A/N

Thanks to houseofnightfan, Stephaim Fan, and IloveZimandNny16 for reviewing! You guys are amazing, and I'm so grateful for your continued support!

Enjoy the 5th chapter…

Disclaimer: I believe I'm gonna bring Nisroc to help me out with this.

Smiley: Hello, Nisroc! *gives him two really big hugs* (one from me and one from his many, many fangirls)

Nisroc: Hello…

Smiley: So, do I own HON?

Nisroc: Own the ssssseriesss, you do not.

Smiley: *brief fangirling moment* Well, do I own the characters, like you, Rephaim, Stevie Rae, Kalona…

Nisroc: Own ussss, you do not.

Smiley: Oh. Okay. Glad we're clear! Thanks for your help!

~Smiley

Chapter Five: Stevie Rae left the House of Night

Stevie Rae

She felt like she was missing something, but she just couldn't tell what it was.

Then she remembered: she had left her phone in the basement of the Gilcrease Mansion. Crap.

It was too easy for her to jog back to the place she had so recently been; of course, it was strange not having Rephaim with her. It was too easy for her to run down to the basement, grab her phone, and leave while checking her five missed calls.

"Whoa," she said aloud. One was from Kramisha. No message, but she had already talked to her. The other four were from Sammy, her older brother. He had left a message for every call.

"Hey, Stevie Rae. Ummm…I, uh, know you're probably not up yet, but, uh, Mama just came home and told us that you weren't dead…I wanted to know if it were true. So, uh, if you're, ya know, not dead, can ya please call me back? Please?"

"Sammy," Stevie Rae whispered as she listened to her brother's voice. She had always been closest to Sammy, even though he was the oldest and she was the youngest.

"Hey, I was just wonderin'…if you're not dead, why didn't ya let us know sooner? Hell, Stevie Rae, do ya know how upset we all were when we heard that?! Wait…God, I sound like a complete jerk, don't I? My sister comes back from the dead and I'm complainin' 'bout how we…never mind. I just wanna know if it's true, but I guess 'cause the sun hasn't exactly set yet that you're still sleepin', but try to call me back."

"God, Sammy, I wanted to tell ya sooner…" Stevie Rae whispered, but she listened to the next message.

"Stevie Rae, this is drivin' me crazy! Please, I know you're a deep sleeper, but can you really sleep through all this? God, I guess some things never do change, huh, baby sis? Call me back when ya wake up."

Stevie Rae laughed, but there were tears in her eyes. She remembered how Sammy used to give her hell when she slept through her alarm and he heard it in the next room, or how she would be able to sleep through the tractor engine on Saturday mornings…She listened to the last message.

"So, uh, it's passed sunset now, and I know I have to be gettin' kinda annoyin', but I would really 'preciate it if you would just call me back...I just need to hear your voice again…need to know that you're really back…please call me."

Stevie Rae had Sammy on speed dial. He picked up on the first ring.

"Stevie Rae?" he asked, his voice filled to the brim with hope.

"Yeah," Stevie Rae managed to breathe, her eyes overflowing with tears.

"Holy shit! Is it really you?" Sammy asked, sounding like he was having trouble believing it.

"Yeah," Stevie Rae repeated, and she tried to choke back a sob.

"My sister's alive," Sammy breathed. Stevie Rae could totally picture him at this moment. He held the phone with both hands because he was afraid he would be too shocked and drop it, and his face was blank and unemotional because he had been working hard to try and not get his hopes up. But the moment she had confirmed that she was, in fact, not dead, he spread his arms wide and turned his face to the sky. He made a fist with one hand and squeezed his phone with the other, and his faced was basked in tears and moonlight as he screamed, "My sister's alive!"

Stevie Rae couldn't help but laugh through her tears as her brother's cry sounded through the phone.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alive, Sammy," Stevie Rae sobbed, and she tried and failed to pull herself together. She had had no idea how much she had needed to hear her brother's voice again, and, although she was close to her other two brothers, Sammy had always been the closest. He had always been there, and she had been ignoring the void in her life his absence had left.

