A/N
Thanks to all who reviewed! Specifically…
-inquiete
-Guest
-ImChewing
-StevieRaeFan
-Danielle
-housofnightfan
-and Stephaim Fan
YOU GUYS ROCK!
Disclaimer: I still don't own HON or anything else relating to it, so there. God, I'm writing this way too late to give decent disclaimer.
~Smiley
Chapter Six: Back at the House of Night
Aphrodite
"Fuck this shit. How hard can it be to find one bumpkin?" Aphrodite mumbled to herself. She ducked her head a little to try and avoid the rain, which was sure to ruin her perfect hair. It had been cloudy all morning (read: early night), but around midnight, the skies just decided to give up and let it all pour down. "I swear, if my hair is even slightly frizzy when I find her…"
Aphrodite needed to talk to Stevie Rae about her latest vision. This was the second vision to star her and the biggest baddy of all Raven Mockers, Rephaim, and she hadn't exactly gotten a decent conversation about the first. Aphrodite had no way of knowing if Stevie Rae had any sort of relationship with the birdboy already, but, assuming she didn't, then she needed to know to Stay Away. If she, Goddess forbid, already did, then she needed to get some serious bitch slapping and/or do a hell of a lot of explaining.
Aphrodite was about to go inside and see if she had walked in a complete circle around Stevie Rae when she spotted Kramisha on the bench. She was holding her jacket over her head and some purple paper, which Aphrodite could only assume had at least one annoying poem on it.
She sighed and turned away from the door, instead walking over to where the Poet Laureate was sitting. "What are you doing?" she asked, her tone no less bitchy than usual.
"None of your business," Kramisha retorted, hardly giving her a second glance.
"Do those poems happen to be about a certain bumpkin?" Aphrodite asked, trying to find out just how much the red Poet Laureate knew about her red High Priestess.
Kramisha's deer-caught-in-headlights expression told Aphrodite all she needed to know. However, Kramisha's wide eyes now truly saw Aphrodite, including the lack of make-up and bloodshot eyes.
"You's had a vision," Kramisha stated.
Aphrodite nodded. "I need to see the poems." She reached out to snatch the purple notebook paper, but Kramisha jumped up and out of reach.
"I promised to keep these quiet," she explained. "I don't think you's gonna keep it quiet."
"Shit!" Aphrodite said, not exactly under her breath. "She's already with him, isn't she?"
"If you mean that human guy, then yeah. But I'm not sure if they're dating…"
"Human guy?" Aphrodite questioned. Kramisha shook her head.
"Oh, no. I'm not gonna tell you no more about this. Ya hear?" she said, backing up.
Aphrodite sighed and brushed a strand of wet hair out of her face. "Kramisha, I think she could be in a lot of trouble."
"Whadaya mean?" she asked, and she stopped in her retreat.
"My vision was about her and…Rephaim," Aphrodite said.
"Have ya talked to Zoey 'bout this? It sound like some crazy shit already."
"No, I haven't talked to Z about it yet. I wanted to find Stevie Rae first and talk to them both together."
"She ain't here. She went to go sort out some shit with her earth."
In that case, then I got my hair wet and frizzy for nothing, Aphrodite thought.
"Where would she have gone?" she asked.
"I ain't gonna tell you nothing till you tell me what you saw in your vision," Kramisha said, crossing her arms stubbornly.
"Fine," Aphrodite said, then, all in one breath, she said, "In my vision I was Stevie Rae and she woke up super confused in a dark room where a guy I later found out was Rephaim was telling her to, 'Drink before they realize she's awakened,' and, 'Heal before they can do you more harm,' and a bunch of other crazy shit. He also called her a-qua-da-nv-do, but I have no idea what the fuck that is. Then she started to drink from him, and the only thing that was really clear about the entire vision was that they were imprinted."
Kramisha stood there for an eternity with her mouth hanging wide open. "Well?" Aphrodite finally exclaimed.
"She's in a shitload of trouble, isn't she?" Kramisha said. It wasn't a question.
"I think so."
"Here," Kramisha said, passing the paper to her. Aphrodite took a deep breath and read the first poem.
The Red One steps into the Light
girded loins for her part in
the apocalyptic fight
Darkness hides in different forms
See beyond shapes, colors, lies
and emotional storms
Ally with him; pay with your heart
though trust cannot be given
unless the Darkness you part
See with the soul and not your eyes
because to dance with beats you
must penetrate their disguise
"The first one already happen," Kramisha said. "It about her battle with them bulls, but now I think it might be more."
Aphrodite nodded and moved onto the next poem.
Beasts can be beautiful
Dreams become desires
Reality changes with reason
Trust your truth
Man…monster…mystery…magick
Hear with your heart
See without scorn
Love will not lose
Trust his truth
His promise is proof
The test is time
Faith frees
If there is courage to change.
"This is bad," Aprhodite said. "Really bad."
"She know something 'bout it when I talk to her, but she don't wanna put her personal life out there. I get that, but she dealin' with some shit that mess with her head. Read the third."
