Marked: Chapter 19
ZeldaQueen: In which the conflict arrives and it is lame
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
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Chapter 19
ZeldaQueen: This chapter...this chapter took a lot out of me. Strap in, ladies and gentlemen. It is stupid.
Zoey goes back to the dorm and is still all tingly in the wrist (and other places, I'm sure) from Erik's erotic Dracula routine there. She's all pleased that the few people in the dorm aren't paying attention to her as she staggers in, and carries Nala into the kitchen to make some food. We get way too many asides about what she's getting to eat, and I have to wonder why the vampires don't keep any potato chips but have a ton of brown pop. I'll admit I'm not a huge pop drinker, but doesn't that count as junk food as well?
She then goes upstairs, and for some reason is carrying Nala along with the food. I have no idea why, especially since all we saw was Nala following her around the kitchen, clearly not interested in running off. Anyway, Stevie Rae is already in her PJs, waiting for Zoey, and yes her pajamas have a cowboy hat pattern and drawstring cotton pants, and this all leads Zoey to comment "I swear she looked about twelve years old". Really.
Stevie Rae squees over Nala and asks Zoey how everything went. Zoey isn't sure where to start, so she begins with Erik walking her home. Stevie Rae promptly freaks and asks Zoey to tell everything. So yeah, we're going to be treated to a lot of wank over how the hot guy loves the self insert. I guess I should count our blessings - at least Stevie Rae never makes any sexually provocative statements here, and sounds way closer to a person who's happy that their friend has their first crush.
Anyway, Zoey tells her that Erik kissed her, which leads Stevie Rae to as "Where? How?" Where and how do you think? I mean, alright, "where" is a legitimate question, especially with all of these little whores, but "how"??? So far as I know, there's only one way to kiss someone!
Zoey says that it was on the hand, because she doesn't want to go into the details of him turning her on via the wrist. She starts to explain how she went off and he caught up with her, and casually mentions Elizabeth's ghost in the process. I'm not exaggerating, she treats the appearance of a red-eyed, freaky ghost like a footnote.
GOD
Stevie Rae does catch that bit though, and asks Zoey to pause, rewind, and explain. Zoey tells about the ghost and asks if they're sure Elizabeth died, or if "There couldn't have been some mistake made and she's still alive but wandering around the school". Stevie Rae says no, she really saw her die, and I swear they're talking about a red-eyed ghost like they just saw someone nearly hit the curb in a car. Dude, it's a ghost! Be more weirded out!
Zoey switches to telling about Heath and Kayla and both of them go over how stupid they were because can you imagine, actually want to rescue someone from the House of Night? It's not like Zoey just disappeared without a trace, or that the vampire community is pretty isolated from the human world. And Zoey actually rolls her eyes at the thought of them wanting to rescue her. What a bitch.
Right. Zoey then drops that Kayla is obviously after Heath. The Casts actually have the balls to have Stevie Rae call Kayla a slut.
Why hello thar Mr. Pot! How's Mrs. Kettle, this fine evening?
The conversation then swings back to Erik, and Stevie Rae gushes about how sweet the entire thing was. Yes, The Talk is quite charming, I've found. And then, somehow, they move on to how horrible Aphrodite is, especially given what a whore she is. The hypocrisy is making my head spin. I also love how Zoey just tells Stevie Rae about Erik having a blow job forced on him, with no regards as to whether or not he minds about her telling.
For some reason, Zoey would have felt sorry for Aphrodite, except "She has this attitude, like it's her right to be as mean and nasty as she wants to be, and we should all just bow down and accept her". There's brief bashing of Warlike, Wasp, and Terrible's names (seriously, what is it with these idiots putting down people's choices of names?) and then Stevie Rae say that the reason they're all so high-and-mighty is because Aphrodite is being groomed to be High Priestess after Neferet leaves.
