parents and look for anything suspicious. We had already lost three fledglings; we were not going to lose any more if I could help it.
"It's going to be ok, you know," Stark said softly playing with a strand of my hair. "The Sun's of Erebus are going to be scattered throughout the campus all night. None of the students will be left unattended for even a minute."
I nodded as his lips found mine and began to move against them gently. I pressed back firmly opening my mouth slightly as his tongue caressed my lips. I welcomed him in enjoying the feelings as we explored each other's mouths, our tongues battling for space and control. I turned toward him, moving my legs so that I was straddling him as his hands settled on my waist. I locked my arms around his neck and sighed against him as one of his hands moved up my back under my loose fitting tank top.
I should've cared that I was gross, that I needed a shower, but I didn't. I needed him, his touch; I needed to feel good and to get lost in the sensations. He moved from my lips gently kissing my neck finding my pulse point before biting slightly. I swallowed as his hand moved up and his nail grazed against my skin. I knew what he was doing and I knew I should stop him, but this time I couldn't. Heath my mind whispered softly as Stark's tongue ran across my neck licking up the blood that had escaped from the small incision he had made and I groaned. His lips pressed firmly to the cut as my head fell back giving him more room.
He brushed my hair to the side and my breath caught as he began drinking, a moan escaping from between my lips as colors began dancing all around me. All I could see were colors swirling around me as my body escalated to amazing heights of pleasure. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. Even when Loren had drank from me it had never felt like this. I leaned forward pressing myself more closely to him as his hands began caressing my body. He was everywhere and I shut my eyes just enjoying the sensations.
All of my senses seemed sharper and yet dimmed at the same time. I could feel every move he made against my skin; hear every noise including my short breathing and my heart hammering in my chest. I could see Stark and the colors that kept exploding in my vision, but nothing else existed except for us.
I collapsed onto him breathing hard as his arms enfolded me like a warm blanket of protection. I felt amazing and yet extremely tired again and I made a face when I realized I wouldn't have time to go back to sleep for a little bit. More than that was the realization that the imprint with Heath hadn't been broken, by Stark drinking my blood. This confused me, but I was also kind of glad only for the fact that I couldn't bear to hurt him again that way. I knew that if I broke the imprint it would tear his heart and soul, but at the same time I had to be able to move on and live my life.
I could feel Heath just below the surface of my consciousness. He seemed confused, but not overly sure of what had happened. That was good; it meant our imprint was weakening.
I smiled as Stark lowered his head kissing my hairline.
"You know we have to get up," he whispered softly.
I groaned slightly, "I know," I whispered back. He sat us both up again moving so that our feet touched the floor. I heard a familiar Mee-uf-ow and looked down to see Nala climbing through her cat door looking kind of annoyed. She walked over jumping on my bed and then started complaining at me as normal. "I know, I know," I told her as I stood up taking her into my arms. I gave Stark a small smile and then grabbed a change of clothes and walked into the bathroom. I put Nala down on the counter and then shut the door. I leaned back against the wall and exhaled, trying to figure out how I felt exactly about what had just happened.
I loved Stark, and I wanted to be with him, and him drinking my blood seemed like an obvious next step. Plus it had felt good, I mean really good! I had never experienced so many sensations at one time and it had been amazing. The only thing I wasn't completely sure about was how this new step fit into my already crazy and mixed up life. I had needed an escape so I let what I normally would have stopped proceed, and I was glad I had, because I really did have feelings for Stark. But, it kind of seemed like that meant that I was shifting Starks position in my life and I wasn't sure where that put him and I. And how did Stark perceive what had just happened?
"Zoey, why do you always have to complicate things?" I whispered to myself as I turned on the shower water. I let it run for a minute and then stepped under the faucet letting the water cascade through my hair and down my body. I brought my hands up running them over my face and down my neck. I could barely feel the little cut that Stark had made as it was already healing and fading and I sighed. I grabbed the shampoo bottle and quickly lathered my hair and rinsed it out before washing the rest of me and conditioning. I dried just as quickly and climbed from the shower throwing my clothes on and letting my hair fall down around me to dry by itself.
