Hey guys! It's been a while! Sorry it's short, but I HAVE A PROBLEM!!!

I don't know if I've put a disclaimer in here yet, but just in case I haven't, I DO NOT OWN THE HOUSE OF NIGHT SERIES.

I always forget those things.

I really hope I got this chapter right.

Oh, yeah; I just realized something. This whole time, I've been saying that they're in Greece, and NO ONE BOTHERED TO TELL ME!!! I got it wrong, wrong, WRONG!!! But isn't Kalona's little castle thing in Greece? Because I remember something being in Greece… I think…

Enjoy!


Zoey

After Nyx disappeared, I waited to be transferred back to my body. When nothing happened after a while, I used Spirit to guide my own back to my body. But it didn't work. So I tried using all my other affinities to take me there, and that didn't work either. I tried using all the elements at the same time to take me. Still nothing. I wished with every molecule of my being. Zip. I cast a circle—kinda. I burned lavender instead of candles. It would seem that it would be even more effective, but still nothin'.

I sat down, legs crossed, in the middle of the field, breathed in the calming scent of Lavender, and looked deep into myself to find the way. You know, like Zen people do. When that didn't work, I even tried humming and connecting my thumb and middle fingers. Nada. I tried calling my body to me. It was a last resort, of course.

I sighed in defeat. How on earth—or, not earth—was I supposed to do this?

Nyx had said to follow my heart…

Maybe I was supposed to try to…no idea. I thought about it, and began to think of all the people I loved. Maybe I was supposed to think of them, not of me.

So I thought about Stark. How he wanted to make me happy. His cocky smile that I just adored. His vulnerability when he thought I had died. His confession to me about his ability, and how I was one of the only people he'd told. How much he cared for his yellow lab, Duchess. How glad he was that he'd recovered and escaped from Neferet's control. How much I loved him.

I thought about the Twins. Sure, they could be shallow sometimes, but I could always count on them. I remembered how they'd always finish each other sentences. How they always knew what the other was thinking. How much fun it was to be with them. How much they fought with Damien over words they didn't know. How much I missed them.

I thought about Damien. His sweet, comforting smile. His deep understanding of my conflicting emotions. The way he got all teacher-like when he explained something to you. His great fashion sense. Him liking me for who I was on the inside, not my filled in mark. How much I wished he was here.

I thought about Jack. His child-like sweetness and everlasting optimism. The way all he wanted to do was help people. His cute innocence, and technological smarts. The way he was kind to everyone, and thought the best of them. What a great addition he was to our 'nerd herd'. How much I longed for his ever-joyful presence.

I thought about Stevie Rae. Her cute, bouncing curls, and cute Okie twang. Her always cheery attitude, and uplifting optimism. She and Jack could have been siblings for all their exuberance. How, even when she'd been stripped of her humanity, she could still become good. Her acquired wisdom and fierceness. The apologetic look on her face when she told me about the other red fledglings. She may hide a lot of things from me, but then I guess she was no different from me, was she? How much she meant to me.

I thought about Aphrodite. I now considered her a friend, even though she could really be a big jerk. Her rational thinking, and what a big help she was when everything was looking down. Thinking of her made me think of Darius. I hadn't known him that long, but he'd done so much to help us, and he was definitely on my list of buddies.

I thought about Heath. Sorrow washed over me as I thought about never seeing him again, which surely I wouldn't once I was back in my body. Several tears dripped down my face. I thought about all the time I'd spent with him, from our first kiss to our last. His sweet, loving hugs and comforting nature. His steady optimism, and willingness to do anything, for me. He was more than I deserved. So was Stark. All my friends, really. By then the tears were flowing steadily down my presumably red face.

And I thought about my Grandma Redbird. She'd been my shoulder to cry on ever since my mom got married to John. She'd listened to me whine, and always take my side. She'd shared her wisdom and Cherokee know-how to help me try and defeat Kalona. She was the reason I'd turned out to be the Priestess I was. I knew that she would never doubt my judgment, and always stand by my side, just like she always had.

I let my love for all my friends surround me and envelope me, and I soon felt lightheaded. I smiled as I began to glow, eager to get back to them. I dissolved and blew away in euphoria.


Stevie Rae

"Are you sure you're okay?" Erin asked Stevie Rae gently.

"Yes, I am fine. Now would y'all stop badgerin' me?" She replied in frustration.

They'd been doing this all morning! Well, night. Askin' if she felt okay, if she needed anything. Gosh dangit, I am just fine and dandy! She wanted to scream. And her being thirsty didn't improve her mood, either. She kept tryin' to sneak away to go get just one little civilian snack, but they would never let her leave their sight.

"Well, go-olly! Is it that time of the month already?" Aphrodite sneered mockingly. But even she thought something was wrong with Stevie Rae.

Stevie Rae glared daggers at her, and Aphrodite actually took a step back, her eyes wide. Shaunee and Erin stopped gushin' over some butt-ugly boots to stare at her.

"What?" Stevie Rae snapped.

"Maybe we should go back," Shaunee began cautiously

"'Cause you don't seem like your normal self, Stevie Rae," Erin finished, putting her hand on Stevie Rae's shoulder.

She shrugged out from under Erin's hand and muttered "Yeah. I guess so."

Stevie Rae started heading back towards the Palace, her anger flaring up again. She could hear the Twins whispering about her as they followed Stevie Rae, and she growled in annoyance.

"Hey." Aphrodite was suddenly beside her.

"What?" Stevie Rae demanded.

"If you need to talk about anything, you can always tell me," Aphrodite said quietly. She seemed genuinely sincere. Stevie Rae looked at her for a couple moments, her anger subsiding, before looking quickly away.

