Forged (A House of Night Story)

Authors Note: I do not own any of the characters. House of Night is owned by P. C. Cast and Kristen Cast. I just love their books!

…………………………………………………………..

It was around 5am by the time everyone was safe in the depths of the tunnels under Tulsa. They were tired, HECK! I was tired. Everyone was scared and didn't know what was going on in the world above. The world that was now nothing but chaos. Neferet had unleashed an ancient angel of darkness named Kalona. He and his children the Raven Mockers were terrorizing humans and those of us that got away didn't know what we were going to do.

"Zoey?" Aphrodite's tired voice reached me through the dark tunnel. I could tell she was afraid, but she tried to be as nonchalant as possible. Darius was close beside her with his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. I made a mental note to ask her about that later. "Zoey…Stevie Rae wanted to let you know that she's felling better, and wants to talk to you before she falls asleep."

Stevie Rae had been pierced by an arrow, and was bleeding a lot, but as soon as we got into the tunnels the other red fledglings had grabbed a few bags of blood and she drank them up, and just like that the wound seemed to heal up quite nicely. I smiled as best I could as I made my way down the tunnels to where Stevie Rae was laying on a dirty old mattress. Even in the depths of darkness I could tell that color had returned to her face and she had on a big smile when I walked in.

"How you feelin'" I asked her as I sat next to her on the mattress, holding her hand in mine. She even looked tired.

"Really tired, but better. Much better!" she responded in her cute Okie accent. "Zoey? Are you ok?" She looked really concerned, and all I wanted her to do was sleep and restore her energy. The other red fledglings were asleep, and Damien, the Twins, Jack, and I assumed Erik was getting ready to pass out too. Duchess was sleeping next to Jack, Nala and Maleficent were each sleeping on one of the pillows on the empty mattress where I would be sleeping.

"Zoey?" Stevie Rae's voice broke through my little conversation in my head. I blinked a few times and smiled back down at her.

"I'm alright. Just a little tired and drained from using the five elements at once." And the fact that now I had to figure out how to take down a fallen angel, a High Priestess gone evil, and creepy Raven Mockers that were terrorizing and killing humans and vamps alike.

"Alright, but if you need to talk you know you can always talk to me. You are my best friend after all." She said giving me a huge, warm smile. I lurved Stevie Rae a lot. She had been there for me through everything. Even when she had died, and then came back as an undead dead kid, holding onto the small bit of her humanity. She never let me down. All I could do was smile and nod, trying to keep my eyes from leaking salty tears.

"Hey all I want you to do right now is sleep!" I said to her. She nodded at me still smiling before she closed her eyes. A few minutes later I could hear her cute little snore. She was defiantly fast asleep.

The tunnels were really quiet. Not a creepy quiet, but not a calming quiet either. Maybe it was just me and my nerves. Either way as tired as I felt, I knew that I wasn't going to get any sleep soon. I got up from the mattress and walked a little ways down another tunnel before I stopped, sat on the filthy floor with my knees to my chest and cried.

"Please Nyx. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to keep my friends safe. Please help me." I chocked out through sobs. I've never been so scared before. I took a couple deep breaths before centering myself. I could feel the rush of the five elements around me. My spirit was happy and over joyed. Like a little kid playing outside on a warm Oklahoma day at the lake surrounded by a gentle breeze and wild flowers. I smiled at myself as I closed my eyes and was immediately in a beautiful lavender field with a small stream. Across the stream sat a beautiful woman I had seem a few times, and I smiled.

"Hello Zoeybird." Nyx's warm smile greeted me. "Going to ask me if you're dead again?" She was playful and sweet.

"Not this time, although I am amazed that I'm not after what had just happened." I said to her. I bit my lip a little. Maybe I had been too informal to the great Nyx. I heard a small giggle on the wind and looked up to see Nyx smile even more at me.

"You were very brave u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya." The sound of the Cherokee word for daughter made me relax a bit more. "You faced many evils in your path, and there are more dangers ahead of you. It will not be easy, but know that I am always with you."

"I know that, but I'm scared for my friends. I don't want anything to happen to them. I don't know how to stop Kalona and the Raven Mockers." I was babbling and I knew I was. I could feel the salt water on my face. I was crying again. When I looked back up Nyx was standing in front of me with her arms holding my shoulders.