Nala complained at me again and I shook my head at her as I walked back out into my room. Stark was still sitting on my bed waiting for me and offered me a smile as I made my way into the room.
"I suppose we should get downstairs," I said as he joined me and kissed me softly on the lips.
"I suppose you're right," He said giving me a cocky grin. I grabbed a pair of shoes and my cell phone and then headed down stairs with Stark and Nala right behind me.
I didn't know what to make of the scene before me when I first walked into the common room. All of my friends were huddled in a circle in the corner looking as if they were discussing something important. Then I realized they weren't discussing anything at all. None of them were even speaking; they were just staring down at the floor at something I couldn't see through them.
"What's going on?" I asked as we approached them.
"Hell has officially frozen over, that's what happened," Shaunee said in amazement.
"That's really the only way to explain it, twin," Erin said shaking her head.
"You can see hell from there?" Stark asked in a sarcastic voice and I watched as both Shaunee and Erin turned towards him with dangerous expressions.
"Why don't you come look for yourself, before you just start spilling attitude all over us!" Shaunee said glaring.
"Really, I have to say this is something I never would have expected," Damien said as I walked through their little huddle and looked down.
My eyes grew wide when I saw what they had all been gawking at. Lying on the floor cuddling and bathing the kittens was none other than the devil cat herself, Maleficent! I felt my mouth fall open, but no words came out. Maleficent had a soft side? I shook my head as Aphrodite rolled her eyes at our dumbfounded expressions.
"I don't know what you are all so surprised about," Aphrodite scowled.
"We're surprised that evil incarnate has suddenly become the soft mother of the year," Shaunee said still watching the kittens as Maleficent hissed in her direction.
"Well someone had to take care of those kittens," Aphrodite said flipping her hair as she moved from the circle. She looked at me and then cocked her head as she noticed the small pink mark on my neck.
Her eyes narrowed and I nodded only to find that she wasn't the only one who had been looking. Across the room Erik stood staring in our direction, his eyes hurt, but resigned. Ah crap! I swallowed as a wave of guilt went through me and then turned away. I didn't know what I was going to say to him, and this was just one more confusion I had to consider in my life. I had tried to end things with Erik, but that hadn't gone as simply as I had hoped. He insisted that things between us weren't over and part of me thought he was right. Because no matter how much distance I put between us or how much I loved and turned to Stark, there were always still feelings there for Erik.
"Hey ya'll," Stevie Rae said handing both Aphrodite and I a kitten and a dripper with same formula. "Why don't you make yourself useful and help us feed them?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
"Of course," I smiled and then laughed as Jack picked up one of the blankets from the bed we had made them and plugged his nose. The kittens hadn't exactly been litter box trained.
"Better him than me," Aphrodite said plopping down on the couch and holding the kitten to her chest. Stevie Rae and I did the same and I looked down admiring the black, white and orange kitten in my hands. He made a little mew sound and I smiled at him gently rubbing behind his ears.
"So when did that happen?" Aphrodite asked casually looking at my neck.
I watched Stevie Rae's eyes followed hers and then widen, "Ohmydearsweet lord!" She gasped as she tried to pull her kitten from her shirt. "Stark?" She questioned.
I nodded. "It just kind of happened this morning," I said sighing. "I wasn't exactly planning it." I filled the dropper with formula and watched as the kitten in my hands began hungrily drinking from it.
"Well Erik doesn't look too happy," Stevie Rae pointed out and I grimaced as I looked over towards him once more. He was now over talking with Damien and Jack, but every few seconds his eyes would glance in my directions. Great, just great I thought sounding a lot like the twins. I looked at the clock and sighed again. We had one hour till lunch and then parent visitations would begin. Now wasn't the time to be trying to figure out all of my boy issues which once again seemed to be perfectly timed with more stressing matters. I pet the kitten absently while she ate and my mind went back and forth from, Stark, to Erik, to the dream I had just had, to my mother and the step-loser, and then to the Elders in general and the three fledglings that had died.
Nyx! I thought shaking my head and craving her guidance. Maybe a trip to her temple before lunch wouldn't be a bad idea.