You know, I have to ask, what exactly is the point of the High Priestess? What does she do, besides do that ritual thing? I mean, I know that in some communities it's the spiritual leaders who have more power, but everyone treats the role of High Priestess like it's some uber-powerful thing. I also have to ask, what is the position in regards to the entire vampire world at whole? Are all of the world's vampires in Tulsa? Aren't there also vampires in Japan? France? New Zealand? Anything? If so, do they have their own High Priestesses, or does Neferet have to travel the world a lot, to do rituals and solve problems for vampires in other lands?
And why am I asking questions that I know will never be answered?
*shakes head* Acting on impulse, Zoey whispers that Nyx won't allow that. Instead giving Zoey a weird look, like a normal teenager probably would have done, Stevie Rae says that that makes no sense, as Aphrodite's X-men power (sorry, affinity) has already manifested and that sealed her as High Priestess material. Apparently Aphrodite's power is that she gets visions of the future. They're amazingly accurate, and I'm sorry for the long quote, but you have to see it
"'What I think, and Damien and the Twins agree with me, is that she only tells about the visions if she has one when she's around people outside her little group.'
'Wait, are you saying she knows about bad things that are going to happen in time to stop them, but she doesn't do anything about it?'
'Yep. Last week she had a vision during lunch, but the hags closed ranks around her and started leading her out of the dining hall. If Damien hadn't run right into them because he was late and hurrying in to lunch, making them scatter so that he could see that Aphrodite was in the middle of a vision, no one would ever have known. And a whole plane full of people would probably be dead.'
I choked on a pretzel. Between coughs I sputtered, 'A plane full of people! What the hell?'
'Yeah, Damien could tell Aphrodite was having a vision, so he got Neferet. Aphrodite had to tell her the vision, which was seeing a jet crash just after takeoff. Her visions are so clear that she could describe the airport and read the numbers on the tail of the plane. Neferet took that info and contacted the Denver airport. They double-checked the plane and found some problem that they hadn't noticed before, and said that if they hadn't fixed it the plane would have crashed immediately after takeoff. But I know darn well Aphrodite wouldn't have said a word if she hadn't been caught, even though she made up a big lie about her friends leading her from the dining hall because they knew she'd want to be taken to Neferet right away. Total b.s.'
I started to say that I couldn't believe that even Aphrodite and her hags would purposefully allow the death of hundreds of people, but then I remembered the hateful stuff they'd said that night- Human men suck…They should all die-and I realized they hadn't just been talking; they'd been serious.
'So why didn't Aphrodite lie to Neferet? You know, tell her a different airport or switch the numbers of the plane around or something?'
'Vamps are almost impossible to lie to, especially when they ask you a direct question. And, remember, Aphrodite wants to be a High Priestess more than anything. If Neferet believed she was as twisted as she is, it would seriously hurt her future plans.'
'Aphrodite has no business being a High Priestess. She's selfish and hateful, and so are her friends.'"
ZeldaQueen: That's it, folks. That's the long-sought-after conflict of this book. They have to kick out the Scary Sue, because she's being ridiculously Evil and somehow, no one but those yahoos has noticed or dared to do anything.
Oh, and I have to say, that bit up there with the airplane and they had that last-minute check from an unknown source (without any suspicion of a crank call or that a vampire was behind the sabotage), and they fixed the problem and it was all smiles and rainbows? That's the sort of thing I'd have made up when I was in elementary school, playing with my brother's Ninja Turtle figures. I must add that back then, I also thought that any sort of death could be fixed with CPR.
So yeah, Zoey's all agape as to how Neferet has failed to notice this, even though the High Priestess always knows what's going on, and Stevie Rae puts it down to good acting on Aphrodite's part. Or it could be that adult vampires are actually just as twisted as Aphrodite and don't care if humans die, which would make for a far more interesting series. I mean the heck? Zoey's just been in the vampire world for two days and heard that they don't care if fledglings die and that theory hasn't occurred?
Stevie Rae then brings up that Aphrodite's affinity means that Nyx has special plans for her. Zoey insists that it could also mean that Aphrodite has gotten her powers from the forces of evil, citing Star Wars as an example. Yet again, this is where shitty writing shoots the Cast ladies in the foot. Because all we know of the vampire world, and of the world in general , is that there is Nyx. That's it. There's no mention of a "dark side" or any source at all, for that matter, that could give a vampire X-men powers. I mean, the affinities are not genetic. It's pretty clear that Nyx grants them. If that's the case, and Nyx did give Aphrodite her power, methinks that's one blind goddesses there, because how could you miss how ridiculously and over-the-top evil she is?
