A/N

Special thanks to IloveZimandNny16 and Shaunee-MissFirexox for reviewing! You guys rock and I really appreciate your support.

Disclaimer: I STILL DO NOT OWN HON OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS OR THE GENERAL PLOTLINE!

~Smiley

Chapter 2: Meanwhile…

Kalona

Kalona simply waited for Neferet to return. He still could almost not believe it. Because of the Goddess, he was still a free… something. He wasn't a man, but he wasn't exactly an immortal anymore either. But none of that mattered. The point was he was free, and he always had been. If Nyx hadn't stepped in and made him resurrect Stark… he nearly shuddered at the thought. But now he knew all too well that he had never been under the Queen Tsi-Sgili's control.

However, he knew he must continue to pretend to be. Neferet still planned on capturing and using the Red One. What the Tsi-Sgili didn't know is that he would be there to use Stevie Rae for his own personal means. The Red High Priestess would not only give him leverage with Zoey and her insignificant group of friends, but she would also give him leverage with the goddess.

Kalona laughed aloud. Light always underestimated the viciousness of Darkness…

Zoey

"Hey, guys, do any of you know where Stevie Rae went?" I asked, only to be answered with shaking heads and rolling eyes.

Then Damien spoke up, goddess bless him. "She said she needed to spend some time alone with her element," he managed while he wiped his eyes and blew his nose.

That seemed to jog the Twins memories. "Oh yeah," Erin said.

"But she said she was gonna follow us inside later," Shaunee remembered.

"She seem to do a lot of that lately," Kramisha suddenly chimed.

"A lot of what?" I asked, confused.

"Going off and spending some quality time with earth," she replied.

"Should I go looking for her?" I prompted.

"No. She come back when she ready," Kramisha said like it was nothing.

But it was far from nothing. I mean, I had heard about the thing where the Raven Mocker showed up when she was communing with the earth—and the white bull, for that matter. Even though Stevie Rae insisted it was nothing, the thought that it could have been Rephaim just gave me the heebie-jeebies.

Meanwhile, Kramisha had been studying me. "Don't worry," she said. "My High Priestess know hows to handle herself."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right," I mumbled, shaking it off. "We should all just go to bed. It's been a long day."

"Night," about ten different kids corrected.

"Whatever," I said. "We should still get some sleep. We'll need to be well rested for whatever's coming next."

Agreements and good nights/days were mumbled and we all went to our respective rooms, and Erik and Darius went with Damien to the boys' dorm before continuing to where they were staying. I was glad Erik and I had decided to be friends. Even with all the bullpoopie that went down when we were dating, I was glad we didn't have to hate each other. It would just be too tiring, and I honestly didn't need or want any more drama on top of the drama I already have (and seriously don't want).

I was also majorly glad Stark was staying with me in my room tonight. I didn't really want to be alone, especially when Stevie Rae was nowhere to be seen.

"So where is bumpkin?" Aphrodite asked, jerking me back to reality.

"I don't know," I replied.

"Fantastic," she said under her breath. "What are you going to do about Kalona and the Raven Mockers sure to be crawling around Tulsa any day now?" she asked.

"I don't know," I repeated, slightly agitated.

"Do you know what you're going to do about Neferet?"

"No! I have absolutely no clue! And, quite frankly, I'm way too tired to do anything right now," I said.

"But you know she was lying her ass off, right?" Aphrodite inquired.

"Aphrodite, I'm tired and upset, not stupid."

"Just making sure," she said and walked passed my room, where I stopped with Stark.

"Good night to you too," I mumbled before walking into my warm, welcoming room. Thankfully, the curtains were drawn, so Stark didn't have any problem, even though it was passed dawn. All I could do was climb into the tiny bed with Stark, still in my depressing funeral dress, and sleep, complaining Nala and all.

