I woke feeling refreshed that evening. I felt like days had passed since I had last woken. I stretched my arms up and out with a big yawn. I turned to see that Grandma wasn't in her bed, I didn't worry so much, she probably got up and made herself something to eat and is probably walking around the grounds doing whatever it is that she does. I got up and used the bathroom, washed my face, brushed my teeth. I checked myself out in the mirror, I even looked refreshed. No strange visitors in my sleep or in the mirror this early evening. That was a plus. I walked out of the bathroom and grabbed some jeans and t-shirt, pulled my hair up into a messy knot on top of my head and walked out of the door.
I decided to check on Aphrodite, she'd been having the same visions as I and I just wanted to be sure she was ok. As I got to her door and before I knocked she opened it. "That's the only advantage to this bond is that I can sense when you're coming, so I had time to get dressed…"
I laughed and walked in the door. "I can't stay long; I'm meeting Erik for breakfast…" I started.
"Ahh, how's that going for you? You know your treading on a silver lining Zoey when it comes to those two guys. You just should have Darius hook you up with a Son of Erebus and get over Stark and Erik all together." Aphrodite said as she sat down at her vanity and began her 'beauty ritual' she called it, applying moisturizers, foundation, and conceler.
"You know your still a very beautiful girl without all the makeup" I pointed out as I put my hands on her shoulders and looked at her in the mirror.
"Well, thank you for the compliment, but I don't leave my room without my face on" she smiled.
"So you're ok? I know my dreams have been really weird."
"I want to talk to you about that Zoey" she turned around on her little stool and placed her hands in her lap. "Why do you think your having these visions and they don't just come from me?"
"I don't know, maybe Nyx is trying to show me something? I have no clue Aphrodite."
"I think something is up with your real parents and we need to find out quick. Usually my visions are days or hours, weeks or even years ahead of when it's supposed to happen. We need to find out now if they are planning anything and if anything's already been put into place."
"I think your right. Unfortunately, I doubt my mom would want to talk to me, considering what happened in the Tunnels when she saw my Dad. I'm surprised at least that they weren't eaten by the Raven Mockers." I laughed.
"Well, that would have saved us a lot of grief in the long run if they did!" Aphrodite's eye brows arched high as a mischievous grin crossed her face.
"You're bad!" I laughed with her, "Ok, well, I came to check that you were ok, I'm going to get something to eat…I'm starved."
"You mean some one?" Aphrodite laughed once again.
"What?"
"Someone to eat…not thing. One. Your precious Stark has found donors for all of you. I hate to say that I really envy you all, but I don't want to chance drinking straight from a donor right now. That's still a bit…ewe to me." Aphrodite's nose curled up.
"Well, that's fine. After breakfast though, I want to call you all together, you, the prefect, and we're going to cast a protection spell around the grounds, ok?"
"Fine, I'll get the stuff and we'll meet you at the east wall?"
"Perfect, thanks my charming Consulate!" I said as I turned to leave.
As I was walking from Aphrodite's room back to my own I met Erik in the hall. "Well, good timing you have."
"Yes Pad wan, feed we must" he said laughing at his semi-yoda impression. The boy was hopelessly in love with Star Wars. "Checking on the wicked witch of the west?"
"Be nice" I told him. "She's my consulate now and we both had a semi rough night last night"
"Another dream?" Erik asked.
"Yeah, and it wasn't pretty. It seems as though Aphrodite and I are sharing visions as we have them."
"Ahh, what was this one about?"
"Let's go get something…or by Aphrodite's words, someone to eat and I'll tell you all about it." I said as I walked in my room to grab my purse then back out again to close my door. Erik and I set off to the dining hall, where the note on the common rooms said there would be donors for anyone who required blood for nourishment and to meet in the Professors Lounge.
On our walk to the dining hall I told Erik all about my dream. He listened with interest and didn't butt in at all; he let me give him all the details and listened with an earnest ear.
"I think Aphrodite might actually be right Z. I think you need to talk to your parents." He suggested.
"How? John would tell me that if any demon came after me, it would because I'm Satan's Child anyways and my mother would just agree with him."
"What about Heath?" Erik suggested.
My eyes veered to him in surprise, "Heath? I haven't spoken to him in weeks, not since…well, the whole thing before Kalona. I don't think he'd do me any favors after what we've been through"
"But it's worth a shot right? He did always tell you he'd do anything for you. Now's a chance to take him up on the offer" Erik shrugged. "It's worth a try"
I thought about it for a minute, maybe he was right. Maybe it was worth a try to talk to Heath and see if he could talk to my mom and step-loser dad to see if they were up to anything. I would soon realize that my plan would unravel all too soon because as soon as we entered the dining hall and up to the Professors Lounge, Heath was standing right in the middle with all the donors that were lined up like a buffet table.
