Betrayed: Chapter 10
May. 11th, 2011 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zelda_queenZeldaQueen: Well, the Cast ladies have set us up for some potential plot. Let's see how this goes
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
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Chapter 10
ZeldaQueen: So I'm just going to start off by saying that this chapter? My opinion's divided on it. On one hand, stuff actually happens and for this book, that's impressive. On the other hand though, Zoey and her friends continue to be pretentious twits and that displeases me greatly.
Right. So. *cracks knuckles* We start off in the middle of a conversation, with Zoey having told her friends about Aphrodite's vision and how they have to save the people on the bridge. Damien wants to know why they can't just tell Neferet about it so that she'll make a few phone calls and get it fixed. Zoey says they can't because "She made me promise I wouldn't go to Neferet. The two of them are having some kind of weird fight". Weird fight. Yes, that's totally how I'd sum up that scene between the two of them. I know if I ever saw a normally kind teacher berating a student and pretty much saying "God hates you" while said student cries, my reaction would be "Oh yeah, that's weird". And I do so love how Zoey had her token moment of sympathy before going back to acting like this is all nothing to be bothered by at all, nosireebob!
*face palm*
This leads to a chorus from the other girls about how Aphrodite's such an evil, demonic, puppy-kicking banshee who deserves to be gutted
"'It's about time Neferet started seeing her as the bitch she is,' Stevie Rae said.
'Hateful cow,' Shaunee said.
'Hag from hell,' Erin agreed"
ZeldaQueen: I do so love how kind and sympathetic our protagonists are. It does make them so easy to cheer on and support. And incidentally, that's pretty much how they talk any time Aphrodite's name is brought up, including when Zoey tells them about how that girl is being abused by her parents and hurt by Neferet. Really.
Anyway, Damien trots out the argument that Aphrodite's visions are inaccurate and thus they can't be trusted. Because that's totally what it is because Neferet said that and Neferet would never, ever, ever make something like that up, right? Anyway, he believes that Aphrodite just lied about the vision to get Zoey to do something stupid and look foolish. If so, that would have to be the dumbest trick ever, seeing as Aphrodite has made it clear that she knows that Neferet hates her and thinks the sun shines out of Zoey's ass. If Zoey was tricked and then said "Aphrodite lied to me", who do you think would actually suffer any negative consequences? Anyway, Zoey sticks to her guns and says that she saw how scared Aphrodite looked and believed that she was telling the truth. Stevie Rae suggests that Aphrodite was actually hiding parts of the visions. Yes, that's why she told Zoey exactly when and where and vaguely how the event would take place, as well as the fact that Zoey's grandmother would be involved. Zoey doesn't believe that either, and tells them that her Deus Ex Machina feeling is advising her to act on Aphrodite's advice. Of course no one questions this, because these people never disagree with Zoey in this thing. Lord.
Damien suggests that Zoey call whoever would be in charge of the bridge and pretend to be Neferet. We actually get an explanation for how Neferet is able to get people to check stuff so quickly, incidentally. Apparently she's been right about the accidents so many times that people are afraid to not listen to her. Zoey says they can't do that, partly because she doesn't know who to contact and partly because she is sure that whoever she calls will call back and Neferet will find out what they did.
This leaves them with getting the bridge closed down as their only option. Stevie Rae suggests that they call in a fake bomb threat, explaining that they will certainly shut down the bridge to look for the bomb. Zoey asks if they can safely call via her cell phone, and the Cast ladies prove that they are slightly more tech-savvy than Meyer as Damien snorts and tells Zoey that cell phones can be traced and "This isn't the nineties". He then says that she can use a disposable cell phone to call, so long as she is sure to destroy it afterwards. There's brief unfunny banter in which Zoey is shocked, shocked I tell you to learn about the existence of disposable cell phones and Erin and Shaunee mock her. Oh, and Stevie Rae doesn't know about disposable cell phones, because she's a bumpkin. Zoey asks how Damien is so familiar with him, and instead of him saying that he's halfway competent with modern technology, he wangsts about his homosexuality
"I got it after my parents freaked about me being gay. Until I was Marked and came here it felt like they were grounding me for life from life. I mean, not that I really expected them to lock me in a closet somewhere, but it's good to be prepared. Since then I've made sure I always have one"
ZeldaQueen: I have nothing to comment on that but this - are the Cast ladies honestly so out-of-touch with reality that they think that this is how most families deal with gay sons? Or are they just trying to make the repulsive protagonists look better because clearly they're the only ones in the state who are nice to homosexuals.
After that Big Lipped Alligator Wangst, Damien advises Zoey to say that the bomb is under the waterline, so it will take longer for them to search and thus keep the bridge closed longer. He also suggests calling at two-thirty in the afternoon, so that the bridge would be closed before three-fifteen but the search would most likely not end before that time.
They then figure out who to call, with Erin suggesting Googling it and Damien telling Zoey not to, as that would still leave a trail to them. Instead, he suggests she call the local branch of the FBI, using their number in the phone book. And I have to pause right now and say that besides that random wangsting up there, this has got to be the most serious and intelligent and helpful I've seen Damien be yet. Seriously, if he were like this for more of the book, I'd enjoy his character far more.
