AN: Sorry guys for the short chapter. I kind of drew a blank. I'm having a bit of a trouble writing the mass characters in this scene. Please, read and review! I want to know what people think.

Chapter Five

"So, vampyre society is matriarchal?" The thought seemed odd to me as we walked towards the dining hall on the other side of the House of Night main building. "That means that it is run by women." I double-checked my facts as we actually turned down a second hallway.

Alex just nodded, as the two of us seemed to begin to walk in step. "Yeah, it's governed by a Council of High Priestess, where one is elected to basically chair it." He turned to me and gave me a smile. "The male equivalent would be the Sons of Erebus, who are the warriors."

For some reason, the thought of a matriarch or patriarchal society seemed a bit mundane to me. If women were the leaders, and men were the warriors weren't they just 'putting people in their place' instead of allowing them all the spread their wings. Silence seemed to come over us as we arrived at the doorway to the dining hall. "We're meeting Missy and Lexi?" I gave him an uneasy look as we stood out front for a second.

Alex gave me a half smile before he opened the door. I did not expect the room that stood before me. It resembled a lunchroom only because it had students eating at the various tables in the center of the room. Throughout the edges there were small lounging areas where people sat with trays and chatting with others. A few people looked up to see who entered the room, but most of them just kept to their friends and talked. There was a fire place towards the east of the room and a young girl who seemed a year or so younger than me sat there reading a text book.

"Alex, get your ass over here." My eyes instantly found the black beauty that called to my roommate. She had long hair that seemed to have an almost purple tint to it. Her eyes resembled a river after a rainstorm. She looked me over once, and then turned back to the woman beside her.

The two of us walked over to the table, "You're not even going to let us get food, Lexi?"

"Of course not," She looked up at me. "See Miss, he really does have his Mark colored in."

I did not bother to respond, but I did feel like some sort of zoo animal being looked at like a sideshow attraction. Alex seemed to cut in fairly quickly, "Lexi, be nice."

The woman beside Lexi seemed a little shy, and did not say anything to comment further on my Mark. She looked up at me with jade eyes. Her brown hair looked straight, but the darkness seemed to illuminate her eyes to almost glow against her pale skin. "This is Lexi, and I'm Missy." Her voice wasn't meek, but firm as she put out her hand.

My hand met her forearm as I had done five minutes before with Alex. "Hi, I'm Quinn. And I really don't know why my Mark is colored in. I'm not a vampyre, just a fledgling." I figured it would be easier just to cut to the chase about what I knew.

"We'll be right back, we just need to grab something to eat." Alex tugged on my arm lightly and pulled me towards the collegiate looking serving area. They had roasted chicken with wild rice and steamed vegetables. My mouth seemed to water almost instantly as I took in the scents. We got our food and sat down beside the two women. A young man had sat close to Missy with his arm around her shoulders; I figured it was her boyfriend, or very handsy brother.

"Trent meet Quinn. Quinn. Trent." Alex's introduction was quickly as he pulled a piece of chicken from the bone and put it in his mouth. I smiled and nodded to the young man as I began to put some food into my mouth.

"Did you guys hear about the Dark Daughters?" Trent flashed a smile. He flicked his head to move the hair from his matching brown eyes before he went on, "The second High Priestess died today after her body rejected the change." He leaned in pulling Missy with him as he spoke about the woman's. His face looked almost like a ferret, although it seemed to work in his favor.

Alex actually sat his fork back down on his plate after he swallowed. "That's the seventh death this month."

"Is that…" I spoke up and all four of them looked at me like I'd kicked a puppy. "Is that a lot?"

"Some people just don't make it through the Change," Missy began as she pushed a pea around her plate, "But about twelve out of a hundred make it through. There's been close to twenty rejections since classes began this year. We had five students transfer to the Chicago House of Night saying this place was cursed."

"Curses all around then," I stated as I put another piece of chicken in my mouth. "What are the Dark Daughters?"

"They're an elite group of fledglings. They perform rituals and set an example for the other fledglings. They're like…the honor students of the House of Night. Their High Priestess is the leader." Lexi spoke easily as she sat back filing down her nails on her left hand. Missy gave her a short smile. "I do pay attention sometimes. Especially when the word 'elite' comes up."

I couldn't help but feel like the new kid as I continued to ask questions. "Can anyone join, or do you have to be invited? I mean… Dark Daughters kind of sounds like…sexist."

"You can be a Dark Son as well, but they're basically male fledglings who are preparing to be part of the Sons of Erebus." Trent stated still looking at Missy. She threw a pea at him as he opened his mouth, popping it almost perfectly in it.

The cough sent a wave of silence over the dining hall. Everyone, including me, turned to the woman reading a book on the fireplace. The second cough gargled more than coughed. "Get the High Priestess!" Someone yelled, but the rest of us just seemed to continued to watch her. She stood up and turned to us, her hands were at her eyes, rubbing them almost as if she was crying. The coughing continued as she pulled them away. Blood was running down the sides of her mouth, and her eyes. A waterfall of blood fell from her nose.

Students were getting up and leaving, but a few of them kept looking towards the door waiting for an adult to come through. "Come on," Alex stated as he pulled me up from my place leaving our trays sit. "You don't want to see this on your first day here." I didn't want to see a kid horrifically die on my first day at this new school, especially since tomorrow, that kid might be me.