Neferet

She paced back and forth in the living room of the penthouse suite, devising the next step in their plan. Kalona sat on the leather couch, hardly contributing. Of course, that was of no matter to Neferet. So long as he contributed when she really wanted him to. That and she already knew what she wanted to happen, it was just a matter of putting that plan into action.

"Tomorrow night, Stevie Rae will leave campus, and when she does, I want you—"

"How will you insure that the Red One will leave the campus?" Kalona interrupted.

"I will not need to. She often leaves on her own devices. I will simply alert you when she does. As I was saying," Neferet continued coldly, "when she does leave, I want you and Rephaim to be ready to hunt her down and—"

"Would it not be easier if I first found my remaining sons and got them to help insure our victory?" Kalona interrupted again.

"I will answer you, my dear Consort, when I finish, uninterrupted." Neferet smiled with forced sweetness. "You and Rephaim will track her down and us Darkness to bind her. I do not mind if you chase her for a while first, but because vampyres can't be drugged, you will have to use Darkness to drain her of blood until she passes out. When she does, bring her back here."

Neferet paused and looked expectantly at Kalona. Kalona just stared back at her. "Well?" Neferet practically shrieked.

"Would it not be easier to wait until I have gathered my other sons to help us insure our victory? After all, you constantly say that the Red One is not to be underestimated," Kalona suggested.

"No. I will not wait any longer. After the tragic death of her poor, innocent friend, she is already weakened." Neferet sneered the words, and the Darkness in the shadows around her trembled. "You and Rephaim shall be enough. After we have her, you may shepherd your children back to you." Neferet looked around, as if to suddenly realize something was missing. "Speaking of your children, what happened to your favored?"

"Rephaim often leaves to spy on Zoey and her friends, especially the Red One. I suppose that's what he's doing now," Kalona said.

"How very interesting," Neferet observed. The tone of her voice had the Darkness quivering and multiplying. "Well it seems Rephaim is the little expert on Stevie Rae, so it stands to reason that he will be in charge of watching her and ensuring she does not escape."

"I'm sure he will be more than capable of that once she is up here, far away from the earth," Kalona agreed.

Neferet smiled. "Of course he will, just like you will be more than capable of pleasing me tonight," she said icily.

Kalona hated every second of this, but he knew it had to be done. "As you wish…"

Kramisha

It was far passed dawn, and Kramisha knew she should be asleep. But she couldn't. That feeling in the pit of her stomach just kept on getting worse and worse, and it just wouldn't go away. She sighed and just got up. She sat at the desk in her room at the House of Night, flicking on the table lamp. The three poems about Stevie Rae were still there, side by side, right where she left them.

Dang it! She hated it when she couldn't figure out her own poems, especially when she wanted to. The worst part was that Stevie Rae knew exactly what they were about, but she still continued to claim she had no idea. Kramisha had kept her promise not to tell anyone about it, but she wanted help to figure them out.

At least Dragon was on the case. He was smart; He could help.

Then she felt it: another poem. "Crap, crap, crap," she murmured, grabbing for a pencil and her purple notebook paper. Then she wrote her latest poem:

The world has only seen what I have done

And her world only sees what I could be

But courage to tell her, I have none

She would never love a monster like me

Although the world could never accept him

My heart already has; love without thought

I know our chances are ever so slim

But I know that love was all that he sought

When Kramisha was done, she didn't even look at the poem. She knew what it said, and she knew it was about Stevie Rae again. But she also knew that Stevie Rae was off doing Goddess-knows-what again, probably with that human guy. Kramisha would talk to her tomorrow.

Besides, she was incapable of doing anything at the moment; because once she had finished writing, her head hit the desk with a thud and she was out cold, fast asleep.

A/N

R&R pretty, pretty please! It would make me super happy!

Just so everyone knows, I'm still working on all my other stories; everything is a work in progress! The reason for delayed updates comes down to a busy summer and there are five different stories I'm working on. But don't worry; I'm working on each and every one of the next chapters for each and every one of the stories.

~Smiley