"Evil has many ways of being over come. Remember, darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good. Keep your friends close to you my daughter. You will figure this out. Trust your instincts." Nyx said with a beautiful smile.

"It would help me out more if you just told me how to stop them." I said with a sobbing laugh knowing that she wouldn't just tell me. She gave me a look that clearly said we've had this conversation before. I smiled at her calming my sobs as I closed my eyes and woke up from the beautiful field. I looked around the dirty dark tunnel not seeing anything around me. I gave a great sigh before getting up from the floor and walking back to the others.

I looked around the sleeping room, noticing that Aphrodite and Darius had taken up my bed. Then in horror I realized the only spot left was next to Erik. I walked over to his mattress and watched how peacefully he was sleeping. The marks on his handsome face that made up what looked like a mask were still beautiful. His black hair fell over his closed eyes, and his breath was shallow and calm. It was now that I had wished were still friends. Still boyfriend and girlfriend. Sure he didn't hate me anymore, but he didn't trust me either. Lightly I moved the hair from his face, then with my finger I lightly outlining his wondrous tattoos. He moved slightly at my touch and I saw his brow frown. I moved my hand back quickly and sighed as he fell back asleep. No way in hell was I going to risk him waking up next to me. The last thing I needed was him screaming at me.

"If you don't lie down and get some sleep you're not gonna be able to plan anything later." I heard his muffled voice as one of those gorgeous blue eyes opened and stared at me sleepily.

"I didn't mean to wake you. I'll just go over there." I said pointing behind me to the gross floor space between two red fledglings that would probably wake up and eat me.

"Don't be ridiculous. Aphrodite already told me that you would have to share a bed with me." He said moving over holding up the sleeping bag. I looked at him a little scared. He was such a nice guy and I was such a ho. I didn't deserve him being nice to me.

"I don't want to make you have to share the mattress. I don't mind the floor." But even as the words escaped my lips I could tell that he didn't believe me. I didn't even believe me. Darn the tears were coming back to my eyes. I looked away from his beautiful face and blinked a few times willing my tears to not come. I felt a light grip on my wrist and a soft pulling motion as Erik pulled me to the mattress.

"You're not making me. You need to sleep, and you need to be comfortable. If it makes you happier I'll go sleep on the floor." He said softly.

"No!" I said a little fast. "I mean, no you don't have to go to the floor. The mattress is big enough." I laid down next to him and got as close to the edge as I could. I felt his arm grab me around the waist and pull me closer to him. I could feel my face heat up as I moved into the groove of his body and got comfortable. It was a protective embrace, and soon I felt myself drift into a dreamless sleep.

"Should we wake them?" I could hear Shaunee ask. I could tell that she was close to me and I could feel her eyes on me.

"No Twin! They are so cute together!" Erin said. Them? They? What were those two talking about?

"Shut up Dorkamiese Twins! Let the girl sleep!" Aphrodite's bitchy voice cut through. All I could do was groan and cuddle closer to the warmth behind me.

"Ya'll are gonna wake 'em up! Keep your voices down!" Stevie Rae's Okie accent is what finally got me up. I opened my eyes and had to blink a few times to clear my vision. That's when I realized that there was someone's arm around my waist in a protective hold. I turned to see who it was, and had to clamp a hand over my mouth when I saw Erik's smiling blue eyes staring at me.

"Awe! Way to go! I was just going to find a camera!" Erin said holding out a small digital camera ready to take a picture. I laughed a little seeing the pout on her pretty face.

"You guys are such hypocrites! You were the ones that wanted Zoey to get some rest and now you're the ones waking her up." Damien pointed out looking angry at the group of girls.

"Hypo what?" The Twins said.

"It means that you say one thing and do another." Jack said petting Duchess.

"What time is it?" Came my raspy voice. I cleared my throat a couple times to get the dryness out.

"About 10:24pm Priestess." And that was Darius standing firmly behind Aphrodite giving me the bow of ancient Amazonians, right fist over heart. I felt Erik's arm remove itself from my waist and felt a little cold. I didn't realize that it had been keeping me warm from the chill of the tunnels.