We then get some more unfunny banter as they try to decide what cause their "bombing" should be in the name of. Stevie Rae keeps insisting that it should be pollution, because "Pollution's a real problem". Erin insists "I don't think it should be because of pollution. I think it should be because you're sick and tired of government interference in the private sector's lives". Zoey reacts to that sentence like Erin just began to speak Swahili. Because, you know, teenagers are dumb and have no knowledge of such things.
Just as they agree on all of this, in comes Neferet with two human men. I...guess this entire conversation has been taking place in Zoey's dorm room, because we are told about how the other students there are all amazed that there are humans in the House of Night, whoever has heard of such shenanigans? Neferet calls Zoey to join them in the dorm's library room and we get a random mention of how it's six minutes past seven on Saturday morning. It's a very good thing we were reminded of this, because I honestly have given up on keeping track of the days in this thing. Anyway, we're told that the men are Detectives Marx and Martin (hey, I think there's a crime show title in there) and they're from the homicide division of the Tulsa Police. They want to question Zoey about the missing kid and the murdered one. We also find out at this time that Zoey and all of the students in the House of Night are legally emancipated. No, we were not told of any paperwork or that Zoey was even aware of this or that her parents gave consent. No, we're not told how they manage to wrangle that for a large number of children. I'm no expert in the law, but I do smell bull in that one.
Anyway, they start questioning Zoey about her connections to the high school football players and she says what she said before - that she sort of knew them, but not very well. They then ask if either of them visited her while she was at the House of Night, or if any human teenagers have visited her at all. This throws Zoey for a loop because oh my God, how do they know about that and Neferet cuts in and says that Heath and Kayla did visit her, but it wasn't exactly official. I have to pause because I'm genuinely curious, would the police really question Zoey with Neferet still in the room and let her answer questions for Zoey? I mean, aren't they worried that would risk something being hidden or mis-represented or something? Anyway, this is her recapping to the readers about what happened
"I'd told her all about Heath and Kayla climbing the wall with the ridiculous idea of busting me out. Or at least that had been Heath's idea. Kayla, my ex-best friend, had just wanted me to see that she'd staked a claim on Heath. I'd told Neferet all of that, and more. How I'd kinda accidentally tasted Heath's blood—until Kayla had caught me and totally lost her mind. Staring into Neferet's eyes I knew as sure as if she'd said the words aloud that I was to keep the little blood-tasting incident to myself, which was more than okay with me"
ZeldaQueen: Yeah, a few things.
First of all, Kayla just wanted Zoey to see she "staked a claim on Heath"? The fuck? When did Kayla EVER give the impression that she was showing off her relationship with Heath? She wasn't clinging to him, she wasn't kissing him, she wasn't wearing a ring from him that she was showing off, nothing! The only reason Zoey knew was that she noticed that Kayla was looking at him in a certain way, and it wasn't told in a way that particularly gave the impression that it was deliberate. And for that matter, why is Kayla being treated like she's so evil for being with Heath anyway? I know I already ranted about this, but Zoey had told her in no uncertain terms that she and Heath were over! And no, we never get the implication that Zoey's being irrationally jealous or angry with Kayla. Quite the opposite, this is far from the end of the Kayla-bashing in the story, and the poor girl doesn't even show up at all!
Second of all, I do so love the implication that Kayla was getting in an irrational flap over Zoey drinking Heath's blood! Given how Zoey was showing no signs of stopping then, and given what we will later learn about imprinting and what it does to Heath's life, I'd say Kayla was well justified in freaking out.
Third of all, see what I mean about Neferet's presence meddling with Zoey's testimony? Spoilers folks, we're going to see Heath again, and we're going to see how the imprinting affected him. We're never told whether or not Heath's parents were informed of what happened to him, but given that up there, I'd guess not. We later will get it hammered over our heads how imprinting is a tricky, heavy, potentially dangerous thing which should not be engaged with lightly. If that's the case, one would imagine that some warning to the human side of things wouldn't go amiss. But no, because it makes the vampires look bad, they hide it. And Zoey does so willingly because hey, Neferet said so and Neferet's never wrong, huh?
And yes, I realize I might be jumping to conclusions, but going off of what comes up later, it does seem pretty apparent that the human community is told squat about the vampire community.
Oh, and we find out here that Heath's last name is actually "Luck", which leads to Zoey making a dumb joke about how lucky Heath is to never get a DUI.
The detectives continue to grill Zoey about that visit, asking if anything unusual happened and if she drank Heath's blood. Zoey takes a moment to wank over how unusual she is, with her bloodlust and her filled-in Mark and tattoos, before freaking out and wondering how they know so much about that night, all while making stupid justifications because she didn't cut Heath like they asked, he cut himself, and she didn't drink his blood, she only lapped it up. She wonders how they learned all of this, and figures it can't be from Heath, as he wouldn't be that stupid as to tell the police that his girlfriend tried to drain him dry. Considering that his response to Aphrodite being surrounded by demonic vampire ghosts was "Cool, a vampire chick", I wouldn't bet much money on that assumption. And then, Zoey figures out who told them and we get this.
"'There's something you should know about Kayla Robinson,' I said suddenly, interrupting the short cop's boring tirade. 'She saw me kiss Heath. Well, actually Heath kissed me. She likes Heath.' I looked from one cop to the other. 'You know, she really likes Heath, as in wants to date him now that I'm out of the way. So when she saw him kiss me she got pissed and started yelling at me. Okay, I admit I didn't act very mature. I got pissed back at her. I mean, it's just wrong when your best friend goes after your boyfriend. Anyway"—I fidgeted, like I was embarrassed to admit what I was telling them—"I said some mean stuff to Kayla that scared her. She freaked out and left.'
