Hunted Chapter 21

Can Zoey do nothing for herself? First she can’t think so PCK needs to throw prophecy after prophecy at her until Zoey has all the corner pieces to the puzzle. Then Zoey can’t be bothered to move around on her own, making both the elements and her slaves carry her about. Now she’s down to being unable to use doors on her own.

I’d barely touched the door when Darius opened it for me. His sharp look made me wonder if he’d been watching the scene between Stark and me, and I sincerely hoped he hadn’t.

Wait, what? Wasn’t Darius just outside with Zoey and Stark? He did chastise Stark, saying that Nyx taught them to be nicer to women. I must have missed the part where Darius wandered off and left Zoey along with the dangerous blood drinking monster. Either Darius is terrible at his job or he knows Zoey has the hand of the author shielding her.

Darius tells her Beavis and Butthead are inside and Zoey demands his cell phone. Darius is a good little slave and hands it over without “asking annoying questions”. Considering Zoey’s record, I wouldn’t trust her to handle a paper towel, let alone a cell phone. Oh, and because the cell phone is important to the plot, it’s working fine this time.

Zoey reaches out to Stevie and tells her to do what she said. Everyone remember that secret message she wrote down on a note and told Stevie she had to obey if Zoey called? Why did Zoey do that again? It’s not like her plan required a long explanation. All Zoey had to do was call Stevie and tell her to take everyone to the church Angela works at. Zoey warns Stevie that there’s something in the tunnels watching them and to sneak out somewhere besides the usual entrance. Stevie says no problem and she’ll give grandma a hug for Zoey. Also, she promises to let no one tell grandma about Zoey’s accident because that’ll just stress her out. Don’t worry folks, grandma will offer her sympathy to Zoey later on, I’m sure.

Zoey hangs up and whines about how Stevie probably know more about the dark, nebulous shadow stuff which she saw. Zoey, everyone in the world know more about anything than you do. That’s because no one else has god showing up in their dorm room, giving them directions. Everyone else has to figure it out on their own.

Zoey wanders into the “common room” and find Ron and Harry playing another spirited round of wizard chess. Or rather, there’s a bunch of kids sitting around, not watching dvds. Zoey laments on how quiet it is and I don’t get why that’s the case. Is that part of the mind control or are they not affected?

The girl Stark attacked, Becca, is sitting between Beavis and Butthead. She’s crying and upset but saying that it’s okay because Stark is really how. Butthead says that, yeah, rapists are totally hot. This seems to piss Becca off and she says that they’re just jealous that Stark didn’t want them. Damien tells them that, if she says they’re just messing around, who are they to judge?

Now a smart author would take this moment to have Zoey reflect that, maybe Becca has become a blood slave to Stark. Zoey would recognize the signs of someone who’s under mind control and bonded to a vampire. Zoey would realize that’s the kind of influence she has over Heath, how powerful it is and, just maybe, why humans don’t trust vampires. Instead, Zoey and slaves wander upstairs followed by Darius.

Beavis and Butthead comment on the cut on Darius’s face, saying that Aphro won’t like that. They offer him comfort in the form of pussy but Darius knows better than to stick his dick in stupid. Crazy yes, stupid no. They get to upstairs and Aphro does start to panic but in concern and not because she’s a shallow bitch. Then Zoey notices a bunch of cats, not just those of her slaves, in her room.

“That big cat is Dragon Lankford’s Maine Coon,” Damien said. “His name is Shadowfax.” Dragon Lankford, who almost everyone called Dragon, is our fencing professor and is a master with the blade. Damien was a talented fencer, so it wasn’t surprising he recognized Dragon’s cat.

Wait, cats aside, what was that about calling him Dragon? Why wouldn’t they call him Dragon? That’s his first name. That’d be like saying “Bob Wilson who everyone called Bob.” Have you been taking on multiple head injuries for charity, PCK?

The idiots start talking about cats and how they haven’t seen any since they’ve come back. They’ve only seen these eight in Zoey’s room but why? Uh, because not everyone loves cats as much as PCK? They guess that the cats don’t like the ravens. They figure this must be part of the same thing that made Becca say Stark biting her was no big deal.

Really, guys? You just figured out that all the weird phenomenon like the cats disappearing and your classmates acting like they’re coming down off a cough syrup bender might all be related? What was your first clue? Mine was when the archangel guy burst through the ground and started hypnotizing everyone with his angelic mojo.

Why are you playing this out like some kind of mystery, PCK? We know who’s making the cats run away and screwing with the students. No one, not even the characters are that clueless. Damien says that, because Becca is under Kalona’s control, that they had best not draw attention to themselves. They say that everyone seems to be under a spell except Neferet who’s using a new power.

“A dark power,” Aphrodite said. We all looked at her. “Her power isn’t based on Neferet anymore. Sure, she’s still using the gifts our Goddess gave her, but she’s channeling energy from somewhere else, too. Couldn’t you guys feel it in the hall outside the sickroom?”

The parallels between Zoey and slave to Zoey’s Stepdad is almost hilarious. Any power that comes from somewhere other than the approved god/goddess is automatically evil. I almost wish PCK was able to see it. Maybe they’d cringe knowing how they’ve ended up replicating the same narrow-minded fundamentalism they decry.

Let’s see, Neferet’s more powerful and dangerous than ever. Not that we really saw how dangerous she was before, so no change for the audience. They also talk about the “council” and how terrible it would be if Neferet were able to influence them. They say that they’ll have to be careful and most everyone is their enemy. Zoey asks how it was in class and Butthead says it was like attending “stepford high school”. Because we all know teens and their love of seventies movies and androids.

Look, PCK, I have heard people say “stepford wife/wives” without being familiar with the source. But most of the time they seem to think it just means a model of the supposed fifties ideal. Saying something like “stepford high school” would mean they not only know the movie but expect everyone else to as well. And yes, there was the remake in two thousand four but no one cared so it doesn’t count.

They then start discussing how they haven’t seen any “warriors” on campus since they were escorted in. That’s okay, as long as there are some of the “sons of erebus” around you should all be fine. Though I do caution you to look out for any “soldiers” you find wandering about. If Paolini has taught me anything it’s that soldiers are always aligned with the bad guy.

“This is so not good,” I said. I rubbed my forehead as a wave of exhaustion engulfed me. What were we going to do? Who were our friends? And how the hell were we going to get out of the House of Night and to what I could only hope would be safety?

That’s the big cliffhanger for the chapter. How will Zoey escape the school? Tune in next time on, Whiny Teen Angst! Brought to you by Redbird Masscara, when you absolutely need it to run but only when you cry, choose Redbird. See your local retailer or order online today. Mention promo code, stupid spoiled brat and get twenty percent off.