"What's for breakfast?" I asked looking around. I had forgotten to ask Stevie Rae if there was any kind of food down here besides two-day-old pizza and blood bags. Everyone looked at me kind of like they didn't know how to answer me. "Let me guess. There really isn't anything down here food wise?"

"Not really." Stevie Rae was the first to answer me. That's when I realized why everyone was looking at me. They were hungry, and no one knew if it was safe to go outside the tunnels for food.

"Any news about what's going on up there?" I asked my finger pointed to the roof of the tunnel.

"The Dorkamiese Twins went over to the iron gate that led outside and snook a peak. It's crazy out there. People running like crazed animals. Those Raven Mockers reeking havoc on anyone and any thing that goes outside." Aphrodite said with a gallant flip of her long blonde hair.

"We don't know how we're going to get food down here Z." Damien said. I sat for a minute thinking. How were we going to get food? Or anything for that matter. I wasn't going to risk any ones life by allowing them to go outside. I wanted us to stay in the tunnels until we could figure a way to defeat Neferet and Kalona.

"Um…I have an idea." One of the red fledglings said. I recognized her as Venus, Aphrodite's old roommate. I nodded for her to continue. "Well these tunnels go all over Tulsa. If we all go in groups I'm sure that they have to lead us to some store, or somewhere close to a store that we could run outside for just a second and get food." It wasn't a bad idea.

"Well…it's all we have. Everyone take a partner and head down the tunnels. Make sure at least one person has a cell phone. If you find something that leads to a store call." I said making sure everyone had their phones turned on and we knew each other's numbers to call. Of course the Twins were together with a couple red fledglings. Damien and Jack with Duchess and some red fledglings. Aphrodite, Darius, Stevie Rae and some other red fledglings. Which of course left me with Erik. Oh they were a sneaky bunch. I knew what they were doing and I didn't like it. Of course there were more pressing matters, so I was sure to make a mental note and yell at them about this situation later.

And then off we were down the tunnels of Tulsa. We all split up and walked down a different path. I hoped this wasn't some kind of omen of what was going to happen with my friends and me. Venus and that nasty Elliot kid were walking a bit in front of Erik and I. I didn't want to say how completely nervous I was being around him. I did want to ask him why he had allowed me to sleep next to him, and why he had his arm around my waist as we slept. I wanted to say I was so sorry for what happened in the past. I wanted to say that I was stupid and beg for him to take me back. I wanted to say a lot of things, but as my mind was focused on the inner turmoil in my head I didn't notice Erik was trying to talk to me.

"Hey Z?" He had to have said that about a zillion times and I was just staring at him like an idiot.

"Sorry. My mind was wondering." I said embarrassed. I was glad it was dark in the tunnels and he couldn't see the red on my cheeks. It was an awkward silence as we walked farther taking turns every once in a while. Then his hand brushed mine and felt a jolt like electricity pass from him to me. Goddess I missed him.

"I'm sorry Erik." I said breaking the weird silence that had settled between us. I could feel him tense up next to me as we walked. Then with a great sigh from his god like lips he ran a hand through his hair. Something he did when he was nervous.

"You know the Twins set this up. Trying to get us to talk to each other." He said still staring straight ahead.

"I had a feeling. But honestly, I know it's going to take a lot for me to win your trust back. What I did was a huge mistake. I never meant to hurt you. I was just so scared and emotionally freaked." I started trying my hardest not to cry again.

"You don't have to explain anything to me Z." His voice was a little harsh, but I figured I deserved it.

"Yes I do. You need to know that you were right about Loren." It was so hard to say his name. "He did what he did because he wanted all my friends to abandon me. He never cared for me and he tricked me into caring for him. I wanted to be with only you, and when you Changed it freaked me out. I thought you were dying. I walked into the room you found us in and I sat there and cried. I was so scared I was loosing another person that I cared about.

"Loren took that opportunity to take advantage of me. He did it for Neferet. He did it to hurt me and to hurt you. He wanted you to hate me. And I guess it worked because now you do hate me. And I don't blame you." I said. I could feel the tears on my face. I had stopped walking and angrily whipped at my face. Then I felt his warm hands lifting my face and his thumbs whipping my falling tears. I looked up into those gorgeous eyes getting lost in them and trying not to cry even more.