Zoey ponders what she's been told, and arrives at the conclusion that Neferet knows about Aphrodite, but was waiting for someone to stand up and tell her directly. Not, you know, that she knows and doesn't care. However, Stevie Rae says that they can't just tell Neferet, because they have no proof that Aphrodite is doing that.
*dully* No proof. They have no proof that she's doing this, but they're treating her as an evil harpy for it and are going to throw her from power for it.
And yes, that second point is true. Because Zoey's immediate thought is thus
"Things might be different if a more powerful fledgling took Aphrodite's place as leader of the Dark Daughters"
ZeldaQueen: Zoey immediately freaks out at that thought, because "I wasn't power hungry. I didn't want to be a High Priestess or get caught up in a pain-in-the-ass battle with Aphrodite and half the school (the more attractive half, at that)".
So from what I get, the idea is that Nyx is putting those ideas in her head. Nyx, the goddess of all of the vampires, who I know for fact directly gets involved with things later in the series, and who gave Aphrodite those powers in the first place. Apparently she thinks that it's less trouble to choose a random teenager out of the area (and that's honestly the only way I could see Zoey being picked for this), give her a Sue-power of her own, give her no additional information besides random thoughts in the head, and have her take the Scary Sue's place, as opposed to just REMOVING APHRODITE'S AFFINITY! THAT'S ALL THAT PEOPLE CARE ABOUT IN THIS FUCKING BOOK, THE SUE-POWERS! TAKE THAT AWAY AND NO ONE WOULD LISTEN TO HER! GOD!!!
ZeldaQueen: *tiredly* Oh, and keep in mind that bit about Zoey having to battle half of the school if she challenges Aphrodite. Just...remember that for the end of this book.
For no reason at all, Zoey remembers all of those happy feelings she had during the ritual. She asks Stevie Rae if she ever felt anything like that, and Stevie Rae says no, she never has, only the High Priestess does.
ZeldaQueen: Does your head hurt yet? Mine certainly does.
Zoey starts to mumble and squirm and act all embarrassed and admits that yes, she felt the breeze, the grass, the heat, and the water. Stevie Rae gets all excited because "Just last week in Soc class we were studying about the most famous vamp High Priestesses in history. There hasn't been a priestess with an affinity for all four of the elements for hundreds of years". Oh, but wait! It gets even better! Zoey spits out that she felt all five of the elements, because she felt something for spirit as well. And there's never been a High Priestess who has felt all five of the elements! Never, ever, in the history of the world!
Excuse me for a moment.
*holds pillow against face*
GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
*removes pillow*
Thank you. I feel better.
Zoey instantly starts beating the "I must have imagined it" drum, and asks Stevie Rae not to say anything to anyone. She agrees, but is still all awestruck. For some reason, this reminds Zoey of how terrified Stevie Rae is of Aphrodite. So, of course, she asks her what Aphrodite did to her.
Stevie Rae goes all hurt puppy-dog and gives us her story. Apparently after she'd been at the House of Night for a few months, Aphrodite approached her about joining the Dark Daughter's ritual. Stevie Rae was all excited to be included in such a cool group, but when she showed up, she found out that she was supposed to be the refrigerator. She got all upset and ran out crying, while everyone else laughed at her, and that's how she met Damien, Erin, and Shaunee. They saw her crying and comforted her.
Okay, let's pause here. Yet again, that backstory with Stevie Rae? That's a pretty decent way of having a character be really nasty, as well as a decent form of vampire hazing. There's still a few things with it though that confused me.
First of all, okay Aphrodite just tricked her into showing up. Fair enough, but what about the clause that fledgling blood usage has to be consensual? Wouldn't luring Stevie Rae there under false circumstances count as a breech of that cause? I guess one could argue that Aphrodite deliberately picked a kid she knew was shy and wouldn't squeal, but it still runs the risk that the secret would have leaked out. After all, given how fledglings appear to have little idea of how the vampire world works, how hard would it be to convince one that it would just be a little blood, all the cool kids do it, etc?