'What kind of mean stuff?' Detective Marx asked.
I sighed. 'Something like if she didn't go away I'd fly off the wall and suck her blood.'"
ZeldaQueen: Oh look, another list!
I'll bring this up first and get it out of the way. That "boring tirade" of the short cop's? He was explaining to Zoey about why he was questioning her, explaining to her that he wasn't accusing her of anything, but that he was acting on the evidence of a murdered teenage boy! And she refers to him talking about solving the murder of a teenager as a boring tirade. Which really sums up her attitude towards this questioning in general. She is either disdainful of the police, offended that they might think she has anything to do with it, or worried about how they might be angry with her. And I realize that the last one is something that is common when questioned by the police, except that it honestly reads like Rose Potter not wanting to return to Grimmauld Place so she won't get in trouble with the Order or Bella Swan worrying because her dad might catch her in one of her pointless lies. And the only thing she doesn't feel is any sort of concern or sympathy towards the reason this questioning is going on at all - A FREAKING MURDER! I'm sorry, but that just...it really gets me.
So now, on to point two - see what I mean about the Kayla hate? And no, this isn't the end of it by a long shot. Kayla is to the Cast Ladies what Lauren was to Meyer, and she has only shown up twice in the entire series thus far! I really fail to see what she's done to earn this amount of hate.
Third, no Zoey, Kayla was not making accusations out of jealousy because you kissed Heath. She went to the police because you were drinking his blood! Mother of God, are you honestly incapable of seeing how that would look to someone, especially someone with no idea how vampirism works?
Fourth, and this might be nit-picking, but am I the only one who got the impression that Zoey was trying to shift all blame possible from herself in regards to Heath? "Oh yeah, he's totally my boyfriend and Kayla's a jealous cow who saw me kiss him. No, wait, he kissed me, I had nothing to do with it! She's just hating me for no reason at all, officers!" And I bring this up because honestly, I don't see why the officers would care who kissed whom there. I mean, I could see if Zoey minded as a personal thing, but it just comes across as being one more petty jab at Kayla being a jealous bitch who irrationally hates Zoey.
Fifth, Zoey doesn't feel sorry that she threatened someone less powerful than herself. She's pretending she does, to get the police off of her back. And she words it all like it was clearly not to be taken seriously and Kayla was just a silly girl for believing it. Now see, this is why I was so pissed off about the hiding of the blood drinking. Because it totally justifies Kayla being scared!
Oh, but it gets better! Neferet plays along with Zoey, pretending to chastise her for threatening Kayla. We're specifically told that she's "playing along". She's honestly not bothered that Zoey scared a girl and made threats that she easily could have carried out. Oh, but Zoey doesn't care that Neferet hates humans and doesn't care that Zoey has threatened one. After all, she's covering Zoey's ass and it's only Kayla.
You know, I think this entire thing would bother me a lot less if there was any sort of a sign that Zoey felt something like guilt or sympathy or compassion for someone. ANYONE. Heath, Kayla, the missing teenager, the murdered teenager, their friends or family, any of them. Anything would be better than either her brushing over of their fates or situations or the contemptuous way she describes them all.
*sigh* So yeah, they ask if Heath or Kayla were around any other times and Zoey gives a very brief mention of the Samhain ritual (devoid of all mention of demons) and how Heath crashed it while drunk. For no reason at all, she gives an aside about Heath's "unfortunate, and hopefully temporary, experimentation with pot". Because pot is the Devil's garden herb and anyone who uses it will be forever branded across the chest with the Scarlet Marijuana Leaf.
The detectives start to wrap things up, and have one more question for Zoey. They take out a necklace and ask if Zoey recognizes it at all. Zoey describes it as "a silver pendant on a long black velvet ribbon. The pendant was in the shape of two crescent moons back-to back against a full moon encrusted with garnets. It was the symbol of the triple Goddess—mother, maiden, and crone. I had one just like it because it was the necklace that the leader of the Dark Daughters wore".
DRAMA!!!
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Onward to: Chapter 11
Back to: Chapter 9
Back to: Table of Contents
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
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Chapter 10
ZeldaQueen: So I'm just going to start off by saying that this chapter? My opinion's divided on it. On one hand, stuff actually happens and for this book, that's impressive. On the other hand though, Zoey and her friends continue to be pretentious twits and that displeases me greatly.
Right. So. *cracks knuckles* We start off in the middle of a conversation, with Zoey having told her friends about Aphrodite's vision and how they have to save the people on the bridge. Damien wants to know why they can't just tell Neferet about it so that she'll make a few phone calls and get it fixed. Zoey says they can't because "She made me promise I wouldn't go to Neferet. The two of them are having some kind of weird fight". Weird fight. Yes, that's totally how I'd sum up that scene between the two of them. I know if I ever saw a normally kind teacher berating a student and pretty much saying "God hates you" while said student cries, my reaction would be "Oh yeah, that's weird". And I do so love how Zoey had her token moment of sympathy before going back to acting like this is all nothing to be bothered by at all, nosireebob!
*face palm*
This leads to a chorus from the other girls about how Aphrodite's such an evil, demonic, puppy-kicking banshee who deserves to be gutted
"'It's about time Neferet started seeing her as the bitch she is,' Stevie Rae said.
'Hateful cow,' Shaunee said.