"So, how ya been?" Sammy asked, and Stevie Rae was forever thankful that Sammy could be internally freaking out but radiate normalcy and keep everyone calm, including her.

"It's been crazy. How 'bout you?" she asked nervously. She didn't know why, but she was feeling really sick to her stomach. Maybe it was the little fact that she was talking to her brother for the first time in months, but Sammy and nervous had never gone in the same sentence together before. She felt increasingly worried…but it didn't involve her brother in the slightest.

Something else was wrong.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Sammy asked, picking up her distress immediately.

"I don't know," Stevie Rae answered and pushed the sick feeling away. Nothing should be able to ruin this moment. "Ya know what? It's nothin'. Seriously, how's life been? I feel like I haven't seen ya in forever…"

Sammy told Stevie Rae how his new job as a police officer in Henrietta was going, how her family and old friends were doing, and basically how life was in their little town. He also told her the most exciting thing that had happened was her death, and that wasn't even a good kind of excitement.

In return, Stevie Rae did her best to explain to Sammy how life was at the House of Night, how she had gotten an earth affinity, how she had died and un-died, how she had become the first red vampyre High Priestess, and how the High Priestess of the Tulsa House of Night had gone completely bat-shit crazy. She told him everything. Kalona, Zoey's soul shattering, everything.

Except one thing: Rephaim.

"So, you sure that's all you wanna unload?" Sammy asked.

"Whatta ya mean, is that all?" Stevie Rae asked. She knew she was a bad liar, but she hadn't lied, per say. She had just left out a huge chunk of the story.

"Anything else you would like to tell me?" Sammy's voice came from her phone. "Anyone you would like to tell me about?"

"How do you know that there's someone I wasn't tellin' ya 'bout?" Stevie Rae demanded.

"Well, you just told me," Sammy said, and Stevie Rae could clearly see in her mind's eye his cocky grin.

"Ah, but, how, agh, you're so annoyin'!" Stevie Rae said.

Sammy's laugh drifted through the phone. "Yeah, but that's all part of the job. So who is he?"

"I never said it was a he," Stevie Rae stated suspiciously.

"Okay, so, maybe Mama may have let it slip that there was some guy, but I didn't catch his name or anything about him. So I want to hear it from you," Sammy said.

"Ha! I knew you weren't that good at reading minds!" Stevie Rae exclaimed, and both of them laughed.

"Okay, so, maybe there's this one guy…" Stevie Rae started, but her voice trailed off.

"Well? What's his name?" Sammy asked, and even though his tone was still light and happy, Stevie Rae knew that if Rephaim were able to be tracked, Sammy would probably hunt him down and kill him in the night.

Stevie Rae recalled all she had been told about Rephaim and his amazing-warrior skills. She thought of his huge wings and strong arms that had held her not too long ago…

Well, Sammy would try to kill him anyway. But he probably wouldn't be very successful.

"Hello? Earth to Stevie Rae? Ya still there?" Sammy broke through her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Stevie Rae had been walking as she had talked with her brother, and somehow she had ended up on a trail deep in the woods in some large park and she had no idea where she was. Fortunately, there was a little park bench, and as she didn't feel the need to go anywhere soon, she sat down heavily on it.

"So what's his name?" Sammy prompted.

Stevie Rae took a deep breath. She knew she could tell Sammy anything, but she was more afraid of being overheard. She looked around, and the coast seemed clear. She smiled with relief and said, "His name is Rephaim, and it's a long, complicated story."

"Okay, well, first things first. Has he tried anything on you?"

Stevie Rae couldn't help but think of the time they were in the little pocket of earth and how he gave her his blood to save her life…of course, Sammy didn't mean that.

She laughed, thinking of his bird beak that never had terrified her in the least. "No, Sammy, he hasn't tried anything. He's not like that."