Second of all, how many vampires come in at any one time? I honestly have no idea what the rate of conversion is. And if it's a fair number, why in the world was Stevie Rae chosen? Zoey made sense - she had the filled-in Mark and Aphrodite was clearly jealous. If there were a number of fledglings, why pick her? Surely there were other kids who could have been convinced. It just feels contrived.
Zoey ponders all of this and only just now comes to the conclusion that they fed her the blood to gross her out and keep her away from them. Um...you didn't know that before? Zoey also realizes that Aphrodite didn't want to tell Neferet that she didn't want Zoey as a member of the Dark Daughters, hence the elaborate trickery.
*raises hand* Yes, Ms and Ms Cast? Why would Aphrodite need to involve Zoey at all? Besides the filled-in Mark, what would she have done to justify her joining the elite group in the school? Neferet never gave any indication that it was her idea for Zoey to join.
Apparently the Cast ladies feel like ignoring me, because Zoey skips all of that and just decides that the best way to piss off and get revenge on Aphrodite is to join the Dark Daughters and act like she's not scared. In a good book, this could lead to a lot of character development, as Zoey has to hold up under a lot of hazing, ridicule, and peer pressure. Given that it's not a good book, just wait and see how it turns out.
Upon coming to that conclusion, Zoey decides to go to bed. Stevie Rae announces that there was a bag of cat food and all of this new cat stuff by the door when she came in. And she didn't mention this as soon as she saw Nala, why? Oh, and there's a letter from Neferet, that her (Neferet's) cat told her about Nala's arrival. So cats plan when they're choosing a vampire? Vampires can talk to cats? Neferet provides all students with free cat supplies? How often does that happen? Why? What?
I have no idea what's going on, so I'm just going to have a scene from The Great Race
ZeldaQueen: Oh that Professor Fate! Well, until next time
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Onward to: Chapter 20
Back to: Chapter 18
Back to: Table of Contents
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
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Chapter 19
ZeldaQueen: This chapter...this chapter took a lot out of me. Strap in, ladies and gentlemen. It is stupid.
Zoey goes back to the dorm and is still all tingly in the wrist (and other places, I'm sure) from Erik's erotic Dracula routine there. She's all pleased that the few people in the dorm aren't paying attention to her as she staggers in, and carries Nala into the kitchen to make some food. We get way too many asides about what she's getting to eat, and I have to wonder why the vampires don't keep any potato chips but have a ton of brown pop. I'll admit I'm not a huge pop drinker, but doesn't that count as junk food as well?
She then goes upstairs, and for some reason is carrying Nala along with the food. I have no idea why, especially since all we saw was Nala following her around the kitchen, clearly not interested in running off. Anyway, Stevie Rae is already in her PJs, waiting for Zoey, and yes her pajamas have a cowboy hat pattern and drawstring cotton pants, and this all leads Zoey to comment "I swear she looked about twelve years old". Really.
Stevie Rae squees over Nala and asks Zoey how everything went. Zoey isn't sure where to start, so she begins with Erik walking her home. Stevie Rae promptly freaks and asks Zoey to tell everything. So yeah, we're going to be treated to a lot of wank over how the hot guy loves the self insert. I guess I should count our blessings - at least Stevie Rae never makes any sexually provocative statements here, and sounds way closer to a person who's happy that their friend has their first crush.
Anyway, Zoey tells her that Erik kissed her, which leads Stevie Rae to as "Where? How?" Where and how do you think? I mean, alright, "where" is a legitimate question, especially with all of these little whores, but "how"??? So far as I know, there's only one way to kiss someone!
Zoey says that it was on the hand, because she doesn't want to go into the details of him turning her on via the wrist. She starts to explain how she went off and he caught up with her, and casually mentions Elizabeth's ghost in the process. I'm not exaggerating, she treats the appearance of a red-eyed, freaky ghost like a footnote.
