Chapter 12: Raven

I got up extra early to see Whitney who had to stay overnight in the infirmary. I was worried about her. She was in shock at just what exactly had happened.  As the alarm went off, I climbed out of bed and began rummaging through my closet. I pulled out a white, shoulder studded shirt with a wolf's wide mouth on it as my top.  I found a pair of jean cutoff shorts with suspenders. Black Chuck Taylors that I missed so much fit well with my look for shoes and for jewelry; a pair of black feather earrings and a thick, black rubber bracelet that said sarcasm is my second language.

            "Why are you getting up so early?" Flora moaned from across the room. Her hair was tousled to one side and she yawned largely. I thought I would get sucked inside her mouth.

            "Going to see Whitney." Flora threw the blankets off her with haste. She jumped out of bed and stood in front of me, hands on her curvy hips.  

            "I'm coming with you."

            "Well you need to wear something fashionable. I've already seen your wardrobe and if you're going to have a boyfriend, you cannot be caught in any of those clothes." Flora blushed lightly as her eyes darted to the side.

            "Why do you think I have a boyfriend?" She was playing dumb.

            I stuck out my hip, "Come on! I saw you kissing someone last night!"

            Her body stiffened, "Where?"

            "Outside the dorm building doors. Who's the guy?"

            "I-I really don't want to talk about it." I pulled out this green, tight tank top with the straps criss-crossing in the back. I tossed it to her, but she tossed it back. "Do you have anything with Elephants?"

            "Elephants?" I said like Jan would.

            "Yeah."

            "Why elephants of all animals?" Flora squirmed and blushed harder under my gaze.

            "OK! I'll tell you!" She gave in and I barely had to do anything to squeeze information out of her. I gestured for her to sit on my bed.

            "Spill the beans." I grinned as I rummaged.

            "His name is Ethan."

            "I'll take it that he's an elephant?"

            "Yeah. I met him last night-"

            "During the game. I'll take that you talked and then he kissed you." Flora's eyes grew wide.

            "You saw?!"

            "No, I just assumed. Besides, I had other business to attend to." I laughed inside. Yeah Raven, business.

            "Are you dating anyone Raven? You love to pester me about my personal life, isn't it my turn?"   

            "Nope."  I clearly stated. I wouldn't even call what Derek and I had "dating". We were just really good friends. I snickered inside. Really good friends Raven? My conscience taunted. I told it to shut up and I focused on an outfit for Flora.

             I gave her a white hi low shirt with two elephants on it, a pair of blue ripped up skinny jeans, white toms, silver leaf earrings and a black and gold elephant necklace

            "So you're not dating anyone?" She pestered, wiggling her eyebrow as she pulled the jeans up and buttoned them. Thank goodness she had a figure for skinny jeans.

            "I told you, I'm not dating anyone." I tied the laces on my Chuck Taylors and studied them quickly. I could see the scuffs from wear and there was a tear in the canvas on the side wall on the right shoe. The All Star tag on the left shoe was coming off as well.  Must be time to buy another pair.

            "Do you want to date anyone?" Flora pestered on. Rage grew in fiery side of my stomach. I didn't want to talk about relationships. We didn't have time for this.

            "I don't want to talk about this," I seethed and I think Flora got the message. She stopped with the awkward dating questions.  "Come on. We don't have all day." She pulled on the toms and jogged after me. We walked down the carpeted hallway and down the stairs. Mrs. Berlowski was at her desk, looking very tired as she graded papers.           

            "Up so early Raven?" She yawned as we passed by, not looking up from her grading. I smiled as she rubbed her eyes. We stopped because a conversation was occurring. A rarity between Mrs. Berlowski and myself.

            "Got a busy day ahead." I replied. "You should get some sleep. It looks like you need it."

            "I'm heading there." Mrs. Berlowski replied. She straightened her papers and packed them away in a rolling laptop bag. She stood up and stretched. "Have a good day girls," She smiled and then walked out, her heels clicking as she walked out.