"Oh yeah? Trust me, all guys are like that. 'Specially what I've heard of city guys," Sam insisted.

"But, Sammy, he doesn't even really like the city—"

Sam cut off her protest. "Guys try things. Period, the end."

"No, Sammy, he's not like that. He's not like that at all. He has never, ever tried anything I wasn't a-okay with, and he really isn't ever going to."

"Stevie Rae, give me one good reason why I should believe that."

"Well, for starters, he's half bird."

Sammy's stunned silence and unspoken confusion responded to Stevie Rae's statement. Taking this as an opportunity to say what she really needed to say, Stevie Rae proceeded to tell Sammy all about Rephaim; it was like word vomit, words tumbled out of her mouth uncontrollably, and once she'd started, she just couldn't stop. She unloaded onto Sam how she had found and saved him, how she had hidden him, how he had been used to try and help people kill her but then turned around and saved her, how they had imprinted (much to Sammy's distress), how he had saved her life again, how she healed him with the earth, how he had saved her from making the biggest mistake of her life (*cough* Dallas *cough*), how he was a guy in the fountain, how they kept in touch even after Zoey and Kalona had returned, how he took care of her after the funeral, how she wanted to see him again even now…

Rephaim

Once he was sure he was out of Kalona's earshot, Rephaim landed on the top of a tree in the middle of some woods. It was definitely part of a park, but no one was sitting on the park bench below. Absolutely no one was around, so Rephaim was sure all his thoughts and emotions were his own.

Rephaim felt like crap. He felt like he was being tugged apart and ripped in half, and his stomach hurt really, really bad. For the first time in his centuries-long life, he felt sick to his stomach because of guilt and disgust and worry.

Rephaim was also angry. He was angry at Neferet; he was angry at Darkness; he was angry at Kalona. But, most of all, he was angry with himself.

Rephaim squeezed the branch he had been clutching to remain balanced with all his might, and his scream of frustration was echoed by the great snap of the branch and its earth-shaking thump as it landed on the ground far below.

He took several shaky, jagged breaths and tried to stop the flood of emotions that ensued. But he couldn't. He had been finding it harder and harder to conceal his emotions ever since he'd met Stevie Rae, and now, when he was all alone, he simply didn't have enough willpower to plug up the broken dam of emotions.

Then the water broke through all at once. The flood gates opened, and Rephaim felt the water run down his face and drop onto his arms. He looked down at them, the arms that had so recently held her, and so recently had let her go.

Gods be damned! What the hell am I supposed to do? I can't betray Father, but I can't betray a-qua-da-nv-do either. What am I going to do? Rephaim thought.

I won't let them hurt Stevie Rae, Rephaim concluded. But I won't betray Father. I will find a balance.

However, Rephaim was finding it harder and harder to keep that middle ground.

And, because he was alone, Rephaim asked aloud, "What am I supposed to do?"

He wasn't expecting an answer, and he didn't get one. Well, maybe not exactly…

"His name is Rephaim, and it's a long complicated story." He heard her voice, and he looked down to discover that she had sat down on that little park bench in the middle of nowhere. He could have smiled if not for three reasons: one, he had been ordered to take part in her capture, two, she was alone and in danger, and three, she was talking to someone on her phone about him.

Rephaim didn't mean to eavesdrop. He really didn't want to be spying on her, even though that's kind of what he was doing. But, when he knew she was in danger, and she was talking about him…what was he supposed to do?

Gods, he was asking that question far too much lately. Rephaim hadn't used to be so indecisive.

Rephaim couldn't hear the person on the other end, but he did hear Stevie Rae's half of the conversation. "Well? Say something, Sammy!" Stevie Rae exclaimed after telling this 'Sammy' all about him, and he meant all. She had listened to silence for several minutes before her sudden outburst.

Then, all of a sudden, Stevie Rae burst out laughing. Rephaim could tell that she was happy and excited, and he focused on their connection. Yes, this was totally invading her personal boundaries, but Rephaim was curious.

