So changed a bit on the Loren Blake situation as I liked him so much.
I have added characters and changed the look of the teacher's dorms a little bit. Obviously, situations have changed.

Loren Blake stood in the middle of the Poetry Loft by the big bay windows overlooking the lounge of the teacher's dorm. His nearly black eyes were fashioned on Neferet as she stood glowing in the midst of fledglings. How they adored her. All but one. And himself. He supposed Neferet was figuring out that he was no longer drinking the laced blood-wine in his fridge and it should have scared him that he would piss her off; being a High Priestess and all, she was very powerful. Still, he couldn't tear the feeling of guilt and betrayal from him long enough to feel fear. He'd done some terrible things under Neferet's hold on him- the deaths of Professors Nolan and Drake rested in his hands. Hell, he could very well be next if he kept up his "attitude" towards the High Priestess.

Loren scoffed and moved away from the windows, heading for his mini-fridge where he'd put in some fresh blood from his overly willing human donor. Lifting the crystal-like container from the side door to his nose he inhaled, searching for the subtle sweet scent of the drugs that had been putting his mind to pliable mush. Neferet must not have had time to get to his fresh source as all he smelled was the rich, coppery smell of blood and the oaky tang of red wine. Tentatively, he lifted the glass container to his lips and took a slow, shallow sip of the now chilled deep red-brown blood-wine.

It slid slowly and smoothly down his throat, igniting a heat that a cool liquid shouldn't have, one that rained through his cell's and re-powered his in-tune senses. The laughs of fledglings below made him cringe from his thoughts of the blood. They laughed along with Neferet. It made his stomach churn nauseously despite the delight the blood made his very cells feel. Closing his eyes he put the container of blood-wine away and put on a happy face, ready to play pretense again and adore the High Priestess with everyone. He was not so ready, though, to face Zoey Redbird. She was another who had fallen to him while Loren had been under Neferet's sway.

Now, because of him, she was friendless and pissed to high hell at both him and Neferet…as she should be. He just hoped that he could somehow explain to her all that had been going on. She knew of Neferet's evilness but how could she believe that he, Loren, wasn't as evil as the woman manipulating everyone? He had ripped away something very important to the seventeen year old, something she wouldn't get back.

Running a hand over his face he pulled on that mask of falseness and opened the door, descending the stairs in that strong, graceful manner he normally carried himself around with. Catching Zoey's eyes he saw the heated hate writhing in them before she looked away. She stood on the outskirts of the group of talented fledglings, pretending to like Neferet as much as the others did. Loren Blake moved up and came to Neferet's arm, taking her gently by the elbow. "High Priestess," he said in a smooth murmur. "Am I to perform poetry for our little priestess in three evenings?" he asked, his voice getting a touch louder so the others could hear. The ones they called "the Twins", despite their complete opposite skin colors, barely held back excited gasps of "oh and ah".

Neferet turned her head, long hair falling over her shoulder as she did and beamed a smile up at Loren. "Yes, I think that would be nice." Her eyes flicked to Zoey and a look only Loren and Zoey caught passed through her eyes. Anger. "She's a talented young girl, isn't she? Having one such as yourself, Loren, reciting for her again would help her on her road to becoming a High Priestess." The fire in her eyes shot back to Loren and he felt a shudder go through him. It spoke of what would happen to him if he back stabbed Neferet.

Loren nodded and pulled a tight smile across his lips, the act of a full smile too much for him at the moment. "Of course, Neferet, it would be my pleasure." His eyes went back to Zoey who was watching the two of them in a hard angry stare that no one else seemed to notice. It wasn't like they were really paying any attention to her anymore. Loren tried desperately to pull out a look of "please trust me" but he wasn't sure he was getting that across. He needed to find some way to get alone with her. They were technically still Imprinted but it was weaker than the first night that they made it.

Putting his fist to his chest, in the salute of a Warrior to his High Priestess, Loren turned away and strode quickly from the building, needing to escape the tightness of all that was around him. His feet carried him through the fading dawn past fledglings emerging tentatively to catch glimpses of the strong Warriors stationed around the school. He ended up at the East Wall, with the tree where he'd seen Zoey run to so many times before. He liked to think of this as "her place", somewhere he could always find the little priestess blessed with the affinity of all five elements. It was silly, but here, he could be almost attached to her again. The love he'd felt with her when he'd Imprinted was real despite the hold of Neferet on him. She couldn't stop his feelings for the magical fledgling.

With a sigh, Loren leaned on the tree, remembering the night Zoey'd come out here and found him writing haikus. She'd allowed him to see her tattoos from Nyx and they were as beautiful as she was. A smile on his face, Loren pulled out the little book he kept in his back pocket and flipped through, finding a blank page and scribbling away little lines inspired by his Zoey. His. He shouldn't have a claim on her, not like this and not costing her happiness but it was there none the less. The Imprint had been made and she was, in the vampyre side of his mind, his and no one else's. Sinking to the ground, he pulled up his knees and leaned back on the tree, closing his eyes and falling into his thoughts.