"I do not hate you Zoey." His voice was soothing and calm. I tried to look away but he brought my face back up to look into his eyes again. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have acted like a jerk. I shouldn't have said the things I did. Especially in front of your friends. But you're right about one thing. It's going to be hard to trust you with my heart again. I care a lot about you Zoey. And what made me angry was that no matter how I tried to convince myself…I just couldn't make myself stop caring about you."

"Why did you make me do Othello with you?" I asked out of the blue. I knew why I asked it. He was going to tell me that he wanted to make a fool out of me in front of the class. How he had hopped to actually strangle me.

"I wanted an excuse to kiss you again." WHAT?! Now that was totally out of the ballpark. I looked at him with a shocked expression that clearly said ohmygod! "I didn't expect you to kiss me at the end of it though. After you left my class and I went into my office. I had to sit before my knees gave out. I was trembling so badly, and it pissed me off. I wanted to be angry with you, but I couldn't."

"I wanted to kiss you too. I've missed you so much. And I know I've messed up really bad. I know nothing I could ever say could get you to forgive…" And then his lips were on mine. I just melted into it like I had the many times before. Gosh I was such a ho making out in a tunnel. But I couldn't help it. I had missed kissing him and his perfect lips. I could hear the moan escape my lips as he deepened the kiss.

"Excuse me." Venus's meek voice broke through our little world and I pulled away from Erik to look at her. I'm sure she was blushing, but she held out a cell phone to me, and I could see the Twin's number lit up. I grabbed the phone smiling sweetly to the girl and put the phone to my ear.

"Please just please with not answering your phone!" Came Shaunee's voice. I could tell she was smirking on the other line. She knew something.

"What's up? Find anything?" I asked in a whatever kind of voice.

"As a matter of fact we did. I already called Damien and Aphrodite and they're on there way here. I sent out fire so you can follow it here. You wont believe our luck today!" Shaunee said. As soon as she hung up I felt the warmth of a bonfire whip around me. I smiled motioning the others to follow me as we backtracked through the tunnels. It seemed to take use forever to meet the rest of the group, when in reality it only took about five minutes.

Everyone was standing outside a big, gated tunnel when me and the group I was with finally showed up. Shaunee and Erin were grinning ear to ear when I stopped in front of them.

"Well? What did you find?" I asked them the question everyone else was thinking. The Twins just smiled and walked through the iron door and up a set of steep stairs. We all followed to the top when a sign that said "Caution! Security Room!" On a big old white door that looked to be rusted shut. Both the twins struggled to open it when Darius stepped up and with those big, mountainous arms, he opened the door with a loud creak that made me and a few others wince. It was like that nail on a chalkboard feeling. Slowly, one by one, we all filed into the dark room. Aphrodite found a switch and turned the lights on. We saw the little TVs of the security cameras when I noticed where we were.

"We're at the Utica Square Mall!" I said bluntly.

"No shit Sherlock!" Came Aphrodite's snide remark. I knew she was just joking around, but continued to flip her oh-so-perfect hair. "Notice anything strange?"

"Where are all the people?" Jack asked, but I already knew the answer. Sure the mall had been closed for a little over an hour, but it was deserted. No mall security or maintenance people. I didn't see anything dangerous, and I wasn't getting that gut feeling that made me sick and said turn around. I just felt plain sick.

"They're gone. The Raven Mockers, or Kalona, or both have whipped them out." I said, although I don't remember telling myself to talk. I could see the scared look on Jack's face, and knew that many of the red fledglings had the same look. "Ok listen. We're going to go out there as a group. Stay together. Think quiet and invisible." I said and concentrated like the rest of the group. We started walking down the corridors of the mall keeping a look out for anything evil, or even any people we could help to escape. We passed abandoned shops as we headed toward the food court. Sure it wasn't like Wal*Mart, but it was food. There was one of those small "News Stand" shops in the food court. You know, the place that has bottles of drinks, and magazines and bags of chips. We split into two groups so that half could grab what we could out of the "News Stand" and the rest could gather what they could from the other restaurants. I sent most of the red fledglings with Jack and Damien back to the tunnel with all the food we found, and headed toward the shops.