Stevie Rae loved the person she was talking to, that much Rephaim could tell. He had heard her call the person Sammy, and Rephaim frantically tried to remember if Stevie Rae had mentioned any Sammy in her non-stop babbling sessions.

"Okay, I know it's supposed to be your job as a big brother, but seriously, Sammy, you don't have to be so protective. I know Rephaim wouldn't do anything to hurt me, ever," he heard Stevie Rae say.

Right! She had told him that Sammy was one of her older brothers!

Then he registered her words. A bittersweet feeling swept over him.

Stevie Rae was laughing again at whatever Sammy was saying to her, and she twirled a blond curl around her finger. "Golly, Sammy, I really miss you," Stevie Rae said suddenly.

Stevie Rae's eyes went wide as she sat up straight. "No, Sammy. It's way too crazy down here. Don't you even think 'bout coming to visit, ya hear? I told ya how crazy Neferet is, and she really hates humans."

Stevie Rae listened to what her brother had to say. "Sammy, of course I would love to see ya again, but now really isn't a good time. When all this is over—" Stevie Rae was interrupted, and she remained silent for a bit.

"Sammy, please, I'm begging you…No! She would kill you in an instant! She's killed people without even being near them…Sammy, please, just don't come." Rephaim could see from his perch that Stevie Rae had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Yes, I'll definitely call a bunch." Stevie Rae smiled, relieved. "Okay. Yeah…We'll hafta get together soon; I've missed ya…"

Rephaim's gaze was drawn upwards. No, he prayed. No, please, gods, no!

"I love you too, Sammy…"

Practically a black speck in the sky, his father and…was that one of his brothers? No. They were coming towards him. No. Towards her. No.

Rephaim didn't have time to think. He had seconds before they came. No, no, no.

"Okay, Sammy—"

"Stevie Rae! Run! Get out of here! Now!" Rephaim screamed.

Nisroc

He had sensed his father the second he had returned to Tulsa, but he had had other…difficulties.

What remained of his brothers after his father's temporary banishment had left and disappeared to less-inhabited lands outside of the city. He had failed to keep them nearby, with Rephaim dead…

No. None of that mattered now. Rephaim may be dead, but Nisroc must still remain loyal to his father.

So he tracked him down and found him in the west of Tulsa.

"Father, returned, I have!" Nisroc said, dropping to one knee on the roof of the building his father had landed on.

Kalona studied him for a moment, as if he were trying to remember who he was. "Ah, Nisroc!" Kalona greeted, "my son. How convenient it is for you to return to me at this time. Are there any others?"

"No, Father. Hold them, I could not. Rephaim dead—"

Surprisingly, Kalona laughed. "Rephaim? My son is far from dead, I can assure you."

Nisroc's eyes widened, but he had still not looked Kalona in the face. "Father, from sssssky, he was ssshot. Killed him, it ssshould have."

"Rephaim is strong, Nisroc. He healed and found me again. And, even if, there are no more sons arriving at this moment, it is of no matter. You shall be enough."

"Enough for what, Father?"

"To ensure our victory in capturing the Red One. She has, indeed, left the safety of her school, a decision she will soon regret." Kalona began to pace. "I have taught you to control some immortal aspects, have I not?"

"Yessss, Father. Teach me, Rephaim did."

"Very good. We will be using our immortal power and Darkness to drain the Red One of blood and energy, and then we will take her to the Mayo penthouse."

"Yesssss," Nisroc answered.

"Good. Take to the skies with me, my son. I have completed my scan of the majority of Tulsa. Rephaim must have found her in the north side. We are going to help him there."

"Assss you wisssh, Father," Nisroc replied, and the two took to the skies to find Rephaim and, ultimately, the Red One.

Stevie Rae

"Stevie Rae! Run! Get out of here! Now!" She heard Rephaim scream.

She immediately looked around, trying to find him. "Rephaim?" she shouted the question.