Loren wasn't sure how long he'd sat like that, pen and notebook in hand with his eyes closed, but the snap of a branch had him whipping his head around and seeing a familiar face and familiar angry eyes. She was beautiful, there was no doubt about that. Slowly pulling himself to his feet, Loren noticed the gas lights were burning and this side of campus seemed deserted. "Hello Zoey," he said in a low almost sultry voice.

"Fuck you, Loren." Her words were spat out and made Loren draw back. It was not like Zoey to curse. She advanced on him and slammed her fists in his chest, over and over again, tears falling from her cheeks. "Take the Imprint off of me, you murderer!" she yelled.

Loren snatched her wrists and shook her, glad that no one else was around. "Zoey, listen to me!" his voice was desperate, faltering as it never had before. "Listen to me, Zoey! You need to understand…"

"Understand what? How easy it was for you to seduce some little teenager with a few pretty gifts and verse?" she snapped sounding hysterical. Her legs would not keep her up much longer.

Loren wrapped his arms around her before she fell and pulled her close to his chest. "It was Neferet. I know what I said…" he looked down to see if she was listening. "Come to my loft, I need to explain, to show you what she's been doing." His voice sounded almost pleading and it lulled Zoey into a calmer surrender. His gift of speech truly was given to him by Nyx herself. He kept talking, watching her chest slow from the pounding jolts of sobs to the sharp intakes of much needed breath.

Calling to darkness and Nyx, Loren wrapped them both in the mist and ebony blackness of the night. He kept a strong arm around Zoey's waist as she stared numbly ahead, following him for only the Goddess knew why. "Intuition?" he surmised out loud, pulling silence to them so they would not be heard as they went towards his loft.
Loren felt her nod before he heard her speak up. It was barely a whisper, but he heard the "Yes, intuition" that she'd muttered. "It's a bitch sometimes, I know. But it helps." Loren's eyes focused on where they were going and hurried them both along not wanting to risk getting caught. He had an idea of where Neferet was, more than likely in her class room, but he definitely did not want to run into her in case she wasn't. Throwing open the door to his loft, he eased Zoey into the room and quickly shut the door behind them. Letting the mist and darkness fall from them, Loren moved to lit a couple candles around the room to provide enough light to see by but not be seen by others. "Sit," he said gently, moving his arm outward to show her to the chaises in the middle of the room.

Loren perched himself on the edge of a chaise across from the one Zoey was easing herself into. She looked timid and he couldn't blame her after what he'd done to her. "What do you want, Professor?" she asked with eyes that were darkening.

He took in a deep breath and put a hand behind his back to hold himself up as he leaned back on that arm. "What I did…" he paused trying to find a way to phrase it. Better to just lay it out bluntly. The thought pushed him onward. "Neferet has been spiking the blood-wine I drink. My actions for the past five months have not been entirely my own. Whatever she used made it easy for her to put thoughts in my head, to persuade my actions." Loren watched the young woman before him for a response.

Zoey watched Loren and he shifted, wishing like hell that he could read her mind. Her lips remained tight and eyes untrusting but he gave her time. Her jaw worked in a grind and she opened her mouth, "I do not trust you, Loren. Not after what you did to me and how easily your words seem to persuade me. Something inside tells me to trust you, but then, I trusted you once and it didn't end well for me."

Loren nodded and shifted around as nerves fluttered his stomach. It churned dangerously with the stress of finding and getting rid of the poison these last three days and he was truly surprised he had yet to lose the contents of his stomach. "I understand that, but you and I are the only ones who know about Neferet. We need to stick together. What other choice do you have?" He paused again and when she said nothing, continued. "You don't have a plan to take her out, now do you?" he asked, leveling his gaze on her eyes and staring intently into them.

There was a hardness that pressed against his pants and Loren had to stop breathing for a moment to collect himself. The sight and smell of Zoey was spinning his head and twisting his heart in ways that were hard to keep control over. If it were up to him, he'd have her laid out on his bed while he pleasured her in every way that he knew.

Zoey shifted, crossing her legs at the ankles and pushing herself forward using her hands which were gripping the edge of the chaise. Loren eased himself back on his own, resting his back against the low back of the lounge chair. "No, I don't," Zoey said heaving a sigh and looking at her feet. "I don't know what I'm going to do since my friends barely look at me and only speak to mock and degrade me. You ruined everything for me, you know that don't you?" her sharp eyes snapped up and pegged him with a hard look. "It's really hard not to hate you."

Loren kept her gaze though it twisted his stomach in knots and made his conscious boil over with guilt. "Yes, I can see what I've done to everyone around here." His statement was simple but the tone told Zoey of the guilt and hate he had towards his actions.

"Well, what do we do? Any ideas, lover?" she asked in a slightly sarcastic tone, especially on the word 'lover'.

Loren scoffed but a grin was spreading over his face. "You know, I really do like you, Zoey Redbird. Her poison didn't influence that much." Getting to his feet, unable to sit still any longer, Loren paced with his arms grasped behind his back. "None of the other teachers will believe us, a fledgling though gifted and part time teacher. Not without some solid proof." His grin was fading to a scowl and he didn't notice Zoey's sharp intake of breath at his previous statement. She looked like she had plenty of thoughts running through her head.

TBC

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