'Hag from hell,' Erin agreed"
ZeldaQueen: I do so love how kind and sympathetic our protagonists are. It does make them so easy to cheer on and support. And incidentally, that's pretty much how they talk any time Aphrodite's name is brought up, including when Zoey tells them about how that girl is being abused by her parents and hurt by Neferet. Really.
Anyway, Damien trots out the argument that Aphrodite's visions are inaccurate and thus they can't be trusted. Because that's totally what it is because Neferet said that and Neferet would never, ever, ever make something like that up, right? Anyway, he believes that Aphrodite just lied about the vision to get Zoey to do something stupid and look foolish. If so, that would have to be the dumbest trick ever, seeing as Aphrodite has made it clear that she knows that Neferet hates her and thinks the sun shines out of Zoey's ass. If Zoey was tricked and then said "Aphrodite lied to me", who do you think would actually suffer any negative consequences? Anyway, Zoey sticks to her guns and says that she saw how scared Aphrodite looked and believed that she was telling the truth. Stevie Rae suggests that Aphrodite was actually hiding parts of the visions. Yes, that's why she told Zoey exactly when and where and vaguely how the event would take place, as well as the fact that Zoey's grandmother would be involved. Zoey doesn't believe that either, and tells them that her Deus Ex Machina feeling is advising her to act on Aphrodite's advice. Of course no one questions this, because these people never disagree with Zoey in this thing. Lord.
Damien suggests that Zoey call whoever would be in charge of the bridge and pretend to be Neferet. We actually get an explanation for how Neferet is able to get people to check stuff so quickly, incidentally. Apparently she's been right about the accidents so many times that people are afraid to not listen to her. Zoey says they can't do that, partly because she doesn't know who to contact and partly because she is sure that whoever she calls will call back and Neferet will find out what they did.
This leaves them with getting the bridge closed down as their only option. Stevie Rae suggests that they call in a fake bomb threat, explaining that they will certainly shut down the bridge to look for the bomb. Zoey asks if they can safely call via her cell phone, and the Cast ladies prove that they are slightly more tech-savvy than Meyer as Damien snorts and tells Zoey that cell phones can be traced and "This isn't the nineties". He then says that she can use a disposable cell phone to call, so long as she is sure to destroy it afterwards. There's brief unfunny banter in which Zoey is shocked, shocked I tell you to learn about the existence of disposable cell phones and Erin and Shaunee mock her. Oh, and Stevie Rae doesn't know about disposable cell phones, because she's a bumpkin. Zoey asks how Damien is so familiar with him, and instead of him saying that he's halfway competent with modern technology, he wangsts about his homosexuality
"I got it after my parents freaked about me being gay. Until I was Marked and came here it felt like they were grounding me for life from life. I mean, not that I really expected them to lock me in a closet somewhere, but it's good to be prepared. Since then I've made sure I always have one"
ZeldaQueen: I have nothing to comment on that but this - are the Cast ladies honestly so out-of-touch with reality that they think that this is how most families deal with gay sons? Or are they just trying to make the repulsive protagonists look better because clearly they're the only ones in the state who are nice to homosexuals.
After that Big Lipped Alligator Wangst, Damien advises Zoey to say that the bomb is under the waterline, so it will take longer for them to search and thus keep the bridge closed longer. He also suggests calling at two-thirty in the afternoon, so that the bridge would be closed before three-fifteen but the search would most likely not end before that time.
They then figure out who to call, with Erin suggesting Googling it and Damien telling Zoey not to, as that would still leave a trail to them. Instead, he suggests she call the local branch of the FBI, using their number in the phone book. And I have to pause right now and say that besides that random wangsting up there, this has got to be the most serious and intelligent and helpful I've seen Damien be yet. Seriously, if he were like this for more of the book, I'd enjoy his character far more.
We then get some more unfunny banter as they try to decide what cause their "bombing" should be in the name of. Stevie Rae keeps insisting that it should be pollution, because "Pollution's a real problem". Erin insists "I don't think it should be because of pollution. I think it should be because you're sick and tired of government interference in the private sector's lives". Zoey reacts to that sentence like Erin just began to speak Swahili. Because, you know, teenagers are dumb and have no knowledge of such things.
Just as they agree on all of this, in comes Neferet with two human men. I...guess this entire conversation has been taking place in Zoey's dorm room, because we are told about how the other students there are all amazed that there are humans in the House of Night, whoever has heard of such shenanigans? Neferet calls Zoey to join them in the dorm's library room and we get a random mention of how it's six minutes past seven on Saturday morning. It's a very good thing we were reminded of this, because I honestly have given up on keeping track of the days in this thing. Anyway, we're told that the men are Detectives Marx and Martin (hey, I think there's a crime show title in there) and they're from the homicide division of the Tulsa Police. They want to question Zoey about the missing kid and the murdered one. We also find out at this time that Zoey and all of the students in the House of Night are legally emancipated. No, we were not told of any paperwork or that Zoey was even aware of this or that her parents gave consent. No, we're not told how they manage to wrangle that for a large number of children. I'm no expert in the law, but I do smell bull in that one.