GOD
Stevie Rae does catch that bit though, and asks Zoey to pause, rewind, and explain. Zoey tells about the ghost and asks if they're sure Elizabeth died, or if "There couldn't have been some mistake made and she's still alive but wandering around the school". Stevie Rae says no, she really saw her die, and I swear they're talking about a red-eyed ghost like they just saw someone nearly hit the curb in a car. Dude, it's a ghost! Be more weirded out!
Zoey switches to telling about Heath and Kayla and both of them go over how stupid they were because can you imagine, actually want to rescue someone from the House of Night? It's not like Zoey just disappeared without a trace, or that the vampire community is pretty isolated from the human world. And Zoey actually rolls her eyes at the thought of them wanting to rescue her. What a bitch.
Right. Zoey then drops that Kayla is obviously after Heath. The Casts actually have the balls to have Stevie Rae call Kayla a slut.
Why hello thar Mr. Pot! How's Mrs. Kettle, this fine evening?
The conversation then swings back to Erik, and Stevie Rae gushes about how sweet the entire thing was. Yes, The Talk is quite charming, I've found. And then, somehow, they move on to how horrible Aphrodite is, especially given what a whore she is. The hypocrisy is making my head spin. I also love how Zoey just tells Stevie Rae about Erik having a blow job forced on him, with no regards as to whether or not he minds about her telling.
For some reason, Zoey would have felt sorry for Aphrodite, except "She has this attitude, like it's her right to be as mean and nasty as she wants to be, and we should all just bow down and accept her". There's brief bashing of Warlike, Wasp, and Terrible's names (seriously, what is it with these idiots putting down people's choices of names?) and then Stevie Rae say that the reason they're all so high-and-mighty is because Aphrodite is being groomed to be High Priestess after Neferet leaves.
You know, I have to ask, what exactly is the point of the High Priestess? What does she do, besides do that ritual thing? I mean, I know that in some communities it's the spiritual leaders who have more power, but everyone treats the role of High Priestess like it's some uber-powerful thing. I also have to ask, what is the position in regards to the entire vampire world at whole? Are all of the world's vampires in Tulsa? Aren't there also vampires in Japan? France? New Zealand? Anything? If so, do they have their own High Priestesses, or does Neferet have to travel the world a lot, to do rituals and solve problems for vampires in other lands?
And why am I asking questions that I know will never be answered?
*shakes head* Acting on impulse, Zoey whispers that Nyx won't allow that. Instead giving Zoey a weird look, like a normal teenager probably would have done, Stevie Rae says that that makes no sense, as Aphrodite's X-men power (sorry, affinity) has already manifested and that sealed her as High Priestess material. Apparently Aphrodite's power is that she gets visions of the future. They're amazingly accurate, and I'm sorry for the long quote, but you have to see it
"'What I think, and Damien and the Twins agree with me, is that she only tells about the visions if she has one when she's around people outside her little group.'
'Wait, are you saying she knows about bad things that are going to happen in time to stop them, but she doesn't do anything about it?'
'Yep. Last week she had a vision during lunch, but the hags closed ranks around her and started leading her out of the dining hall. If Damien hadn't run right into them because he was late and hurrying in to lunch, making them scatter so that he could see that Aphrodite was in the middle of a vision, no one would ever have known. And a whole plane full of people would probably be dead.'
I choked on a pretzel. Between coughs I sputtered, 'A plane full of people! What the hell?'
'Yeah, Damien could tell Aphrodite was having a vision, so he got Neferet. Aphrodite had to tell her the vision, which was seeing a jet crash just after takeoff. Her visions are so clear that she could describe the airport and read the numbers on the tail of the plane. Neferet took that info and contacted the Denver airport. They double-checked the plane and found some problem that they hadn't noticed before, and said that if they hadn't fixed it the plane would have crashed immediately after takeoff. But I know darn well Aphrodite wouldn't have said a word if she hadn't been caught, even though she made up a big lie about her friends leading her from the dining hall because they knew she'd want to be taken to Neferet right away. Total b.s.'
