I sipped on my pop as I walked trying to take an edge off the thirst that consumed me, but nothing helped. My throat was dry and it felt as though I had been walking in a desert for weeks. I took another long gulp feeling the icy liquid coat my throat, but it did no good. As soon as I swallowed I groaned in frustration. If anything the soda had just made my mouth taste more cottony. In a last ditch effort I chugged the pop swallowing every last drop. My body shook and I realized and I felt light headed as if I were dehydrated. Blood to a vampyre was like water, we needed it to survive, and suddenly I wished that I had finished reading my vamp soc 415 book. How much was enough? Would I always feel like this if I didn't have it regularly?

I pushed open the temple doors and made my way up the stairs to Neferet's office feeling like I was going to vomit. My stomach was cramped matching the dizziness that flowed through my achy body.

"Good morning," Neferet said as soon as I walked through the door. She was smiling, but quickly became concerned as she took in my sluggish demeanor. "Zoey Redbird!" She scolded walking to her mini fridge and pulling out a bag of blood. The intensity of my reaction to the red liquid was overwhelming. My mouth watered and cravings consumed my entire body. "Didn't you have any blood before you went to bed last night?" She asked handing me the bag.

I vaguely remembered Neferet telling me to make sure I drank some before I left the temple, but I had been so overwhelmed by everything that I hadn't thought much on it. Add Aphrodite and her vision to the mix and it had completely slipped my mind.

"I forgot," I said lamely between gulps. The blood wasn't as good as it would have been warmed up, but it still served its purpose. I sucked down the bag as if it was the air and I had been deprived of oxygen for too long. The liquid slid down my throat quenching the dryness that had been making it hard to swallow and making me feel alive and energized.

"Zoey, you cannot forget things that are vital to your well being," She said taking the empty bag from me. "You know blood is imperative for an adult vampyre." She shook her head, "sometimes I forget how much you still need to learn," she said softly giving me a tender motherly look. She walked to her desk picking up one of the many books she had set out this morning and opened it. "You're an adult now, Zoey, but I hope you will still study what you do not know or understand." She handed me the book which was opened to the chapter on blood consumption.

I skimmed the chapter looking for answers to my questions. A lot of it I knew, such as we needed blood daily and that our bodies would crave it, but some of the information was new to me. "An adult vampyre on average will consume approximately three 8oz glasses of blood a day," I read aloud as Neferet sat behind her desk. "While some choose to mix their blood with wines, more benefits are gained from drinking straight blood and is recommended that at least one glass is consumed this way each day."

"Think of it as a vitamin, Zoey," Neferet said in a teacherly voice. "Straight blood gives us an extra jolt and nourishes us. Though living blood is the best, blood like you just drank can be equally beneficial. You would probably do best to start your morning with a glass as you might have had a glass of orange juice in your previous life."

I laughed at the thought of me drinking orange juice. That probably would have been healthier than me grabbing a brown pop each day.

"Will the thirst always be like that?" I asked remembering the dryness that had covered my mouth and throat only moments before. "It felt like I had swallowed sand," I said making a face and licking my lips in an effort to keep them moist.

Neferet smiled, humor filling her moss green eyes. "Only if a whole day passes," she said and then her face became serious once more. "Zoey, this is where you must always be careful. You only had a little taste this morning of what it is like to go without blood. The longer you go the worse the cravings and the worse the side effects. The dryness and thirst would become unbearable and your body would be raked with cramps and nausea as your body struggled to gain the nutrients it was missing. Blood keeps us energized renews our strength each day. While Vampyres are very humane and do not normally attack, those who have been without blood for too long have been known to temporarily lose their better judgment. Of course the humans in those cases walked away relatively unharmed and you know from personal experience that after they were bitten they more or less enjoyed it, but…"

"But imprints were probably formed and all hell probably broke lose too from the public," I finished for her thinking about Heath and the few times he had tried to tempt me to drink from him in public. That would have been bad enough with him being a willing participant, but for a vampyre to lose his mind and bite an unsuspecting victim and be caught. That would be bad.

"We work very hard to keep up our peaceful appearance and try to give the humans as little reason to fear us as possible," she sighed. "Most still fear us anyway, but these incidents only bring accusations down on us and when people are afraid…"
"They don't act rationally," I sighed. I had learned more than once over the last few months that fear and ignorance breed hate. People fear what they don't know or what they don't understand and in our case that meant vampyres.