Anyway, they start questioning Zoey about her connections to the high school football players and she says what she said before - that she sort of knew them, but not very well. They then ask if either of them visited her while she was at the House of Night, or if any human teenagers have visited her at all. This throws Zoey for a loop because oh my God, how do they know about that and Neferet cuts in and says that Heath and Kayla did visit her, but it wasn't exactly official. I have to pause because I'm genuinely curious, would the police really question Zoey with Neferet still in the room and let her answer questions for Zoey? I mean, aren't they worried that would risk something being hidden or mis-represented or something? Anyway, this is her recapping to the readers about what happened
"I'd told her all about Heath and Kayla climbing the wall with the ridiculous idea of busting me out. Or at least that had been Heath's idea. Kayla, my ex-best friend, had just wanted me to see that she'd staked a claim on Heath. I'd told Neferet all of that, and more. How I'd kinda accidentally tasted Heath's blood—until Kayla had caught me and totally lost her mind. Staring into Neferet's eyes I knew as sure as if she'd said the words aloud that I was to keep the little blood-tasting incident to myself, which was more than okay with me"
ZeldaQueen: Yeah, a few things.
First of all, Kayla just wanted Zoey to see she "staked a claim on Heath"? The fuck? When did Kayla EVER give the impression that she was showing off her relationship with Heath? She wasn't clinging to him, she wasn't kissing him, she wasn't wearing a ring from him that she was showing off, nothing! The only reason Zoey knew was that she noticed that Kayla was looking at him in a certain way, and it wasn't told in a way that particularly gave the impression that it was deliberate. And for that matter, why is Kayla being treated like she's so evil for being with Heath anyway? I know I already ranted about this, but Zoey had told her in no uncertain terms that she and Heath were over! And no, we never get the implication that Zoey's being irrationally jealous or angry with Kayla. Quite the opposite, this is far from the end of the Kayla-bashing in the story, and the poor girl doesn't even show up at all!
Second of all, I do so love the implication that Kayla was getting in an irrational flap over Zoey drinking Heath's blood! Given how Zoey was showing no signs of stopping then, and given what we will later learn about imprinting and what it does to Heath's life, I'd say Kayla was well justified in freaking out.
Third of all, see what I mean about Neferet's presence meddling with Zoey's testimony? Spoilers folks, we're going to see Heath again, and we're going to see how the imprinting affected him. We're never told whether or not Heath's parents were informed of what happened to him, but given that up there, I'd guess not. We later will get it hammered over our heads how imprinting is a tricky, heavy, potentially dangerous thing which should not be engaged with lightly. If that's the case, one would imagine that some warning to the human side of things wouldn't go amiss. But no, because it makes the vampires look bad, they hide it. And Zoey does so willingly because hey, Neferet said so and Neferet's never wrong, huh?
And yes, I realize I might be jumping to conclusions, but going off of what comes up later, it does seem pretty apparent that the human community is told squat about the vampire community.
Oh, and we find out here that Heath's last name is actually "Luck", which leads to Zoey making a dumb joke about how lucky Heath is to never get a DUI.
The detectives continue to grill Zoey about that visit, asking if anything unusual happened and if she drank Heath's blood. Zoey takes a moment to wank over how unusual she is, with her bloodlust and her filled-in Mark and tattoos, before freaking out and wondering how they know so much about that night, all while making stupid justifications because she didn't cut Heath like they asked, he cut himself, and she didn't drink his blood, she only lapped it up. She wonders how they learned all of this, and figures it can't be from Heath, as he wouldn't be that stupid as to tell the police that his girlfriend tried to drain him dry. Considering that his response to Aphrodite being surrounded by demonic vampire ghosts was "Cool, a vampire chick", I wouldn't bet much money on that assumption. And then, Zoey figures out who told them and we get this.
"'There's something you should know about Kayla Robinson,' I said suddenly, interrupting the short cop's boring tirade. 'She saw me kiss Heath. Well, actually Heath kissed me. She likes Heath.' I looked from one cop to the other. 'You know, she really likes Heath, as in wants to date him now that I'm out of the way. So when she saw him kiss me she got pissed and started yelling at me. Okay, I admit I didn't act very mature. I got pissed back at her. I mean, it's just wrong when your best friend goes after your boyfriend. Anyway"—I fidgeted, like I was embarrassed to admit what I was telling them—"I said some mean stuff to Kayla that scared her. She freaked out and left.'
'What kind of mean stuff?' Detective Marx asked.
I sighed. 'Something like if she didn't go away I'd fly off the wall and suck her blood.'"
ZeldaQueen: Oh look, another list!
I'll bring this up first and get it out of the way. That "boring tirade" of the short cop's? He was explaining to Zoey about why he was questioning her, explaining to her that he wasn't accusing her of anything, but that he was acting on the evidence of a murdered teenage boy! And she refers to him talking about solving the murder of a teenager as a boring tirade. Which really sums up her attitude towards this questioning in general. She is either disdainful of the police, offended that they might think she has anything to do with it, or worried about how they might be angry with her. And I realize that the last one is something that is common when questioned by the police, except that it honestly reads like Rose Potter not wanting to return to Grimmauld Place so she won't get in trouble with the Order or Bella Swan worrying because her dad might catch her in one of her pointless lies. And the only thing she doesn't feel is any sort of concern or sympathy towards the reason this questioning is going on at all - A FREAKING MURDER! I'm sorry, but that just...it really gets me.
So now, on to point two - see what I mean about the Kayla hate? And no, this isn't the end of it by a long shot. Kayla is to the Cast Ladies what Lauren was to Meyer, and she has only shown up twice in the entire series thus far! I really fail to see what she's done to earn this amount of hate.