"What the hell?" she heard Sammy say.

"Quickly, Stevie Rae! They're coming now!" Rephaim shouted, and landed beside her, trying to nudge her into motion.

"Who's they?" she asked.

"Stevie Rae, what is goin' on?" Sammy yelled from the other end.

"My father. You know what I told you—how they want to use—"

"Who's with you?" Sammy questioned.

"Sammy, I'm gonna hafta—" Stevie Rae started.

"Don't you dare hang up this phone!" Sammy screamed.

"Stevie Rae, move!" Rephaim demanded, but his gaze was to the sky.

"Rephaim, what—"

"Go!" Rephaim shouted, trying to push her into making her legs start moving. She could now see the two black figures making their way towards her.

"Ohmygoodness," Stevie Rae breathed, frozen in place.

Rephaim grabbed both her shoulders and shook her. To his father and brother, it would look like he was trying to grab her. "Go," he repeated, not as loud (for fear that they would hear him) but the urgency and worry in his voice had increased tenfold.

Stevie Rae was scared into motion. She torn her wide eyes from the two figures swooping towards them and sprinted in the other direction.

The trees surrounding her moved in a wind Stevie Rae couldn't feel, and she knew that she had to get far enough away before she could even attempt to call earth and make her way back to the House of Night.

"Stevie Rae," Sammy's voice called from her phone. "Why are you crying?"

She backhanded her face and slowed herself down. Leaning against the tree, she lifted the phone to her ear and said, "I'm alright, Sammy. Don't worry. I'll be okay. I just can't talk right now. Can I call you back?"

"Answer me first. What is goin' on?" he demanded.

"Ssssstop!" someone hissed. Stevie Rae turned around and screamed. Behind her stood a Raven Mocker. He wasn't as big as Rephaim, but he was pretty close. But what had really shaken her was how different his voice was. Where Rephaim's sounded like a human's, his was like a hissing beast's. His red eyes didn't look as human as Rephaim's either.

"Stevie Rae!" Sammy yelled from the other end upon hearing her scream. Stevie Rae bolted into the shadows of the trees, and even though she had to constantly duck to avoid tree branches, he wouldn't have been able to follow her.

However, the safety of the trees could only last so long, but she had been checking behind her when she exited the canopy of safety. And she hit something so hard that she fell back onto her butt.

Shaking her head to clear her vision, she look up at what she had ploughed into, and quickly found that it was a who.

"Well, she had said we could chase you, and we may even find this amusing," Kalona's deep voice said soothingly, but it only managed to make her even more panicked. "But know this, little red vampyre," Kalona continued, "no matter how fast you run or where you try to hide, I will find you. Even if—and do not go thinking that you will—you manage to escape to the 'safety' of your precious school, we will be waiting. You can't hide forever, Red One, but I can wait that long."

Stevie Rae was scared and upset and angry. He might be Rephaim's daddy, but at that particular moment, she didn't care. Instinct had her launching herself to her feet and throwing her hands out in front of her, and although she had not summoned the element, the earth responded. Branches of the trees behind her shot forward and shoved Kalona away from her, knocking him up against a thick oak.

Stevie Rae didn't hesitate. She turned and ran, but she couldn't outrun Kalona's scream of outrage. She knew that the branches had shoved him and not held him, so he would be after her soon enough.

Stevie Rae made a sharp left in hopes of confusing Kalona or his son or whoever the hell was following her. She was vaguely aware that Sammy's voice was coming through the phone. She just kept running.

However, Stevie Rae was nothing if not klutzy. Naturally, she tripped on a root that had broken free of the earth and would have fallen flat on her face.

But strong hands caught her and strong hands saved her from a mouthful of dirt. All in one motion, someone had caught her and spun her around, but Stevie Rae was high on adrenaline and fear. For that split second that she was suspended in the air, she expected the worst, and she kicked with all her might, trying to get her captor where it counted.

"Stevie Rae!" Rephaim exclaimed, and his voice was filled with pain.

