Yay! I finally updated! LOL. Well, I'm really tired today so I will crap less...

This chapter is dedicated to who else but you guys?

Hope you enjoy this chappie...

*Disclaimer: I don't own the HoN Series and any of the characters.

I slowly made my way over to the girls' dormitory. Hopefully Zoey will be back by now, get it over with quickly…

No, wait. Wouldn't she be at the infirmary, stay over for a night for observations or something? After all, she's injured and from what I remember seeing, it is pretty serious-a harsh red jagged line, bare flesh still visible…

Remembering it, I almost blushed, but smiled instead. She just looks so super damn hot that she can be a model and star in that career.

But then based on her character, she wouldn't want to stay in the infirmary. Heck, she won't even return to the House of Night if she is not hurt!

Throughout my mind babbling, I realized that I have already reached my destination. I was just about to give myself a mental pep talk and step inside when I felt a body pressing against mine. Actually, it is more of gyrating compared to the seemingly innocent 'pressing'.

I turned my head, already knowing what I will see: some kind of brainless slut and bimbo, trying to get me into their panties. I tried to push them off without using my red vamp strength. What? I have been taught to behave like a gentleman, okay?

When doing so, her neck came really close to me, my nose, my mouth. Close enough that I will very easily be able to sink my teeth into the fragile skin at her neck, the place where all the fresh blood are pulsing in the blood vessels.

Resisting the fragrant smell of blood, I turned away but then she just has to keep clinging on to me. Only then did I realize the last time I actually consumed blood, any kind of it. Not to mention that I am still recovering from my previous bloodlust.

Unable to restrain myself and deny my tongue the sweet-like-cotton-candy blood and the feeling when it slides down like silk down my throat, I leaned forwards to that girl-whatever her name is-more appropriately, her neck.

That girl, thinking that I am attracted to her, that I am giving in to her seduction and flirting, said "How about later, Stark? Then maybe we can-"

I cut her off by pulling her towards me forcefully, holding her arm and waist in a vice-like grasp, not caring anymore about the act-like-a-perfect-gentleman crap.

I used my sharp teeth to break through her thin, fragile skin, letting the red liquid flow through my mouth. As I drank more and more of her blood, she started moaning out loud as she experience sexual pleasure.

However, she is only physically feeling it, not emotionally as her body stiffened and I could tell that her eyes are wide, filled with terror. I made use of our touch to modify her memories, making her forget about me drinking her blood. Even though I don't like them fawning over me but then, hey, a guy still needs his reputation!

As I also feel the lust coming over me, my mind just, sort of, lost control over my actions that I actually moaned out loud, sliding my hands up her micro-mini skirt, situating my legs between her.

"Free her!" A commanding voice broke through to me and my thoughts are cleared and I abruptly stopped drinking her blood, turning around just in time to see Darius-the owner of the voice-stepping out of thin air. He is followed by Zoey who had also appeared suddenly, like the blinds have been pulled to the side to reveal the beautiful art piece.

To say that I was shocked to see them is an understatement. I didn't hear them, not a breath, not a footstep, even with my enhanced senses. I also felt a bit guilty for doing it, when I am no longer controlled by my bloodlust, and also for Zoey to see me behaving like this.

Anyway, back to the matter on hand. The girl, having been dropped by me, from quite a height I might add-not my fault that she is short-whimpered and on hands and knees, scrambled away.

The warrior took out a multi-colored checkered handkerchief-old fashion much?-and tossed it to Zoey, saying, "Help her." Like she will need any help. Then, he situated himself in between me and Zoey with that girl.

"You seem to keep getting in my way," I stated matter-of-factly, the evil overshadowing me.

"Perhaps no one has explained to you that vampyre males do not abuse females, be they human, vampyre, or fledgling," he said, not making any comment to my previous statement.

Not that I didn't already know that… Everybody makes mistakes occasionally (not that I don't always drink blood, I actually need to survive). What is he? My father? It is also that girl who kept on sticking around me, tempting me…

Whatever. "I'm not a vampyre," I stated, pointing to the outline of the red crescent moon on my forehead for evidence and for emphasis.

