Life at the House of Night: Marked

Life at the House of Night: Marked: Chapter 3

I changed into a clean red shirt and dark blue jeans before walking over to Nyx's Temple. I was honestly surprised of how quick my belongings arrived. I looked forward to see Zoey and Stevie Rae almost to the doors so I joined them.

"Hey, there, Red." Stevie Rae looked over to me with a slight smile.

Alright. I was not a mind reader but the way she smiled and a gut feeling of mine told me that something was wrong.

"What's the matter?" I asked. "What happened to you that made you sad?"

They both looked at me as if I did read minds. What? Just because the feelings I got were basically right the majority of the time, it didn't make me a mind reader. Stevie Rae gave out a soft sigh.

"A classmate of ours didn't make the Change and she..."

Even though she didn't finish her sentence, I knew what she was going to say.

I looked forward to the temple, trying to look strong for them.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I said in a quiet manner.

However, as much as I tried to be courageous for them, I had to admit that I was scared. Scared of that possible fate, scared of that happening to my new fledgling friends. That thought broke when I saw Shaunee at the steps of the temple. Weird. Where's Erin?

"There you three are!" She called. "Erin and Damien are already inside saving a place for us. You do know that once the ritual starts, they won't let anyone in, right? Hurry up!"

Good. Damien and Erin were here after all. That definitely made me relieved. Incense took over my sense of smell as we reached the foyer, making me completely relaxed. I haven't smelled incense ever since my stepdad burned some sometimes when he played video games. Without knowing, a tear rolled down my cheek.

"Are you okay, Red?" Zoey looked at me, worried.

I blinked before wiping the tear away. How did that manage not to get dried up by the blindfold, I didn't know.

"Yeah." I nodded, giving them a comforting smile. "Just the incense made me miss my parents, that's all."

I saw that the incense made Zoey hesitant though. Shaunee and Stevie Rae looked over at her as well.

"It's okay." Stevie Rae said. "There's nothing to be nervous or scared about." She quickly added, "At least nothing in here."

I raised a brow at her words. Alright. Did I miss something during my zoning out moment at lunch? Knowing me, I probably did.

"The Full Moon Ritual is great. You two will like it. Oh, and when the vamp traces the pentagram and says "blessed be" all you have to do is say the same thing back to her." Shaunee explained to us. "After that, join us in our place in the circle."

I gave her a nod before she went into the dim room. Circle?

"Wait." Zoey said. "Isn't a pentagram a sign of evil or something like that?"

She did have a good point. All my life, I knew that it was the sign of Satan. Well, my previous life. Stevie explained that it's one that the right side up star wasn't and that it stood for wisdom, protection, perfection... good things. While four of the points were for the four main elements, the top point stood for spirit. I really made a mental note of that, just in case.

I could hear a fountain before we reached a doorway. A female vampyre stood with a rock bowl in her hands. She was really beautiful with long, wheat-colored hair and spirals that framed her face, mostly her eyes. I could tell she was a professor because of the goddess figure on her blouse as she wore a skirt with it.