"Zoey? What are we looking for down here?" Stevie Rae asked as we walked toward some clothing stores and a sports shop.

"Clothes shopping duh!" the Twins said together. She looked a little confused when Erik piped in.

"We can't exactly wear these clothes for the next few days we're here." He said. I could have kissed that boy for understanding the whole hygiene issue.

"And I say Ugh to being gross wearing the same outfit three days in a row without deodorant and clean underwear!" Aphrodite said with her usual attitude. Damien, the red fledglings and Jack reached us when we stopped outside 'Dillards'.

"Okay! Boys stick together, and girls together, and we'll meet back out here in thirty minutes. Be as quiet as possible, and just the essentials!" I said. I felt like we were stealing. Which technically we were, but at the same time this was something we had to do. So the girls and I walked towards the junior's department for some clothes, while the guys headed toward men's. The Twins of course begged and pleaded to go look at shoes.

"We can't fight evil in ugly shoes! We need to fight in style!" Erin said.

"I hate to agree with the twin terrors, but comfy cute shoes might help our mood. And if this thing is over tomorrow I'll be sure to send a big check to the mall to pay for everything we took." Aphrodite said already heading toward the shoe section. All I could do was sigh as me and a reluctant red fledgling girl followed. I had to admit. I did find a really cute pair of black boots that had just a small heal on them. I figured black was a good color to blend in with. Stevie Rae even found a cute pair of black cowboy boots. Even Aphrodite couldn't say anything negative about them. Twenty minutes went by really fast and it seemed like the girls and I just ran through the clothes and grabbed what ever we could, in black, in our size, and then met the boys outside. Each of them had two to three bags max, while we each had about ten.

"Don't look at us like that! We're girls what do you expect?" Shaunee asked glaring at the boys who just shrugged and shook their heads.

"We ready to go?" Jack asked still looking scared out of his mind.

"Priestess if you would allow I think it would be best to get some weapons for defense." Darius said bowing to me again. I had to make sure that I told that boy to stop doing that. It really was embarrassing. I only nodded while he and a couple boys ran, well not literally ran, into the sports store and emerged about ten minutes later with a few guns and other weapons that looked like swards. If me and the girls went in there it would have taken us a lot longer. So after all that we finally headed back toward the tunnel entrance.

I could see the door ahead of us when the sounds of wings flapping could be heard behind us. I could feel everyone tense up, and I did too. Slowly I turned around to come face to face with about a dozen Raven Mockers.

"Erik and Darius take everyone to that door as fast as you can. I'll hold them off." I whispered handing my bags slowly to Aphrodite. They reluctantly agreed as they all started to back toward the door slowly. Damien, the Twins, and Stevie Rae all stayed with me as we all centered ourselves. When I heard the Security door open we all started moving back slowly. The Raven Mocker's beady little eyes were fixated on us as we walked. Wind, fire, water, earth and spirit I ask you to come to my aid at this time. I spoke mentally. I could feel Shaunee and myself start to glow and I could feel the fireballs in my hands.

"We're ready when you are Z." Damien said in a low whisper. I could feel wind whipping around us as he held a small little tornado between his hands. I could smell the meadows around me and feel the grass between my toes. Stevie Rae just smiled at me.

"On three Zoey?" Erin asked looking at the water fountain behind the Raven Mockers.

"One…" The Raven Mockers started toward us. We held our ground. "Two…" They were almost right in front of us now and I could have touched them if I lifted my hands. "THREE!" And as the word left my mouth we shot them with our elements. Shaunee and I burned them. Erin drowned them, Damien blew them away, and Stevie Rae lifted her hands like I had the night I discovered that she wasn't really dead. When I saved Heath from the tunnels. She brought them down and the roof caved in. I used spirit to conceal and hide us as we made a break for the security door. Darius was holding the rusted door open for us and as soon as we made it through he slammed it shut. He broke off a piece of the rusted railing and used it to barricade the door. We all took some gulps of air as we caught our breaths on the stairs. Thank you earth, water, fire, wind and spirit. You saved and protected us. You may depart. And as I thought the words I felt the elements swirl around me and then finally disappear.