And whose fault is this? Neferet… I think I would rather die than become like this, a kind of unknown species, a freak, a monster. Even though I will not be able to see Zoey anymore, I can watch over her like a guardian angel, instead of being here now, with a big DANGER sign on me.

"That is an inconsequential detail. We"-he motioned towards himself and me, the males-"don't abuse females. Ever. The Goddess has taught us better."

Did he think before he speaks? The Goddess have obviously given up on me, because I am so evil… Evil now rules my whole body, my mind, my actions… And might I add, the Tulsa House of Night.

I smiled, more like a smirk, actually, definitely consisting of no humor. "I think you're gonna find that the rules have changed around here." Actually, I think they already did.

"Well, boy, I think you'll find that some of us have rules written here"-he pointed to where his heart is-"and rules written there aren't subject to the changing whims of those around us."

Argh. I have had enough of his nonsensical crapping already. My face hardened, devouring any facial expressions. I reached back to take my bow from my back and an arrow from my quiver.

Fitting the arrow to the bow, ready to release it, without the need of aiming it-what convenience-I said, "I think I'll make sure you're never in the way again."

"No!" Just this one word made me halt in my actions. Zoey moved to stand at Darius's side. "What the hell's happened to you, Stark?"

Strangely enough, this seemingly innocent question made me angry. Isn't the answer obvious enough? She was there. "I died!" I yelled, the shadowy evil radiating off me.

"I know that! I was there, remember?" She yelled back at me. How could I forget that the last person I saw, last kiss I had before I 'died'? I thought that it was her that forgot this fact. When I was thinking this through, my bow, with the arrow still in place, dipped down a little. Taking this as a good sign, Zoey spoke again, no longer shouting. "You said you'd come back to Duchess"-pain overtook my heart-"and to me." When Duchess is mentioned, I suddenly missed her, not that I didn't before but then this time, it seemed that all those days of missing her and Zoey all came crashing down in this instant.

Though the extreme heartache has pushed the monster back, it is back in the blink of an eye though I no longer feel like I am wearing red contact lenses. Probably because I have decided to 'harden' my heart and that Duchess should not have such an evil owner like me and should stay at Zoey's side. It is probably, no, definitely better for her and I want something of mine to leave with Zoey when she leaves me after finding out how heartless I am.

"Yeah, I'm back. But things are different now. And bigger changes are coming." I looked at Darius before continuing, "All that old shit you believe in doesn't mean anything anymore. It makes you weak, and when you're weak you die."

Darius shook his head and then said to me, "Honoring the way of the Goddess is never weakness."

"Yeah, well, I haven't seen much of any Goddess hanging around here, have you?" Well, it is true… I don't think anybody has ever seen the Goddess herself. Not even the High Council of Nyx, not to say High Priestess. All we see is a statue of her. Truth be told, she feels very unreal.

"Yes, actually I have. I've seen Nyx. She appeared right in there"-Zoey was quick to retort, pointing at the building in front of us, the girls' dorm-"just a couple days ago." I looked at Zoey, searching for any signs that show that she is lying. I found nothing. Of course, why would Zoey lie? She must be the only vampyre, no, fledgling, which makes it even more miraculous, who has seen Nyx. Well, Zoey is special after all, with those tattoos…

As I was silently watching Zoey, she was also gazing at me, in my eyes. It is so deep that I think she can see through my soul. Then, she looks like she just thought of something. "Stevie Rae's fine, by the way." Oh! So that's what she is thinking…

"That's nothing to me," I responded, lying partially. Well, she is lucky I guess… After all, even though I did not hit her in her heart, I shot it pretty close, to show Neferet, of course, but then it is still possible that she will die due to excessive loss of blood.

Zoey shrugged and said, "Just thought you'd want to know, since it was your arrow that made her a shish kebab."

Shish Kebab? What a description. I sort-of-laughed mentally before focusing back on answering her. "I was doing what I was told to do. The boss said make her bleed; I make her bleed," I told her truthfully, not naming any names, just in case she gets into trouble.