"Precisely," She gave me a little smile. "Zoey, I know you went through the change and no longer have to attend class or even listen to me, but I hope that as a favor to me you will continue to read you vamp soc book and approach me with any questions you might have."

I nodded, but that answered one question. I no longer had to attend classes. I felt a little jab and realized that I was going to miss going. I didn't know anything else but school and though I was finding the transition to High Priestess easier and easier each day, I was going to miss being a student. "Maybe I could still at least attend vamp soc," I said thoughtfully.

"I would like that and I think that would be good for you. Still, that is entirely up to you," She said softly and then stood up. "However, first things first," she said taking the book from my hand and then pulling me towards the door. We walked through the halls at a fast pace and I could see the spark of excitement Neferet was barely keeping contained. I looked at her curiously, but she continued to only gaze straight forward as though she were looking for something in particular.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we rounded the corner heading to a part of the temple I had never seen before. She smiled and then stopped in front of a thick oak door pulling a key out from around her neck. I had noticed the gold chain this morning upon entering her office, but my thirst had distracted me and I hadn't really given it much thought. She put the key into the lock turning it until the door clicked and she was able to push it open. I could see the soft glow of oil lamps as she stepped in taking my hand once more and leading me into the room.

"Well what do you think?" she asked.

I would have answered, but I had been stunned to silence. I looked around the beautiful furnished room and had to remind myself to breath. The room was sleek and stylish and completely trendy. The walls of course were made from the same black stone as the rest of the castle, but the furniture and décor had been bought to accent it, making the room look as if it should be in some designer show. The floors had been done in a light cream colored carpet that went amazingly with the white and black furniture. There were several windows that had beautiful magenta curtains that matched the designer pillows that sat at each end of the couch. Besides the couch were two chairs, a coffee table and a flat screen TV that hung from the wall.

I turned looking at Neferet feeling completely dumbfounded. "Is this…I mean…"I struggled for words.

"Zoey each student who goes through the change is given a gift to get them started in their new life. It would be cruel of us just to push you out into the world without giving our students a little help. Of course if you'd like to move on the furniture would be yours and we would give you enough money to get a place of your own, but I was kind of hoping that you would stay," she said eyeing me uncertainly and I felt myself stumbling over the words of gratitude that should have been pouring from my lips. "Come on," she said once again pulling me through another door.

The next room was as beautiful as the first and I realized that I wasn't just getting a couple of rooms in the temple; I was getting my own suite. The bedroom was gorgeous. The black stone was complimented by the light sky blue carpet. The bed was huge and covered in a soft down comforter and huge plush pillows. Picture frames decorated the night stand and I realized a few of them had been filled with pictures of my friends and my grandma. Contemporary art work also lined the walls and fresh lavender had been put in vases scattered across the room sitting on dressers and vanity sets. The whole room reminded me of summer days on my grandma's lavender farm and I instantly loved it!

Off the bedroom was my bathroom which was huge containing both a shower and a bathtub. The shower was nothing too special, but the tub was filled with jets and big enough to seat at least four people comfortably. More lavender sat on the marble sink and I smiled as my feet touched the beautifully tiled floor.

"It's beautiful, Neferet," I said looking around in awe and wondering what her apartment looked like. It seemed as though they had spared no expense and I wasn't sure I deserved that much. I wondered briefly what other students who went throught he change got, but decided to ask Erik that question later. Neferet's eyes twinkled with delight as she watched my reaction. Her long auburn hair fell around her reminding me of the first time I had seen her and how she had led me across campus. It was hard to believe that I was going to be doing the same for other students. "Thank you," I said hugging her tightly and once again wishing she had been my mother.

"You're welcome," she said smiling as she pulled back from the hug and handing me the antique looking key. "Oh before I forget," she said crossing the bedroom once more and opening a smaller door on the side of the dresser. She stepped in and my mouth fell open once again. "You're going to need some more clothes," Neferet winked as she began rummaging through the various colored garments in my closet. "Each has been embroidered with the Mark of the goddess so you won't have to worry about your uniform. Oh and…" She reached up on one of the shelves pulling down a black box and handing it to me.