Third, no Zoey, Kayla was not making accusations out of jealousy because you kissed Heath. She went to the police because you were drinking his blood! Mother of God, are you honestly incapable of seeing how that would look to someone, especially someone with no idea how vampirism works?
Fourth, and this might be nit-picking, but am I the only one who got the impression that Zoey was trying to shift all blame possible from herself in regards to Heath? "Oh yeah, he's totally my boyfriend and Kayla's a jealous cow who saw me kiss him. No, wait, he kissed me, I had nothing to do with it! She's just hating me for no reason at all, officers!" And I bring this up because honestly, I don't see why the officers would care who kissed whom there. I mean, I could see if Zoey minded as a personal thing, but it just comes across as being one more petty jab at Kayla being a jealous bitch who irrationally hates Zoey.
Fifth, Zoey doesn't feel sorry that she threatened someone less powerful than herself. She's pretending she does, to get the police off of her back. And she words it all like it was clearly not to be taken seriously and Kayla was just a silly girl for believing it. Now see, this is why I was so pissed off about the hiding of the blood drinking. Because it totally justifies Kayla being scared!
Oh, but it gets better! Neferet plays along with Zoey, pretending to chastise her for threatening Kayla. We're specifically told that she's "playing along". She's honestly not bothered that Zoey scared a girl and made threats that she easily could have carried out. Oh, but Zoey doesn't care that Neferet hates humans and doesn't care that Zoey has threatened one. After all, she's covering Zoey's ass and it's only Kayla.
You know, I think this entire thing would bother me a lot less if there was any sort of a sign that Zoey felt something like guilt or sympathy or compassion for someone. ANYONE. Heath, Kayla, the missing teenager, the murdered teenager, their friends or family, any of them. Anything would be better than either her brushing over of their fates or situations or the contemptuous way she describes them all.
*sigh* So yeah, they ask if Heath or Kayla were around any other times and Zoey gives a very brief mention of the Samhain ritual (devoid of all mention of demons) and how Heath crashed it while drunk. For no reason at all, she gives an aside about Heath's "unfortunate, and hopefully temporary, experimentation with pot". Because pot is the Devil's garden herb and anyone who uses it will be forever branded across the chest with the Scarlet Marijuana Leaf.
The detectives start to wrap things up, and have one more question for Zoey. They take out a necklace and ask if Zoey recognizes it at all. Zoey describes it as "a silver pendant on a long black velvet ribbon. The pendant was in the shape of two crescent moons back-to back against a full moon encrusted with garnets. It was the symbol of the triple Goddess—mother, maiden, and crone. I had one just like it because it was the necklace that the leader of the Dark Daughters wore".
DRAMA!!!
----------------------------------------
Onward to: Chapter 11
Back to: Chapter 9
Back to: Table of Contents
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 03:31 am (UTC)While disposable phones are the way to go, you don't destroy them to get rid of the evidence, you dump them. There is a big difference between the two. I think the only reason the Cast ladies know the first part is because they've see a few mystery dramas and that has become rather common knowledge.
I also liked the fact that a LOT happens this chapter, in comparison to... about a book and a half worth of nothing plot wise? That broke the Meyer record I think. The plot though, is filled with so many plot holes, and so many ways I would have worded it differently.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 03:34 am (UTC)...
The two police officers stepped into the room, while Zoey stared at them, twiddling her thumbs. One of them glanced over and Neferti. "Mam, we need her legal gaurdian here please."
"Well, I think I'll serve just fine under the circumstances." The beautiful woman sighed. "How can men be so moronic.
"Mam, you are not her legal gaurdian." The second officer spoke up.
"Well, she is a member of our school..."
"Last time I checked, the school didn't gain legal gaurdian status over its students." The officer glared at Neferti and she got up and left.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 03:44 am (UTC)...
Zoey walked over to the store to get the disposible phone. "Hello. I need to buy a disposible phone."
"For what reason?" The person stated.
"Because... I have a boyfriend I don't want my parents to know about." The small female stared at the person behind the counter.
"Honey, I am sorry, but you need to leave. There is no way in hell I am going to help a minor go behind her parents back." The woman sighed.
...
Damien then walked into the store about an hour later. "Hi. I need a disposible phone."
"Look, I've had a bunch of twit girls giving me lame excuses as to why they need such a phone. What is it this time?"
"I need a disposible phone due to the fact I'm being bullied at school and they keep getting my cell-phone number." Damien piped up.
"Goodness..." The lady stated, ringing up a sale.
...
Later on, Zoey takes her phone after making the call and then tosses it onto the ground and begins to jump up and down on it. Neferi walks over to her, raising an eyebrow. "What do you think you are doing?" She then grabs the phone and walks off.
Zoey storms off to her dorm and crashes to sleep. Awhile later, there is knocking on the door and Neferti comes into the room. "The police is here for you."
"I didn't call in the bomb threat!" Zoey chirped out.
"I am going to pretend I didn't hear that. They traced that phone to a student here and have testimony that he was being bullied. Since he hangs out with you girls, it has been assumed that you have been bullying him and put him up to buy the phone."
"But... but..."
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-14 12:26 am (UTC)"'I didn't call in the bomb threat!' Zoey chirped out.
'I am going to pretend I didn't hear that.'"