"Neferet? Is she who's controlling you?"

Why must she be so curious? My eyes blazed when I heard the hateful Neferet's name and spoke, "No one's controlling me!" Well, that is true as well and I also managed to not answer her question directly.

"Your bloodlust is controlling you. If you weren't under its control, you wouldn't have had to force yourself on that fledgling," Darius stated. Hmm… my bloodlust is controlling me. Never thought about it from this angle but thinking about it now, it does make sense…

"Yeah? Ya think so? Well, you're wrong. I happen to like my bloodlust! I liked doing whatever I want with that girl. It's time vampyres stopped slinking around. We're smarter, stronger, better than humans. We should be in charge, not them!" I said. Well, it appears that I have really been influenced by Neferet and Kalona… Why can't I speak what I want to say? Zoey will really think that I am a big, damn bastard now.

"That fledgling isn't a human," the warrior pointed out. Does he think that I am stupid and cannot tell a fledgling and a human apart? Humans' blood is so much sweeter than fledglings'. This warrior guy is seriously getting on my nerves!

"I was thirsty and there wasn't a human handy."

"Zoey, get the girl into the dorm. She is done serving his convenience," he spoke to Zoey but then he never took his eyes off me. How rude! If he thinks he is so great and all, doesn't he know that it is basic respect to look at that person when speaking to him or her? He didn't even give Zoey, Zoey the most basic respect, what nerve!

Zoey hurried over to that girl, still on the floor, and helped her up. She walked, wobbly, with Zoey holding on to her arm. As they reached the warrior, he walked with them, always keeping himself between them and me.

I don't think I can take it anymore! For the umpteenth time, I would never in my life time hurt Zoey. So when they were passing by me to the door of the girls' dormitory, I spoke up, giving them, no, Darius a little threat. "You know, all I have to do is think about killing you and shoot this arrow. Wherever you are you're dead."

"If that is so, then I will be then. And you will be a monster," Darius responded in a matter-of-factly tone.

There already is a monster within me. I already am a monster. It is all too late! "I don't mind being a monster!"

"And I don't mind dying if it is in the service of my High Priestess and, ultimately, my Goddess," Darius said.

"If you hurt him, I'll go against you with everything I have," the most beautiful voice in the world rang out. This is one of the very few times she spoke up in this situation.

I wanted to smile my 'cocky smile' which if I didn't remember wrongly, she loved it according to what I see in her eyes when I do it, but then my lips only tilted up a little, a ghost of it. "You're a little bit of a monster yourself, aren't ya, Zoey?" She is She is my monster. I just love the way her name sounds coming out from my mouth and it would sound even better if I pair it with a 'my love'.

Apparently, they didn't think that my comment was worth a reply as they continued walking, opening the front door and helping that girl inside.

Just when Zoey was about to step inside, she stopped and told Darius, "I'll be right in". Seeing that he was about to open his big, fat mouth to argue, Zoey said, "Trust me, I just need a second."

What is she going to do? Scold me, yell at me, for the bastard that I am? If it is going to come from Zoey, I don't mind…

"I'll be inside the door," Darius told Zoey though he, instead of facing Zoey, was throwing me a hard look, again, then stepped through the door.

Zoey turned to face me, letting me slowly take in each of her beautiful feature.

"Jack's taking care of Duchess," she said, breaking the somewhat awkward but still somewhat comfortable silence.

Hearing Duchess's name, I remembered the happy, long days we spent together, then how I left her side when I 'died'. Pain filled my whole being. No. She deserves to be happy, not with an evil owner like me. "So?" I tried to state, in a casual manner.

"So I'm just telling you that your dog's fine. She's had a pretty hard time, but she's okay.

Hearing that Duch is having a hard time or had a hard time, my decision wavered slightly but then for the sake of Duch, I have to press on. "I'm not who I used to be, so she's not my dog anymore." Who knew it was so difficult to get this one, simple sentence out of my mouth and into the open?