I opened it to find a silver chain with a pendent of the goddess's symbol on it.

"Just in case you choose to wear something else," Neferet smiled and then headed back to the living room. "The top door of your dresser contains several pairs of sunglasses and a cloak if you ever need to go out in the daylight hours. The kitchen is through the door over there and has been fully stocked with blood and brown pop. If you'd like to buy some snacks there is a visa gift card in the first cupboard drawer. However, you probably won't need much as all meals are still provided by the school. You may eat in the staff dining hall, or like Erik and Darius you can eat in the student dining hall with your friends. The decision is yours," Neferet said glancing at her gold diamond studded watch. I knew it was getting close to time for classes to start.

"Thank you, Neferet," I said again looking around the room in amazement. "It's great, and I love it!"

"Good," she said sitting down on one of my couches. "Have you given anymore thought to how we are going to create a world out of spirit?" she glanced towards the window and I felt the earth tremble slightly beneath us. I was becoming so use to the small tremors that I barely noticed them anymore, but I knew that they were just another sign that we were running out of time.

"I haven't really had time," I admitted truthfully also sitting. It always just seemed to be one thing or another. If I wasn't dealing with Stark or some friend problem, than Aphrodite was having a vision, fledglings were dying or I was going through the change. Welcome to the life of a High Priestess, I told myself smiling inwardly. "We need to create a place we can draw and trap the demons, but it's going to take a lot of concentration," I said pulling my concentration back to the conversation and the question Neferet had asked me. "We all are going to have to be on the same page ahead of time which means we're all going to have to envisions the place the same and…" I stopped speaking and started thinking about what I was saying. Envisioning the place exactly the same would be the problem. We all saw things differently and I was sure if I described and image one way that Stevie Rae or any of the others would see it another way. But what if the image already existed and we all already knew what it looked like and felt like and even smelt like?

"What's on your mind, Zoeybird," Neferet said using the term of endearment that only she and grandma called me by.

"What if we all envisioned a place we already know?" I asked as a smile formed on my face. I met Neferet's piercing gaze and smiled as she seemed to sense my thoughts. Though she still couldn't hear them Neferet knew me extremely well and even though I had gone through the change she could still pick up on the general direction of my thought patterns.

"Your thinking of the House of Night," Neferet said in understanding.

"Yes, think about it, the demons are trying to get in, what if we let them, or made them think we let them. We envision the school; create a world identical to the school campus only it's a world we control!" I said feeling excited.

"How do you plan on tricking them to enter this world?" Neferet asked raising an eyebrow. She had a point. We couldn't just envision the world and expect the demons to follow us there.

"The strongest mind wins," I whispered to myself. I bit my bottom lip as I thought about the situation. "The strongest mind wins Neferet," I said looking up at her. "What if one of us went to the school gates and opened them," I said and then realized that the only person that would be able to do that was me. I was the one who had put the protective circle around the school. "We make them think they are winning, that they are breaking through my defenses entering the school, but use the entrance as a gateway to the world we created. We pull them to us."

"It would have to be you," Neferet said echoing my thoughts. "Who would be maintaining the circle?"

I didn't even have to think twice about the name as came from my lips. "Aphrodite." She was the one person I knew would feel comfortable casting my circle. Not to mention she had shown countless times that she had no problems bossing my friends around or taking control in dangerous situations.

"Sounds like you have a lot of planning to do," Neferet said standing up once more. "I'll leave you to think everything out and will see you for vamp soc," she said gracefully moving towards the door. "I know you'll have no problem thinking up a plan, Zoey. Nyx is with you and she will see you through." She smiled and then shut the door leaving me alone with my thoughts. Clearly she did not understand how many times my friends and I had simply winged it and hoped for the best. The last time had been our departure to Italy to face her. We hadn't really had a plan just a general course of direction. Truth be told I had more to go on now than I had had then.

I reached in my purse digging for my cell phone. I had two new messages and I was fairly certain I at least knew who one of them was from. Heath. I read his text and frowned.

Zoey? What happened?

I chewed on my lip for a second considering how best to respond. I wanted to let him down easy and make sure he was ok.

I went through the change last night. I typed out simply. It took only seconds to get a reply.

Our imprint broke again, didn't it? I could almost hear the sadness in his voice, but I pushed it aside. This was for the best.