"Rephaim?" Stevie Rae's eyes widened as she was set down, and Rephaim leaned against a tree. "Ohmygoodness, Rephaim! I'm so sorry; I didn't know it was you! Oh crap, are you—"

Rephaim placed a hand over her mouth. He chuckled as he said, "I really have to remember you're stronger than you look. I'm fine, but if you don't move, then you're not going to be." Stevie Rae nodded and went to continue the way she had been going.

Rephaim grabbed her arm and spun her around. "Not that way," he said, and he gave her a little push in the right direction.

"Why—"

"I cannot tell you that. Go, Stevie Rae. I fear this is as much help as I can give you. Go find your way to safety, and quickly. Go!" Rephaim was in the air as he shouted the last word, and Stevie Rae hesitated for less than a second before taking his advice.

She ran for about five minutes before realizing two things: one, she had no idea where the hell she was, and two, she was a complete and utter idiot.

If she summoned earth and made a tunnel back to the House of Night, Kalona and his son wouldn't be able to follow her. Rephaim wouldn't follow her, but she guessed that he could. However, he didn't seem like he was supporting his father this time around.

She remembered what he had told her:

"I will not betray him."

"Okay, fine. I get that," she had told him. "But does that mean you can't help me?"

After a while of silently staring at her, he had answered, "I want to help you, and I will as long as it doesn't mean betraying my father."

That worked both ways, right? That's what he just couldn't say, right? Rephaim will help her as long as it doesn't mean betraying his father, and he will help his father as long as it doesn't mean betraying her…

That's just what he had to be doing. Rephaim was trying to stay on a middle ground, so Stevie Rae had to help herself. Rephaim may actually not be able to save her from this.

"I can't be on your side, Stevie Rae. You have to remember that."

"So you'd fight against me?"

"I could not hurt you."

"Well, then—"

"No," he had interrupted. "Not being able to hurt you is different than fighting for you."

"You'd fight for me. You already have."

Rephaim had grabbed her hand, trying to make her understand through touch. "I've never fought my father for you."

Stevie Rae took a deep breath, trying to get her heart rate back to normal. "Earth," she whispered. "Come to—"

"Stevie Rae!? What the hell is goin' on over there? Are you alright?" Sammy shouted, shattering Stevie Rae's concentration.

She quickly lifted the phone to her ear. "Sammy, I really, really can't talk right—"

The word she was going to say died on her lips as a dark tendril snaked up her legs, completely immobilizing her. Sammy was answered with a shriek of pain as another sticky black thread wrapped around her arms and shoved her to the ground.

"Stevie Rae!" Sammy shouted as Stevie Rae dropped the phone.

The threads of Darkness weren't drinking from her; they were just draining her. But she was forced to watch as her blood stained the ground she had landed on. Deep, mocking laughter soon followed as Kalona and his other son materialized in front of her. Her vision was starting to become clouded by black spots.

"Didn't I tell you, Red One?" Kalona's voice mocked her pain, and those black dots began to grow and multiply and overtake her vision. "This was bound to happen eventually."

Rephaim landed next to his father and brother, but Stevie Rae was the only one who could see the heartbreaking concern in his eyes. She was the only one who noticed how he shook his head back and forth in denial that this was even happening.

Rephaim's worried eyes were all that had kept her tethered to consciousness as the pain worsened, but she gaze slipped to her phone that was lying in the dirt.

"Stevie Rae?"

Her brother's voice was the last thing she heard as the spreading blackness devoured her. The last thing she saw was Rephaim dropping to his knees beside her.

A/N

Well, that was a long chapter. Hope you enjoyed! If you did, or even if you didn't, please leave a review! It will only take like two seconds of your life, and I would appreciate feedback on how I did with Nisroc and my OC Sammy. You should all know that Nisroc will be playing an important role. That doesn't mean he's gonna be in every single chapter; it just means that he is vital to the plotline…

~Smiley