"Hey, the great thing about dogs is that they give unconditional love. Duch doesn't care who you are right now. She'll still love you."

Well, it might, no, it is true. After all, that's why I choose to have a dog, instead of a cat, in the first place. But then I care even though she doesn't. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, I do. I've spent some time with your dog. She's got a really big heart." Duchess isn't mine already, technically.

"I wasn't talking about her. I was talking about me"-and I most definitely don't have a big heart.

"Well, I've spent some time with red fledglings, too. Not to mention that the first ever Changed red vamp is my best friend. Stevie Rae's different than she used to be, but I still love her. Maybe if you spent some time with Stevie Rae and the rest of the red fledglings you could, I don't know, find yourself again. They have," Zoey said with an air of confidence.

She said that she still loves Stevie Rae, the red vamp? Is it really possible for someone to love a red vamp? As in, most people 'discriminate' red vamps and even though red vamp do have their humanity, it is only part of it, which I am all too sure, and is still dangerous to hang around with. But then if, like what Zoey said, can find myself again, which means that Zoey might love me, why not give it a try? "Sure. Why don't you take me to this Stevie Rae vamp and I'll see what happens?"

"Sure" she said as well. "Why don't you leave your bow and arrows here and show me how to get off campus without the bird freaks knowing and I'll do just that?"

What? Leave my bow and arrows behind? Impossible. It will be like taking half of my soul away, not that I have a lot left. "I don't go anywhere without my bow, and no one leaves campus without them knowing." Well, this is true. Those 'bird freaks' have freakishly good eyesight and hearing, even better than mine or any of the red vamps and fledglings, I'll bet.

"Then it looks like I won't be taking you to Stevie Rae."

"I don't need you to show me where Stevie Rae is. She knows all about their little hideout. When she wants your friend, she'll have her. If I were you, I'd expect to see Stevie Rae a lot sooner than you thought you would." Not to mention that I can easily find them as well, just by thinking of one of them and following the arrow.

Talking about this now, I remember that time whereby Neferet found out that Stevie Rae is still alive when she specifically told me to kill her, shooting the arrow to her heart. She knows about my talent, that I will never miss my target. Was she mad? Lucky for me, she was distracted by you-know-who just when she was about to question me, or punish me about it. After that, she, probably after much convincing or whatsoever, didn't pursue the matter even though she did give me a verbal warning.

"No one's hiding out. I'm right here, and Stevie Rae is right where she's been since she Changed. No big deal. Plus, it's always great to see her, so if she shows up here, that's cool." Not under those terrible circumstances she is sure to face, it's not-cool.

"Yeah, whatever. No big deal. And I'm cool staying right where I am. I don't get why you care anyway," I said, looking away from her, out into the icy fog that was drifting lazily around us. Yeah, why does she care about me? She shouldn't, it is not good for her even though I will be really happy if she cares for me.

"I'm just keeping my promises to you," she replied smoothly like she read it from a script.

"What do you mean?"

"You asked me to promise you two things before you died. One was not to forget you, and I haven't. The other was to look after Duchess, and I'm letting you know that I've made sure she's okay."

Hearing about Duch again, pain saturated my voice as I said "You can tell that Jack kid that Duchess is his dog now. Tell him…" I drew in a shaky breath, before continuing. "Tell him she's a good dog and to take care of her." I can't believe I just said that…

In my peripheral vision, I saw Zoey crossing the few feet of space between us and out her hand on my shoulder. Her warm touch feels so comforting and there is also a sense of déjà vu. She also did something like this the night I died. "You know it doesn't matter what you say or who you give her to, Duchess will always belong to you. When you died, she cried. I was there. I saw it. I didn't forget. I won't ever forget."

Well, it is not often you see a dog cry but then Duchess really cried when I died? Still not turning to face Zoey, I slowly dropped my bow to the ground and using my now free hand to place it over Zoey's small, delicate hand. We just stood there like that, me taking comfort from her touch, no one saying anything. I let out a long, slow breath I didn't know I was holding and my whole body visibly relaxed.