XD I love that.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-15 12:48 am (UTC)A Stronger Person Would Have…
Date: 2011-05-12 04:38 am (UTC)Here some advice I keep close to my heart when I write: It’s okay for the protagonist to get things wrong and be uncertain or uninformed - in fact that creates realistic drama instead of the faux crap this fanfic - I mean novel feeds us.
At least somethings happening - even if it's dumb.
~~~
I had always been Zoey’s friend ever since we where children; I had felt terrible that Zoey had trouble making friends of her own well it had always come so natural to me so I vowed I would always be her friend.
However since I was young Zoey had strange issues that surrounded her. My normally cheerful dog; Roxie, was terrified of her and I never knew why. Then I would later discover my Roxie dead; someone had poisoned the poor dear, but at the time I didn‘t put it together.
A few years later Zoey’s mother remarried to a very nice and quite handsome man, but Zoey didn’t like him. She would accuse him of being a conservative bigot because he worked at a local church and claimed he was a pedophile. When her older sister and younger brother took his side over hers she accused them of all kinds of horrible things.
“My sister the stupid slut.” She would claim; and well it was true that she was not exactly chaste, her sister was quite responsible and a very bright young women who was studying to be a doctor.
“My brother the violent psychopath who plays those awful games!” She would cry; and well he was an avid gamer who did own some violent games, he also was the nicest kid in town who wouldn‘t harm a fly.
I never understood it, but I tried to brush it off as an inability to accept her fathers death when she was younger.
Although her endless rants about how her step-father got rid of her cat and forced her mother to do all kinds of things where beyond me. Her mother still had the same routine she’d had for years. She was a strong and vibrant women who got along well with her new husband. There weren’t any signs of abuse or anything like that.
The only person she still spoke fondly of was her crazy “Cherokee” grandmother; now don’t get me wrong. She is a Cherokee by decent, but the women is crazy; another Cherokee family in the area had visited her once to ask her to kindly stop misrepresenting their people and she attacked them with a hatchet well claiming they where evil and that as High Priestess only she could cleanse them.
Still life went on for the most part; until she started dating the guy I mentioned I liked; Heath. Heath was nice boy who would sometimes drink a few, but only on certain occasions. Zoey would go on and on about how he was an awful drunk and stupid to boot; funny considering he’s passing all his class with Bs as his lowest grade well she was barely passing and of her classes.
Poor Heath Luck was to nice to notice she was using him; sadly she would do this with another boy later from what I heard, but I’ll get to that later.
I still tried to be her friend; I kept reaching out to her , but soon she was Marked and all those problems began.
We came to save her; we where so worried. Then she drank Heath’s blood and caused him to be captivated with her just as I was beginning to make him see how much I loved him and how much we had in common.
She threatened to kill me and lied about me…
But I’m still her friend whether she wants it or not…
A stronger person would have given up on you Zoey, but I’m not strong.
I’m just Kayla.
Re: A Stronger Person Would Have…
Date: 2011-05-12 12:36 pm (UTC)Re: A Stronger Person Would Have…
Date: 2011-05-14 12:13 am (UTC)Re: A Stronger Person Would Have…
Date: 2011-05-14 12:56 am (UTC)Judging from the fact that from Zoey's PoV everyone is suspicious and EVIL but her and those she takes a shine to (aka those who worship her); I just assume Zoey's a sociopath and poor Kayla is just a victim of her delusional slander.
Poor girl~
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 08:13 pm (UTC)http://minors.uslegal.com/emancipation/oklahoma-emancipation-of-minor-law/
(At least, I'm assuming that since they refer to Tulsa a lot, they're located in Oklahoma.)
I'm so sure they got parental consent every single time.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 08:15 pm (UTC)http://minors.uslegal.com/emancipation/texas-emancipation-of-minor-law/
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 08:41 pm (UTC)Blah, the Cast ladies have almost every single parent be unbelievably hateful towards their vampiric children, to the point where Zoey is later *surprised* to learn that a guy remained close and in contact with his sister after she was Marked. They'd probably say that the parents all were glad to be rid of their children. Lord knows why, considering that these kids are all probably going to grow up and become gorgeous and rich and famous and none really go out and murder or do anything particularly immoral or evil, but I digress.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 08:39 pm (UTC)Including Cate Blanchett AS GALADRIEL as Nyx.
And I'm thinking, "Oh you did fargle NOT."
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 08:48 pm (UTC)Actually, looking at that picture, it isn't even doctored. It looks like a straight-up screen capture. The FREAK?
That's stupid, that's almost certainly a copyright violation, it sullies the fine works of Tolkien and Jackson's movies, and it doesn't even make sense by way of this idiotic canon (Yeah, Nyx was described as having hair like a raven's feathers and wear beaded clothes and so on. How does that translate into "blonde, English elven queen"?)
And the other pictures. I just...what? I might have to look at some more of those, just to get the end of Chosen off of my mind. O_o
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 09:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-14 12:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-11-15 07:14 pm (UTC)Routine Questioning
Date: 2011-05-12 08:43 pm (UTC)Twenty years down the line, I was in Homicide. God, I hated it for the first year... Few things are quite as sad as dealing with murder, day in, day out. Got a little better when they paired me with Marx. He's a good man. Keeps me centered.
They'd sent us to the House of Night to talk to one of the students about the murder/disappearance case. The boys in Dispatch call it "Casa Dracula", but Internal gets on your ass if you put it on the report. Figured it'd be a quick affair, none of the baby vampires seemed to know much.