I started to say that I couldn't believe that even Aphrodite and her hags would purposefully allow the death of hundreds of people, but then I remembered the hateful stuff they'd said that night- Human men suck…They should all die-and I realized they hadn't just been talking; they'd been serious.
'So why didn't Aphrodite lie to Neferet? You know, tell her a different airport or switch the numbers of the plane around or something?'
'Vamps are almost impossible to lie to, especially when they ask you a direct question. And, remember, Aphrodite wants to be a High Priestess more than anything. If Neferet believed she was as twisted as she is, it would seriously hurt her future plans.'
'Aphrodite has no business being a High Priestess. She's selfish and hateful, and so are her friends.'"
ZeldaQueen: That's it, folks. That's the long-sought-after conflict of this book. They have to kick out the Scary Sue, because she's being ridiculously Evil and somehow, no one but those yahoos has noticed or dared to do anything.
Oh, and I have to say, that bit up there with the airplane and they had that last-minute check from an unknown source (without any suspicion of a crank call or that a vampire was behind the sabotage), and they fixed the problem and it was all smiles and rainbows? That's the sort of thing I'd have made up when I was in elementary school, playing with my brother's Ninja Turtle figures. I must add that back then, I also thought that any sort of death could be fixed with CPR.
So yeah, Zoey's all agape as to how Neferet has failed to notice this, even though the High Priestess always knows what's going on, and Stevie Rae puts it down to good acting on Aphrodite's part. Or it could be that adult vampires are actually just as twisted as Aphrodite and don't care if humans die, which would make for a far more interesting series. I mean the heck? Zoey's just been in the vampire world for two days and heard that they don't care if fledglings die and that theory hasn't occurred?
Stevie Rae then brings up that Aphrodite's affinity means that Nyx has special plans for her. Zoey insists that it could also mean that Aphrodite has gotten her powers from the forces of evil, citing Star Wars as an example. Yet again, this is where shitty writing shoots the Cast ladies in the foot. Because all we know of the vampire world, and of the world in general , is that there is Nyx. That's it. There's no mention of a "dark side" or any source at all, for that matter, that could give a vampire X-men powers. I mean, the affinities are not genetic. It's pretty clear that Nyx grants them. If that's the case, and Nyx did give Aphrodite her power, methinks that's one blind goddesses there, because how could you miss how ridiculously and over-the-top evil she is?
Zoey ponders what she's been told, and arrives at the conclusion that Neferet knows about Aphrodite, but was waiting for someone to stand up and tell her directly. Not, you know, that she knows and doesn't care. However, Stevie Rae says that they can't just tell Neferet, because they have no proof that Aphrodite is doing that.
*dully* No proof. They have no proof that she's doing this, but they're treating her as an evil harpy for it and are going to throw her from power for it.
And yes, that second point is true. Because Zoey's immediate thought is thus
"Things might be different if a more powerful fledgling took Aphrodite's place as leader of the Dark Daughters"
ZeldaQueen: Zoey immediately freaks out at that thought, because "I wasn't power hungry. I didn't want to be a High Priestess or get caught up in a pain-in-the-ass battle with Aphrodite and half the school (the more attractive half, at that)".
So from what I get, the idea is that Nyx is putting those ideas in her head. Nyx, the goddess of all of the vampires, who I know for fact directly gets involved with things later in the series, and who gave Aphrodite those powers in the first place. Apparently she thinks that it's less trouble to choose a random teenager out of the area (and that's honestly the only way I could see Zoey being picked for this), give her a Sue-power of her own, give her no additional information besides random thoughts in the head, and have her take the Scary Sue's place, as opposed to just REMOVING APHRODITE'S AFFINITY! THAT'S ALL THAT PEOPLE CARE ABOUT IN THIS FUCKING BOOK, THE SUE-POWERS! TAKE THAT AWAY AND NO ONE WOULD LISTEN TO HER! GOD!!!
ZeldaQueen: *tiredly* Oh, and keep in mind that bit about Zoey having to battle half of the school if she challenges Aphrodite. Just...remember that for the end of this book.