"What if there's nothing left in me worth loving?" I asked in a small voice, not wanting to spoil the quiet atmosphere.

"I think you can still choose what you are, or at least what you are becoming. Stevie Rae chose her humanity over the monster. I think it's up to you."

She slipped her hands slowly off my shoulder and I thought my heart will break. I thought she will just go inside the dorm but then, she twisted her body so that she was facing me and stepped into my arms. Relieved and love for her overwhelming me, I gradually bent my head down to hers, putting my lips together with her soft, full lips. She started the kiss, her lips moving against mine slowly and sweetly, winning all the candies in the world. I kissed her back, holding her, embracing her gently, scared she would break like a porcelain doll and leave my side forever.

As the seconds and minutes passed, my mind slowly caught up to my actions and I stiffened. How could I do this to her? This will very easily destroy her, and me. I pulled away, taking a staggering step backward. With tears threatening to spill over, I yelled out "You should have forgotten me!"

Then, I picked my bow up from the floor and bolted away into the roiling darkness of the stormy night.

Brie, may I know what is pong chapters? Never came across this term before and I even tried searching for its meaning on the net but came up empty-handed... Does anybody else know what does it mean?

Thanks to...

Desi772, horsemadissy, jamesstarkgirlfriend, Jazerelle, vampluver19, RayRayluvs2read, ImaginationFlow, ChAoS MiZoRe, Amiralys, Peahen, rashel..quinn, Cassierb 183, SarahBird925, Melly31992, I-chart, LonelyEmo64, Brie, HoN and Harry Potter fangirl, HoN and TB fangirl, FoxRider743, TreasureDimond, jamesstarkdreamgirl, daisyrose22, lovevampiresxxx, clapurhands, XMusicIsWhyILiveX, Jasmine, TooLazyToLogInAtTheMoment, booklurver, brittney, ily stark 4 eva, Artemis the Emerald Princess, Mia, dandiex, Cara., nessy (NESSY), olives09, bookADDICT6, deannor cutie pie for giving a review.

Amiralys, horsemadissy, ChAoS MiZoRe, geeniebop, Melly31992, Tash Salvatore, Desi772, Peahen, Cullenz-Rule, analilo, rashel..quinn, Stark's one and only girl, I AM NEAR, I-chart, TanzH, Lolita86, XMusicIsWhyILiveX, LonelyEmo64, SarahBird925, TreasureDimond, jamesstarkdreamgirl, daisyrose22, vampluver19, Loves Ironic Tragedy, KyoCutie13, fangmiceter, Saaphire, dandiex, crazzy book reader, vampiregirl2808, AlecCullen4, bookworms-are-AWESOME, bookADDICT6, MissFire752, Casper-loves-AVP, Stark'sgirl4eva, AdrianIvashkovIsMine, Tedie, KEZZ 1, catlover 12, Bacon n' Eggs, VampiresInMyHeart, DaMpiRka, sharkgirl277, ECLIPSE GANGA for putting it on his/her favourite story list.

horsemadissy, RayRayluvs2read, ImaginationFlow, Blazedanblazin, Peahen, digaholendie, I AM NEAR, LonelyEmo64, SarahBird925, TreasureDimond, Loves Ironic Tragedy, XMusicIsWhyILiveX, fangmiceter, daisyrose22, Abby-Jade-Love, ballroomdiva, dandiex, crazzy book reader, bookworms-are-AWESOME, olives09, MissFire752, bookADDICT6, Casper-loves-AVP,Stark'sgirl4eva, Tedie, catlover 12, Bacon n' Eggs for putting it on story alert.

By the way, guys, I have good news! I have decided to continue this story til Burned also~ But then I will need you guys' help. As in during the Stark's POV in the book (such as in Tempted), what should I do? I don't want to infringe the copyrights... Please give me your precious opinions by either private-messaging me or put it as a review, thanks!

Wow! This is like my first fanfic and a lot of people are always very sad whentheir first fanfic end... don't think I will be feeling their sadness anytime soon... LOL

Please review! Get it to 80++? You guys Rockx! Thanks!