I wanted to get out before my skin crawled off my ass. That Neferet woman makes your hair stand up, like you're too close to a generator box. She led us to the girl in question, one Zoey Redbird.
Halfway down the list of questions, Marx asked if she'd gotten any visitors. Before she could answer, Neferet cut in about how someone had climbed the wall to get to her. I knew instantly she was hiding something, but we couldn't throw her out without her going to the vampire higher-ups, and I really, really didn't want the paperwork.
Last few questions, and before we could ask them, Zoey started talking. "There's something you should know about Kayla Robinson."
I went a bit cold. She had a tone in her voice like she was discussing someone's dog, not a human girl who (by all accounts) was an old friend of hers.
"She saw me kiss Heath. Well, actually Heath kissed me. She likes Heath."
That had nothing to do with this line of questioning at all. Twenty years on the force had taught me that this meant she was hiding something big. She looked between us like she was gauging who to put the next line to.
"You know, she really likes Heath, as in wants to date him now that I'm out of the way. So when she saw him kiss me she got pissed and started yelling at me. Okay, I admit I didn't act very mature. I got pissed back at her. I mean, it's just wrong when your best friend goes after your boyfriend."
What was the point of this? We were trying to get information about a murder, and she was going on about her dating life? Did that really mean more to her than someone's death?
"Anyway..." She started to fidget, like something was scratching at her brain. "I said some mean stuff to Kayla that scared her. She freaked out and left."
"What... kind of mean stuff?" Marx asked. Both of us were getting on edge.
The girl made a show of sighing. "Something like if she didn't go away I'd fly off the wall and suck her blood."
I didn't even hear Neferet start talking at that point. All I could think was that we'd just found our prime suspect.
Re: Routine Questioning
Date: 2011-05-12 09:02 pm (UTC)Re: Routine Questioning
Date: 2011-05-13 02:37 am (UTC)Re: Routine Questioning
Date: 2011-05-14 12:11 am (UTC)Re: Routine Questioning
Date: 2011-05-14 01:01 pm (UTC)Awesome spitefic! I especially liked the buildup of Detective Martin's personality in the beginning. Suethors never bother with such things, do they?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-21 02:43 pm (UTC)Seriously, what did Aphrodite even DO to Zoey's friends before Zoey arrived? Okay, we know what she did to Stevie Rae by making her drink blood or whatever once , but Stevie Rae was just as callous when she shrugged and said they could find another 'fridge' elsewhere for one party in particular from the last book! She had no sympathy for someone who would be in the predicament she once found herself in! How is SHE any better? Other than that, have we ever actually SEEN Aphrodite terrorise Erin, Shaunee or Damien? God, Damien gets demonised for being gay more from his supposed 'friends' than from Aphrodite EVER! >.<
I still refuse to believe this is Damien's true personality in this chapter and put it down simply to peer pressure. He's too afraid to answer back and move on to more loyal and accepting people and feels uncomfortable making new friends. Whoever wrote the spitefic from before about Damien using the disposable phone to stop bullies from taunting him through his personal mobile phone, THAT would have been a brilliant idea for the plot. And though I can believe his parents at first having trouble accepting his homosexuality, I can see them still standing by him if he were being bullied at school. He's still their son after all!
As with Damien and Aphrodite, there is now Kayla Hate. I also refuse to believe she was as much of a ditzy slut she was made out to be in her brief scene from Marked. How do we even know the way Kayla was looking at Heath, based on ONE look she happened to give him? She could have just been daydreaming and happened to be staring in his direction, for all we know! I think another great plotline would be Kayla turning out to be a vampire hunter or something :P
I think Zoey likes drama. She must have Narcissistic Personality Disorder and feeds off drama, even revels in creating it herself. Having no sympathy for others, delusions of grandeur and unable to understand others or their emotions are apparently some of the symptoms of NPD, so I think Zoey is a perfect case study, just like Bella ;P
Oh, and PC and Kristen? STOP with the bumpkin bashing! I just graduated yesterday with 2 degrees. Not bad for a brain-dead hick, cos apparently we ain't got no learnings… :P
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-22 03:48 pm (UTC)Aphrodite is sort of vaguely evil, before Zoey showed up. I honestly don't know why they hate her. I could see if it was some hatred of the regime or something, of if it tied in to what she did to Stevie Rae. Still, Stevie Rae being used as a refrigerator was pretty much forgotten, especially by now.
I'm starting to think Kayla's based off of someone that Kristen didn't like at school or something. -_- It is ridiculous how much hate she gets.
Dude, NPD would explain so much! Zoey pretty much latches on to people in regards to how much attention they give her. Her friends see her as a queen and never criticize her, so she loves them. Kayla, however, actually shows signs of moving on in life after Zoey leaves. Because she doesn't continue to show Zoey attention, she's hated. Zoey hates her stepfather for taking away her mother's attention, and only ever vilifies her siblings for their hobbies - cheerleading and video games. In other words, she's pissed that they all have lives beyond her. On the other hand, Grandma Redbird clearly favors Zoey out of everyone in the family, including her own daughter. That would also explain why Zoey ignores Neferet's clear hatred of humans, because she's showering Zoey with attention, constantly saying she's special, and so on. And Zoey only throws herself at Blake, Heath, and Erik when the other two aren't available. It's like she needs to constantly be stimulated or given attention.
Nonsense, if you're a hick, you have to want to be a country singer :P