For no reason at all, Zoey remembers all of those happy feelings she had during the ritual. She asks Stevie Rae if she ever felt anything like that, and Stevie Rae says no, she never has, only the High Priestess does.
ZeldaQueen: Does your head hurt yet? Mine certainly does.
Zoey starts to mumble and squirm and act all embarrassed and admits that yes, she felt the breeze, the grass, the heat, and the water. Stevie Rae gets all excited because "Just last week in Soc class we were studying about the most famous vamp High Priestesses in history. There hasn't been a priestess with an affinity for all four of the elements for hundreds of years". Oh, but wait! It gets even better! Zoey spits out that she felt all five of the elements, because she felt something for spirit as well. And there's never been a High Priestess who has felt all five of the elements! Never, ever, in the history of the world!
Excuse me for a moment.
*holds pillow against face*
GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
*removes pillow*
Thank you. I feel better.
Zoey instantly starts beating the "I must have imagined it" drum, and asks Stevie Rae not to say anything to anyone. She agrees, but is still all awestruck. For some reason, this reminds Zoey of how terrified Stevie Rae is of Aphrodite. So, of course, she asks her what Aphrodite did to her.
Stevie Rae goes all hurt puppy-dog and gives us her story. Apparently after she'd been at the House of Night for a few months, Aphrodite approached her about joining the Dark Daughter's ritual. Stevie Rae was all excited to be included in such a cool group, but when she showed up, she found out that she was supposed to be the refrigerator. She got all upset and ran out crying, while everyone else laughed at her, and that's how she met Damien, Erin, and Shaunee. They saw her crying and comforted her.
Okay, let's pause here. Yet again, that backstory with Stevie Rae? That's a pretty decent way of having a character be really nasty, as well as a decent form of vampire hazing. There's still a few things with it though that confused me.
First of all, okay Aphrodite just tricked her into showing up. Fair enough, but what about the clause that fledgling blood usage has to be consensual? Wouldn't luring Stevie Rae there under false circumstances count as a breech of that cause? I guess one could argue that Aphrodite deliberately picked a kid she knew was shy and wouldn't squeal, but it still runs the risk that the secret would have leaked out. After all, given how fledglings appear to have little idea of how the vampire world works, how hard would it be to convince one that it would just be a little blood, all the cool kids do it, etc?
Second of all, how many vampires come in at any one time? I honestly have no idea what the rate of conversion is. And if it's a fair number, why in the world was Stevie Rae chosen? Zoey made sense - she had the filled-in Mark and Aphrodite was clearly jealous. If there were a number of fledglings, why pick her? Surely there were other kids who could have been convinced. It just feels contrived.
Zoey ponders all of this and only just now comes to the conclusion that they fed her the blood to gross her out and keep her away from them. Um...you didn't know that before? Zoey also realizes that Aphrodite didn't want to tell Neferet that she didn't want Zoey as a member of the Dark Daughters, hence the elaborate trickery.
*raises hand* Yes, Ms and Ms Cast? Why would Aphrodite need to involve Zoey at all? Besides the filled-in Mark, what would she have done to justify her joining the elite group in the school? Neferet never gave any indication that it was her idea for Zoey to join.
Apparently the Cast ladies feel like ignoring me, because Zoey skips all of that and just decides that the best way to piss off and get revenge on Aphrodite is to join the Dark Daughters and act like she's not scared. In a good book, this could lead to a lot of character development, as Zoey has to hold up under a lot of hazing, ridicule, and peer pressure. Given that it's not a good book, just wait and see how it turns out.
Upon coming to that conclusion, Zoey decides to go to bed. Stevie Rae announces that there was a bag of cat food and all of this new cat stuff by the door when she came in. And she didn't mention this as soon as she saw Nala, why? Oh, and there's a letter from Neferet, that her (Neferet's) cat told her about Nala's arrival. So cats plan when they're choosing a vampire? Vampires can talk to cats? Neferet provides all students with free cat supplies? How often does that happen? Why? What?
I have no idea what's going on, so I'm just going to have a scene from The Great Race
Click to viewZeldaQueen: Oh that Professor Fate! Well, until next time
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Onward to: Chapter 20
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