"Ohmygoodness!" Came Stevie Rae's Okie twang.

"You guys did awesome!" Was all I could say as we started down the stairs and through the tunnels.

"Figures those things had to ruin a perfectly good shopping trip." Shaunee stated.

"My thoughts exactly Twin! Like they couldn't wait till I changed into my super cute clothes and showered!" Erin said as we walked. I couldn't help but laugh a little at their silly bickering. Only they could make a battle against evil seem like nothing more than a shopping inconvenience.

"You two are ridiculous. We just fought Raven Mockers and all you can do is say how they ruined your shopping spree? You two have your priorities a little disheveled." Damien retorted with his two cents. I love how he's expanded my vocab.

"Please..." Shaunee started.

"Just please!" Erin finished. Goddess they were freaky alike. I swear they share one brain. We made it back to our area in the tunnels and noticed how everyone was sitting around in a circle munching on food. That nasty Elliot kid was handing out blood bags to the red fledglings and promptly handed one to Stevie Rae when we reached the group. She grabbed a little plastic cup we had grabbed and poured a small amount into it and handed it to Erik.

"I know you need to drink some now that you're a full fledge vamp and all." She said in her cute accent. I had totally forgotten that adult vamps needed to drink blood too. He gratefully took it and poured a little of the juice he had grabbed and mixed them together. I took a brown pop from Jack as he and Damien sat together on their mattress. It was crazy how nice it was that we were all sitting in this damp disgusting tunnel, and yet we were all happy together and for a moment I forgot that there was a war going on above ground.

"So what do we do now Priestess?" Darius asked.

"Well for starters please stop being so formal. We have enough to worry about without you needing to call me Priestess and bow all the time." I said in a sweet smile. He really did need to relax. I heard a "mee-uf-ow!" as Nala jumped up into my arms looking mad at me. Then I remembered that she hadn't eaten anything either. "Did anyone remember to get pet food?" I asked shyly. Venus tossed a bag of Friskey's at me as well as a double bowl and a bottle of water. I set it on the floor and poured Nala some water and food. She jumped out of my arms and immediately chowed down. "So anyone have an idea on how to beat Kalona and Neferet?" I looked around at the tired faces and then at my cell phone for the time. It was only around 4:00am.

"We didn't stick around long enough to see if the elements did any damage to those Raven Mockers." Damien said as he took a big bite of a sub sandwich.

"Didn't you say that your Grandma's ancestors used the earth to capture Kalona before?" Aphrodite asked as she sipped her Fiji water. Even in the midst of evil she's still a spoiled rich kid. I tried to remember the story Grandma had told me. And thinking about it only made me sad. I wondered how she was, and if she was safe and okay. I wished I could talk to her and find out a way to fix things. Maybe if I had closed the circle or somehow stopped Stark from shooting his arrow I could have prevented Kalona from rising and Neferet would be in front of the council being punished. My stomach knotted a little giving me that feeling of being sick. I remembered how Shekinah was so strong, but with one slight motion from Neferet, she crumpled to the ground. How was I going to beat Neferet now? I could barely stand up to her before. And Shekinah was the High Priestess of all vamps!

"Z? Are you alright? You look pale." Erik's sweet voice cut through my inner babble. I shook my head a bit whipping the thoughts from my mind.

"I'm fine just thinking. Grandma said that the Ghigua Women made a maiden named A-ya and lured Kalona into a cave and trapped him in the earth. I highly doubt that Kalona would be stupid enough to just follow one of us into a cave or basement or anything like that again." I said looking around the room. "We need to figure out a way to lure him into a trap. We need to trap him again, or destroy him for good. But we wont be able to do it alone." And then like a sledgehammer I thought of a way to get help. "Does anyone happen to know how to get in touch with the Vampyre Council in Europe?"

"No, but I bet we could get in touch with another House of Night and have them get a message to the Council." Erik said looking at me. Goddess he was just so amazing.

"I could call the Sons of Erebus that didn't come here and see if any of them can help us. Pries-Zoey." Darius said catching himself before he called me Priestess again. I smile and nodded at him to proceed. I then noticed how tired I was. I probably smelled like poo and I certainly felt like poo.