"Zo!" Heath yelled and waved frantically at me. I just gave a sideways glance to Erik who was trying to contain his laughter. I saw Stark in the corner and gave him quiet the evil look; he just shrugged his shoulders like he didn't know what he'd done. Oh would he know soon enough.
I walked to Heath and pulled him out of the line, of course cutting in front of a red fledgling that might possibly liked Heath and hissed at me. I turned to face her face to face and stared her down and she backed away. "What are you doing here?!" I demanded as I took hold of his muscular arm and I noticed that he had bite marks along his neck.
"I joined this group online of people who like Vampires; I figured I would check it out. Well they told us about the House of Night have contaminated blood and would need donors that were willing for the vampires to bite them in order for them to get nourishment. I figured I would be able to see you, so I agreed to come. I believe that's your friend over in the corner right?" he pointed to Stark.
"Yeah, but why did you let other people bite you Heath?"
"Well, if they need it, I have it, I'll help in any way I can. As you've told me a million times in the past, we're no longer together. I get that now." His face drew to a close and suddenly his eyes got hard.
"I'm sorry Heath. Ironically I was just talking about you and was planning to give you a call." I smiled.
"Well, why don't you let me know now what you need and I can get back to what I was here for. Unless you need some as well" he gave his cocky smile. I looked up at Erik who wasn't very happy about this situation and almost snarled.
"Ahh, big boyfriend Vampire here doesn't seem to like me too much" Heath pointed to Erik. "What's his deal?" he leaned in and whispered into my ear. I couldn't help but to chuckle a bit.
"You've been a menace since Zoey first got here." Erik said not even playing off that he didn't hear Heath at all. "I'm not entirely surprised by you being here, but I don't like it either you being so…cozy."
I gave Erik a look with my eye brow arched then rolled my eyes. I wasn't going to get into this again. Here comes the jealously. "Come boys, let's feed Erik and we'll discuss with Heath what we were talking about"
I guided Heath and Erik to a nearby table and sat down. Heath took out a small razor and held it up to his neck; I took his hand and told him to stop. "No, you don't need to cut yourself." I looked at him and grabbed his hand. I flipped it over palm up and raised it to my mouth. I took one last look at Heath before I chomped down on his fleshy thumb. Electricity buzzed through me. I felt desire and heat, passion all rolled up into one. I didn't want to stop. Erik grabbed his other hand and did the same, thoroughly enjoying the fact he was feeding on the human he despised so much.
Heath's head tilted back as he moaned in delight. When we feed from a human, it sends waves of pleasure not only through us, but through the human as well. When I got my fill I licked the wounds close and licked my lips, hardly able not to notice the massive erection that Heath had as Erik finished up with his "breakfast".
"Wow!" Heath let out. "I'd always imagined a three-some, but not with another dude…but hey, that was…extraordinary!"
I just laughed and Erik even managed to chuckle a bit. "Ok, so what do you need from me now?" Heath asked.
I looked at Erik one last time and he nodded to me, "This is going to sound ridiculous, but I need to ask you a huge favor"
"Zo, what favor could you ask that I wouldn't do? I've always done anything for you" his eyes gleamed in mine and there I saw the boy that I first fell in love with years ago. I smiled at him and cast my eyes down.
"I need you to visit my mom and John"
"Those wacko's! Are you serious? What for?"
"I need to know if they are involved with something. I can't call myself because they would never tell me, but they might tell you, or maybe you could use your incredible breaking in techniques to find out for me"
"Hmm" Heath scratched his chin, "And what do I get in return?"
"You'll get to live!" Erik boomed and leaned over Heath.
"Hey, Hey!" Heath put his hands up in defense. "I don't mean any disrespect, I just mean, and what do I get if I do this for her?"
"Well, you'll get to live, like Erik said, and I promise not to bother you again" I said.
"Zo" Heath leaned in close to me, "I've never wanted you to not bother me again. I've always loved you, no matter what. We've been together since we were kids! It kills me that we don't talk anymore."
"Ok, I'll make you a deal, if you do this for me, I promise to keep in touch…BUT, you have to promise that you won't be running over here all the time and trying to win me back. I can't be in a relationship with you anymore Heath. You're a Human. I'm a Vampire, and now I'm High Priestess."
"Oh really! Well congrats! I heard that High Priestess's can have human lovers though" Heath winked at Erik and Erik growled back.
"Ok, this is enough, are you going to do this for her or not?" Erik commanded. I pulled on his arm.
"Sit down Erik!" I yelled at him, loud enough for the whole room to hear. "Now, Heath, I will not take a human lover, nor do I have a lover at all right now" I eyed Erik. "Nor do I plan on taking one any time soon. I can't afford to have you, Erik or Stark distracting me with notes of love and promises. I can't do it right now. But I promise, as High Priestess, and as your friend of many years, I will keep in contact with you. Now will you do me this favor?"