There was so much she wanted to tell her. The darkness, the hunger, the hatred… And as Sevie Rae thought about it, these feelings turned into dismay. She realized that she'd wanted to kill someone, some innocent person, to satisfy her wants. No, her needs. She'd felt the terrible need to kill someone.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Stevie Rae replied softly, feeling guilty and angry—this time, at herself. What was happening to her? She had so easily succumbed to the evil raging inside of her. And now that she was free of it, she could feel it trying to claim her once again. She fought valiantly, and as she did, Stevie Rae could hear her friends talking to her in urgent voices, but not what they said. She tried to shove the growing evil back into the fissure it'd seeped out of and plug it up.

A single message made it's way through her resistance, and floated across her mind.

Zoey's imprinted with Kalona.

Stevie Rae froze with shock. Zoey had done what?

And that was all it took. In that split second where she'd let her guard down to bewilderment, the darkness had infiltrated her defenses once again.

As it gained control of her, Stevie Rae's lip curled in the beginnings of a sneer. So, Zoey'd imprinted with Kalona, huh? Her red vamp senses told her that it was true. Just wait until she told everybody…

"Stevie Rae!"

"Come on, snap out of it!"

"What's wrong?"

The voices of Shaunee, Erin, and Aphrodite suddenly registered in her mind. She opened her eyes to find herself standing stock-still in the middle of the sidewalk, with the Twins' worried faces in front of her.

"Get outta my face, I'm fine," Stevie Rae said earnestly.

"Yeah, and that's why you were frozen for, like, three minutes," Aphrodite said sarcastically, with a hint of true worry in her words.

"Well," Stevie Rae began deviously, "I found out somethin'."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, ever since I 'came a red vamp I just…know some things, ya know?"

"Oh," Shaunee and Erin said at the same time.

"We didn't."

"Well, I do. I knew what happened to Zoey 'fore I got the call, and I just know somethin' bad's happened with Zoey." Stevie Rae tried to hide her triumphant grin. Zoey was gonna get it now! Everyone'd hate her after this!

Why do you want her own friends to hate her! a tiny voice in Stevie Rae's contorted mind cried. She paused. She really had no explanation; she just had this strong hatred for Zoey brewin' inside her.

"Well?" Aphrodite asked impatiently, "What is it? What's happened to Zoey?"

"Not yet; I think everyone should hear this," Stevie Rae replied.

"Then let's hurry," Erin said as she quickened her pace.


"Zoey's what?" Stark shouted, his voice a mesh of variegated emotions.

"She's imprinted with Kalona," Stevie Rae repeated, doing her best to look upset.

"How could she?"

"What should we do?"

"What can we do?"

"We've got to help her!" Jack finally cried. Stevie Rae almost snickered at the complete mess they were all in. It was almost funny. Jack was in hysterics, Shaunee and Erin looked PO'd and hurt, Stark was a raging torrent of multiple emotions and was no longer speaking, Damien was just standing there, mouth gaping, Darius looked like he was trying to conceal his shock, and Aphrodite…well, she was doing a very good job of hiding what she was feeling and thinking.

Stevie Rae was having a hard time suppressing her own feelings. She was giddy with anticipation at what would happen next. She could feel that Zoey was close to returning to her body, and she just couldn't wait. Because when she did, Kalona would have even more control over her, and Zoey would help Neferet take over! Then of course, Zoey would have to die, in case Kalona's control faltered. Maybe Stevie Rae could do it…

Those aren't your thoughts! cried that familiar tiny voice in Stevie Rae's mind. She frowned. Who else's thoughts would they be? But her red vamp senses told her that it wasn't a lie. The little part of her got excited, and tried to say something, but it was soon whipped down by the darkness in her mind.

"Come on guys, pull it together. We've got to go to the hearing in ten minutes," Damien said wearily.

Stevie Rae pretended to be too upset to be there, and almost skipped back to her room. A plan made it's way into her head, from that one, single source. All she had to do was be there when Zoey woke up. Stevie Rae knew it was going to happen soon—she could feel it. Then she could take action. But something told her that the plan couldn't have been her own, because it involved someone else. She shrugged, and continued on her way.

Stevie Rae burst into her room, radiating anticipation, and bounced over to the mini fridge. She opened it to find that it had been filled with a bunch of new blood bags, at her request. She grabbed as much as she could, opened one, and drank it all. She shuddered. How she longed for fresh blood…

For the moment, she put it in the microwave for a bit, wondering if that would suffice. She pulled it out, tasted it, and shrugged. Not as good as fresh, but it'd do. She microwaved all the rest, and settled down into a chair. Though it wasn't as comfortable as the one she'd broken.

There was a tapping at the window, and Stevie Rae rolled her eyes before heaving herself up and heading towards it. She brusquely opened the window and stepped aside so Rephaim could come in. She glared at him, and felt a twinge of satisfaction when he winced.

"Where the heck do you go all day?" she demanded. Without waiting for an answer, she marched back to the chair, and the warmed blood bags. As he passed her, Stevie Rae saw him look at her sadly from the corner of her eye, and shake his head mournfully. He kept on walking, but Stevie Rae could swear that she heard him whisper, "What have I done?"


Get ready. The next chapter is gonna be…engaging. I hope.

I HAVE A PROBLEM!!!

BUT I CAN'T SAY WHAT IT IS CUZ IT'D GIVE AWAY PART OF THE STORY!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! *sigh* I'll work it out.

I'd just like to say a little something. There are over thirty people subscribed to this story, but I only get ≈10 reviews for every chapter. And they are mostly by the same, totally awesome people.

Just thought I'd mention that. Cuz I'm greedy when it comes to reviews. They're SUPER FUN TO GET!!!

Twenty seconds of life. I was even told that it took someone ten seconds, and another told me 1.34 seconds! (But they must be a really fast typist…)

Your Pal,

SuperOreoMan