"Make sure a couple people go with you. And take a weapon weather its an element or something you got in the mall." I said being extra cautious. I felt my knees get a little wobbly and realized that I had been standing for a while and I was weak from the battle. I felt Erik grab a hold of my elbow and steady me before helping me sit down. I could see the concern in his eyes, and it made me wish I could just lie in his warm embrace and be held in his strong arms. "I'm okay just tired." I said making everyone's worried faces relax. I looked at my phone and saw that it was 4:30am. Time flies when you're having fun I guess. Not that I was having fun. It's just a figure of speech.

"Someone get Zoey something to eat." Erik said sitting next to me rubbing my back. One of the red fledglings returned with a ham and cheese sandwich and a bag of sour cream & onion chips. I took them with a small thank you and began eating. It did make my stomach feel better. Then I wondered if there was even a bathroom down here. Knowing my luck with all this stress and nerves I would get a raging case of diarrhea.

"Stevie Rae, is there a bathroom down here?" She looked at me with a smile like that was the stupidest thing to ask.

"Of course silly. Boys' bathroom is on the left and girls' on the right. We even have a shower. Compliments of Aphrodite's rich parents." She said smiling. Aphrodite who had not went with Darius, which was unusual, smiled her snobbish smirk and did that perfect hair flip.

"I was gone for two days. You think I would actually stay somewhere that didn't have a decent bathroom? I say Ugh to living down here as it is. I will at least have a clean, running bathroom!" She said like we had all lost her minds if we had even considered asking her to "rough it" without a five star bathroom. No wonder there was so many mattresses. When Aphrodite was hiding out with Stevie Rae for those two days she had made sure to help out. It was really nice of her, but I wasn't about to point that out to her.

"We should probably make a schedule for showers and such." Erin said.

"Ditto, Twin!" Shaunee but in. I just ate in silence. If they wanted to make a shower schedule that was fine with me. As long as I got a shower and soon I was a happy camper.

"Maybe ya'll should let Zoey go first so she can go to bed. She didn't get much sleep last night." Stevie Rae said piping into the Twin's argument of who was going to go first. They both said yea sure before getting back to the argument about who got to go next. Stevie Rae and Erik helped me to my feet, which thankfully stopped wobbling. I walked to the bathroom, grabbing some toiletries and closed the door.

The water was actually warm and didn't smell like I feared it would. It relaxed my muscles and seemed to wash away lot of the anxiety I was feeling. I tried to go as fast as possible knowing that other people needed to use the facilities. Again thank you Damien for the extended vocab. I put on the cute pajamas I grabbed from the shop and walked out with my wet hair in a messy bun. Apparently Aphrodite won the argument because she went into the bathroom after me while I could see the angry looks on the twins face. I was too tired to listen to them bicker. Damien and Jack were already getting cozy in their sleeping bags with Duchess. Erik's hair was damp and he was reading the newspaper while he laid on the mattress we shared. I got under the sleeping bag and tried to make myself sleep. It was weird knowing that Erik had held me to him last night, and now it was like I couldn't get comfortable without his arm around me. I let out a sigh and turned to face him.

"I don't want to cross any kind of line or make you uncomfortable, but I can't seem to get to sleep." I said as heat rose in my cheeks. He put down the paper and looked at me confused.

"And how can I help you fix that?" He asked with one of his perfect eyebrows raised.

"Well. Last night I was able to fall asleep because your arm was around my waist. It made me feel safe." Goddess I was such a freak. "Sorry I shouldn't have said anything. I didn't mean to interrupt your reading." I felt like an idiot. I quickly turned back around so that I didn't have to face him. Way to go Zoey. But then I heard slight movement and there was an arm around me. I scooted back into the curve of his body like I had done last night. "You don't have to hold me all night if you don't want to. Just till I fall asleep please?" I wasn't sure if he had heard me because I had said it so softly. But I felt the rumble in his chest of a chuckle before I felt his breath on my ear.

"Don't be so nervous Z. I don't mind holding you while you sleep." And I knew that if I were to turn around and look into his eyes they would be playful and teasing. Instead I just cuddled up to him more and let sleep claim me.