Heath looked at me then back at Erik, "Fine…what do I need to find out?"
I smiled and proceeded to give Heath all the details what he was to ask about, what to look for. He even offered to follow John to his People of the Faith meetings and go to the church to sniff around. I tried to tell him that might be a little too dangerous, but you know how boys are, they'll never listen. Once we got the plan laid in place, Heath would sniff around, if he found anything he was to let me know immediately. I told him to especially look for small vials of what looked like blood and to obtain a sample but under no circumstances open the vile or smell or drink it. He understood and once we were finished we parted ways. Erik and I left the dining hall and headed outside where I was going to have many words with him about how he acted in there.
The moment we were out of the dining hall and I scanned the courtyard to make sure no one was outside I pulled Erik to the side. He thought I was playing around with him and he wrapped his arms around me. I quickly threw them back at him, "Listen to me Erik, the whole reason we are done with is because of this jealously. You seriously need to back off. I won't have you making threats to Heath, and I don't care what kind of relationship I've had with him in the past. You will not under any circumstances threaten other people's lives unless they've directly threatened yours. Do you hear me?" I scolded him.
"Yes, I'm sorry Priestess" he cast his eyes down in shame. I was furious with him but I felt bad that I got on his case pretty hard.
"Look, sorry I yelled at you like that. It's just, if we want him to do this for us, and it was your idea to begin with, we can't just threaten him to do it." I grabbed his chin and made him looked at me, "I'm not with Heath anymore, I don't want to be with Heath anymore and I won't ever be with Heath anymore. You need to get past that."
"I'm sorry too. I was rash and I deserved the scolding. I just…I just feel so much for your Z, that any other guy looking at you, touching you, even playing with you makes me jealous. I'm envious of the attention he gets over me."
"It's the jealousy that drove me away from you Erik. If you can get past that, you wouldn't have to be envious of my attention."
"And what of Stark?" he asked.
"What of him?"
"You and him? You were bonded. You bonded because I deceived you because of my own jealousy. There isn't a night that goes by that I don't dream about what I did and cry. I was the reason we are apart now and you were with him, the whole reason you have feelings for him is because of me."
"Well, yes and no. It is your fault for why we are not together anymore, but it's not your fault that I have feelings for Stark. I've had feelings for him since I first met him. I can't describe it, it's instantaneous. There is just something about him that I feel drawn to."
"Do you feel drawn to me?" Erik stepped closer looming over me and I looking up into his beautiful blue eyes.
"I do, but it's a different draw. I just don't know what the difference between the two is." I looked away from his eyes as he pulled my chin back towards him and he kissed me softly.
"And now?"
"A kiss isn't going to make me feel any different Erik."
"Well, I know one thing we haven't done that might change your mind" he suggested.
I laughed and pushed away from him for a moment, "See, the whole pressure thing, jealousy, that's the reason we aren't together. If I wanted to have sex I would have sex. I only slept with Stark because I was getting back at you."
The moment I said the last bit, Stark had walked out of the dining hall and walk standing right behind me. I only knew that because I saw Erik's attention being drawn away from me. The moment I said what I did, I turned to see Stark looking almost lifeless standing on the sidewalk. I wanted to put my foot in my mouth. Once again, way to go Zoey, screwing up everything once again.
"Is that what I was to you? Just a pay back? A rebound?" Stark asked and obviously hurt.
"No, that's not what I meant!" I walked towards him.
"Then what did you mean then? You said it yourself; you only had sex with me to get back at Erik."
"It's difficult to explain"
"No it's not, it's simple. I chose you because I had a connection with you. I knew it the moment that I met you in the cafeteria when I moved here. I knew when I was dying on the ground of the field house and you kissed me. I knew there was a connection between us Zoey. And you go and say something like that about me? You had no feelings for me, you were just getting back at your boyfriend for sleeping with your best friend!"
My heart jabbed as his words hit me like a knife. Tears started to swell in my eyes, "Stark, it's not like that!" I pleaded with him.
"I thought I knew you better Zoey, I guess I was wrong" Stark said angrily and turned to walk away.
I collapsed on the ground with my head in my hands. Blood was coming out of ever orifice that it possibly could. I could feel Erik move behind me and he wrapped his arms around me. I tensed up and shrugged him off of me. "I don't deserve either of you. I'm a mess! I'm a horrible High Priestess! I've done nothing but hurt everyone around me!" I screamed.
"Z…no, you're not horrible." Erik tried to comfort.
"Just go. Leave me alone." I mumbled as I got up and walked away from Erik leaving him standing alone on the sidewalk. I headed across the field towards the horse stables. I hadn't visited Persephone in a while and I desperately needed to calm down and vent my frustrations.