You must tell your heart
The cloak of secrets smothers
Freedom: his to choose
Aphrodite opened her mouth, but Kramisha cut her off by saying, "Don't say nothing till you's read the last one."
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
"She was gonna talk to me or Zoey or both of us, but she didn't know how to explain it, so she went to go sort out the shit with her earth," Kramisha said, knowing Aphrodite had finished reading when she looked up from the page.
"The last one is the most confusing," Aphrodite said.
"Yeah, but I think it changes point of view. I think the first four lines are from the guy, and the last four are from her."
Aphrodite nodded. "Do we know if any of this has happened yet? Or are they just warnings?" she asked.
"Stevie Rae know something, but she herself may not really know what," Kramisha said.
"So you think it's already fucking happened?"
Kramisha nodded. "Great. Just fucking great!" Aphrodite said, wiping another strand of wet hair out of her face. "So now we get to add Stevie Rae's imprint to Rephaim to our list of shitty problems to deal with."
Kramisha nodded. "Will you tell me where she is now?" Aphrodite asked.
"One condition," Kramisha said. "I go with you."
"Yeah. Fine. Sure. Let's just go. Where is she?"
"She was heading north, probably towards the woody area of the park," Kramisha said.
"Well, it's a start. Let's fucking get a move on."
Aphrodite
"Stevie Rae!" Kramisha called.
"Bumpkin! Here, bumpkin!" Aphrodite called. "Ugh, where is she? We have been trudging through these muddy woods for an hour now."
"It only been ten minutes," Kramisha said. "You think I like to be out here in the rain? Nuh-huh. And I definitely don't wanna be out here with you. But we gotta find her."
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. Goddess, where is she? She thought.
"Stevie Rae!" Aphrodite called.
Nothing.
Kramisha suddenly went stiff. "Did you hear that?" she asked.
"Hear wha—"
"Shhh!" Kramisha waved her hand at her and leaned to the right. "That! Did you hear that?"
"No."
"Someone's calling for Stevie Rae," Kramisha said.
"Speaking of calling, why didn't we try that?" Aphrodite asked.
"I did. The line was busy," Kramisha replied. "C'mon. Let's go this way."
Aphrodite followed Kramisha off the path, ruining her five hundred-dollar boots in the mud.
"Stevie Rae!"
"That wasn't me. And you didn't just fucking say anything…"
Kramisha looked at Aphrodite expectantly, and Aphrodite turned to her, wide-eyed. "Is that what you were talking about?"
Kramisha nodded.
"Stevie Rae!"
"Who else would be calling her?" Instead of answering her question, Kramisha shrugged and kept walking towards the voice, who Aphrodite could now tell was probably male.
"Stevie Rae! C'mon, girl. Answer me!"
"This where the noise should be coming from." Kramisha sniffed the air. "Holy shit!" she screamed, covering her nose and mouth.
"What? What is it?" Aphrodite asked, but then she saw it. "Fuck!"
"Stevie Rae? Stevie Rae, is that you?" said the voice.
Blood was everywhere. It probably looked worse than it actually was, being the rain had probably made the puddle bigger, but holy shit!
"Aphrodite, is that her phone?" Kramisha asked. Miraculously, the phone was still working even though it was sitting in a puddle of blood and rain.
"Stevie Rae! Answer me!"
She so owes me for this, Aphrodite thought as she reached down and picked up the blood soaked phone.
"Hello?" Aphrodite said into the phone.
"Who are you and what the hell have you done to her?!" someone yelled from the other end.
"Wow. Rude much?" Aphrodite said.
"Where is she?" the male voice asked. "Where is Stevie Rae?!"
"Well, I'm Aphrodite LaFont, and the other person with me is Kramisha. We haven't done anything to the bumpkin; we're her friends, more or less. We were actually out looking for her. How long have you been screaming into the phone for?"
"Half hour, maybe an hour. Do ya know where my sister is?" the guy asked.
"Wait. You's Stevie Rae's brother?" Kramisha asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, that makes sense. You have the same twang," Aphrodite said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. The hair flip wasn't as dramatic or effective when her hair was wet and heavy.
"You didn't answer my question," the guy said.
"Well, I did tell you we were out looking for the bumpkin. If we knew where she was, why would we be looking for her?" Aphrodite replied. "And who are you?"
"Officer Sam Johnson. Look, I had been catching up with Stevie Rae when I heard a bunch of other people—I'm pretty sure they were guys—and she started screaming. I didn't hear anything else until you ladies came and found the phone."
Aphrodite and Kramisha looked at each other. "I think you should come to Tulsa," Aphrodite said slowly, "because it seems like Stevie Rae might be missing."
A/N
Hope you guys all enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a review! Happy Holidays!
~Smiley
P.S: Can someone please tell me if they love/like/hate my OC? He's only going to be a secondary character all the way through, but I kind of need to know your opinions on him so I know whether or not I should put him in more or less…