Betrayed Chapter 21

Let’s discuss cheering for a bit, shall we? PCK, and many hacks, seem to forget why people cheer. We’ll use this book for specifics because I can’t recall many scenes from the past ones. Like the students all cheering when Neferet said they were going to do charity work. There are five people in the room who might be excited and they’re all named characters.

For everyone else, this is what was said. ‘You’re all going to do charity work with cats.’ And this is what they heard. ‘You’re going to spend lots of time getting bitten and clawed by feral animals that are probably laden with disease and parasite. You will receive absolutely no monetary compensation or credit for your work. Plus you’ll have to foot any costs of travel on your own. Have fun!’

But even if they didn’t get that because vampires are exceptionally thick and devote what little brain they have to fashion, that’s still not cheer worthy. Even people who love volunteering don’t scream happily over the opportunity to do it. Being told you’re going to be involved it what’s likely forced volunteer work might elicit muted applause because it’s polite.

Hack authors seem to think that because their character has a “good idea” that everyone will be happy. Like the support of faceless mooks will cement the belief that their character is brilliant or that their edict is well received. It just makes everyone in universe seem off, like they’ve all been brainwashed. Instead they should save the cheering for when it actually matters like when the big bad is defeated or money begins raining down from the sky.

Having the cheering go on so long that it bothers Zoey into the next chapter is creepy. It might explain what’s wrong with the school though. If everyone in the DDs, who are all almost all members picked by Aphrodite still, is happy then they might just be under mind control or at least conditioned to laud anything said by a robed figure. ‘Tomorrow you’re all having your livers removed!’ ‘Horary!’ ‘Also all your parents just died after telling me they never loved you!’ ‘Yay!’ ‘See, Zoey brainwashed them good.’

So yes, it takes a while for things to calm down and Zoey laments that no one understands her. She’s just starting to realize that there might be something, just maybe, sinister about Neferet. Then she decides that Aphrodite would understand her and the thought depresses her. Yes, another person might understand you? That’s horrible, Zoey, that means you’re not as unique as you think you are. Quick, someone give her meaningless praise before the realization sinks in!

Luckily no one does, so Zoey’s ego is going slightly bruised for a second. She tells Jack to go man the speakers and to play the music when she nods her head. Then she realizes that “ironically” she’s standing where Neferet just was. What, in front of the other students? That would only be ironic if there was some reason Zoey didn’t expect to stand there. I don’t bother quibbling about irony in internet discussions but authors, and their editors, should damn well know better. Then Loren pops in and scares her by volunteering to help.

“Crap, Loren! You scared me so bad I almost peed on myself!” I blurted before I had time to control my dorky mouth. But I was telling the truth, Loren had me clutching my pearls in a total freak-out.

Not sure I would admit I was close to pissing myself to someone I was attracted to. Loren will doubtlessly be charmed by her quirky outburst rather than off put by how quickly he made her turn to bodily fluids. He tells her to calm down and Zoey tries to imagine being calm around him. He say he’ll help by doing for her what he does for Neferet. Seducing fledglings and turning them into the walking dead to serve her? That sounds awesome. Too bad he’s really just offering to read poetry for her.

Loren says he’s glad to help the priestess in training. Unless it were Aphrodite and then he’d ignore her because she rebuffed his advances. He says he’ll clear up some misconceptions and Zoey has no idea what he’s talking about. Then he says he needs her permission first which she gives because her desire to bone has momentarily shorted out what smidgen of cognitive reasoning that Zoey possesses.

Loren says he’ll alert her assistants to the change in plans. Why? Because Zoey must never do anything that someone else can do for her. Once that’s done, he tell her to just follow her instincts because Nyx speaks to the hearts of the priestesses. Though that just might be a heart murmur or a bad valve. We’ll find out when Zoey collapses and dies in front of everyone after attempting a back hand spring.

Loren addresses everyone saying that it’s a night for joy as Zoey has recently figured out a new direction for the DDs. Zoey is happy because he’s reasserting that it was Zoey who had the ideas and not Neferet. Again, we mustn’t let people get the wrong idea or make Zoey do anything about it. She’s the one that decided to rip off other schools, not Neferet. He says he’s honored to present a poem after his namesake, William Blake. PCK must be working from a different definition of namesake than I do because I thought Loren was named, well, Loren and not William.

So then Jack hits the play button and another Enya song plays. I know that’s only one song per book but it feels like a lot more than that. Hey, PCK? Can you leave Enya out of this from here on out? I don’t want to rage delete her folder off my computer just because hearing her music reminds me of your crappy little vampire book.

Loren recites his poem, it’s amazing and Zoey begins her stupid ritual. Zoey calls the elements and we have to hear every word of it. It reminds me of the padding animation in some toons like the transformation sequences that get recycled in Sailor Moon or Digimon. All the elements are called and Zoey believes she can feel them join them. Part of that might be the peyote that Loren slipped in her roofie colada.

The rest of the ceremony is extremely boring. Zoey says she wants to do away with the practice of drinking from classmates and using terms like “snack bar” and “refrigerator”. Please do as those were and are the dumbest terms I can think of for a blood sacrifice. She talks about how the full moon is a magical time when people are forced to show up to asinine events like a DDs meeting and listen to a dippy student prattle on.

Then Zoey focuses on her collection of friends and tells everyone how wonderful they are and how each element suits them. Then she says she’s not perfect, which is only true in reality and not in universe, and everyone chimes in that she represents spirit. This pleases Zoey and ends the chapter.

Once again, I still have to ask why Zoey has an affinity with all the elements. If she already has friends that cover the basic four, then why not just give her spirit? Spirit could be like heart from Captain Planet, generally useless but the core of a good working group. It’d be cheesy as all hell but it’d make far more sense that having Zoey be an all powerful avatar.me am