Yes, all imprints are broken when a fledgling changes or dies. I answered repeating Neferet's once harsh words. Are you ok? I asked wanting to make certain that the severing of the bond between us had been as gentle for him as it was for me. I remembered the intense pain I had suffered when Loren died and I knew that the last time my imprint with Heath had been broken it had nearly destroyed his soul.

I'm fine. It felt nothing like last time which is why I was confused. Mostly I just feel like something's missing.

I sighed. I felt as if something was missing too, but for me it was a good kind of missing like when you lose your training wheels on your first bike. You miss them but you know that to grow you have to let them go.

Can I see you? His next text asked and I exhaled slowly. Part of me wanted to see him to make sure he was alright. Not to mention he had always been a big part of my life. It felt odd to think of him as having no part in my life, but since I also didn't know where he fit it didn't seem like a wise decision.

Not right now. I replied. There's just way too much going on and its dangerous right now. You need to stay away from the House of Night.

Why? I've helped you before, and I could probably help you now.

Typical Heath. He could never just take no for an answer.

Heath I don't want you to get hurt.

And I don't want you to get hurt. I hear about all those fledglings dying yesterday. Something really bad is happening there, I can feel it. I felt it sense that night that girl disappeared at the store. I think you need as much help as you can get. Heath wrote passionately. For a dumb football player he was great at debate and he was probably right. The more minds we had helping us the stronger we would be when the time came for us to set our plan in motion.

I'll think about it. I wrote back. I'll be in touch.

I closed out his message and then clicked over to see the other text. Grandma had left last night to go speak with Sister Mary Angela about helping us with our spiritual battle. At least that was what her text said. That was good. We had determined last night that Street Cats would be the best location to form our circle and launch our spiritual attack. It had the greatest source of power and it was there that we would be the most protected. I punched in her number listening to the phone ring for several seconds before she picked up.

"Zoey?" My grandma's voice answered from the other line.

"Morning, grandma," I said smiling, "Or I guess evening for you. Are you still with Sister Mary Angela?" I asked hearing soft meows from the other end.

"Yes, we got a new shipment of cat supplies today," grandma said and I heard Sister in the background telling someone else to get back to work. "I told her of our predicament and the Sisters are more than willing to help us."

"Good, we're going to need all the help we can get," I said echoing Heath's words and knowing I probably didn't have enough of a reason to keep Heath away especially if we could use him. I filled grandma in on Aphrodite's latest vision and mentally kicked myself for forgetting to mention it to Neferet. That was still the one part of my plan I still had no idea how to handle.

"Perhaps the Sisters could be of some service in that department, u-wi-tsi-a-ge-ya," she said softly. "They have been known to offer some spiritual protection of their own," my grandma said reminding me of when I had to ask Sister Mary Angela to protect grandma's hospital room.

"That might help," I said, "but not if the Elders walk into a trap." I told grandma of my earlier discussion with Aphrodite. We knew that a vampyre was behind all of this and that he was somehow connected to the Elders and my latest theory that they might not realize that the person they were following was a vampyre. "We can only do so much, grandma. Our plan will work, but if this vamp manages to kill any of the Elders the odds could begin to tip in his favor."

"Then we'll just have to come up with some way to keep the Elders protected," my grandma said matter-of-factly as if that were the easiest thing in the world. Maybe it was and I just wasn't seeing the solution. I sighed. "We'll figure something out daughter. I feel even now that your goddess is strengthening you for this battle."

I smiled as I realized that Nyx already had and I quickly told grandma about having gone through the change the night before.

"It was only a matter of time," my grandma said thoughtfully. "You will be victorious, my u-wi-tsi-a-ge-ya."

"Thanks grandma," I said feeling slightly less discouraged. I asked my grandma if she would mind getting some cat supplies from Sister Mary Angela for Marla's new kitten then hung up the phone and returned to Neferet's office. She had pulled every book on spiritual defense that the school had. It was going to be long day, but I was determined to have a solid plan before I met with everyone again tonight. Grandma was right, we would be victorious, because there really was no other option.

So not only did I manage to get a chapter up quickly, but it's the longest one I written in a while. Let me know what you think and thank you for all the great reviews, feedback and ideas you all have been submitting! ;-)