            Flora and I followed her out and directed our eyes to the infirmary building. It was the only white building on campus. It was a two story building, the ground floor where the patients would stay and the second floor was used for surgeries and other medical needs such as bloods tests. The infirmary looked friendly and I had been in there a couple of times after some brawls.

            "Hey! There's Rhett." Flora pointed to a gray mass trotting over to the infirmary.

            "We'll meet him there. He's too far to call after him and besides, we may upset some people." She nodded in agreement.

            When we arrived, I burst through the double doors and hiked over to Whitney's room which was at the end of the hall. The door was cracked open with Whitney Pinter scrawled in a woman's handwriting on a chalk board nailed on the door. I pushed the door open and it creaked loudly.  Rhett looked up from where he sat and placed his finger to his lips.  He pretty much said; Shut up, she's sleeping. She hadn't woken up yet. She looked so innocent while she slept. Flora found a seat nearby the wolf girl's bed and sat down politely.  I noticed a faint scratch mark on her arm. When did she get that?

            "Any idea about this scratch mark?" I whispered to Rhett. He looked up and then at the scratch when I pointed it out. He shook his head. He clearly didn't know about the strange mark.

            "She never told me about this. I don't think she told anyone about his." He replied dryly. A bad feeling was in my gut. S**t. I didn't want to think the worst, but it kept hitting my brain like s**t hitting a ceiling fan. Could she have been scratched by a demon? I knew they weren't deadly but if it seriously was a demon scratch which could mean we have a demon on the campus.

            "That could be a demon scratch!" I hissed. Fear and panic clouded Rhett's face.

            "It can't be." Flora stepped in. Rhett looked at her in confusion. "I've been reading in a book Raven gave me on Demons and stuff. It said that if you are scratched by a demon that it wouldn't have done anything, just pain like any scratch. There isn't enough demon venom in a scratch unlike a bite.  Besides, it's faint. She probably got hurt in class or something. It's nothing to worry about." She sounded so smart. That sucked because I shouldn't have overreacted. I should know this stuff! I got jumpy over a stupid little scratch. Way to go Raven.

            I didn't reply to Flora's smart response. I just took a seat next to her and rested my head against the white washed wall. I sighed.

            About thirty minutes later, the wolf girl stirred and then her angel blue eyes popped open. She blinked the sleep away and then scooted up a little bit.  Her blond hair was tangled and matted at the base of her neck with sweat.

            "Morning guys." she whispered hoarsely.      

            "Hey, how ya doing?" I asked her as I jumped out of the chair and planted my butt on the edge of her bed. Rhett slipped his hand into Whitney's. She didn't pull back. Something was up between them.  I would have to play detective later. Right now was not the time though.

            "Ok. Just tired."   She pulled the rest of her arm out from under the blanket.

            "Where'd you get this?" I said coolly as I pointed to her scratch. I wish she would have told me about this. At least mentioned it instead of hide it. It made her seem a little suspicious. She gasped as she tried to hide it with the wad of blankets.

            "You weren't supposed to see that!" she shrieked with panic.

            "It's too late now!" I got up from my perch with disgust. I was now pissed off.  "Why didn't you tell me about it?"

            "It-it was nothing to get you worked up about! I just hurt myself!" Her voice grew a little louder than what she had been talking before. I could tell how hoarse it was. "It was an accident. That's all."

            "How do you know I was going to get worked up about it?!"  Flora looked at me, more like pleading with me with her eyes to calm down. I knew this was not the time and place to get angry but I couldn't help it.  Why could she keep this from me! I was her friend! She could talk to me about this. I felt like I was going to breathe fire on everyone. Whitney didn't answer. She just stared at me with shock.

            "Can't trust me huh?" I scoffed with disgust. I couldn't believe this.

            "Raven," A warning look came from Rhett. He had now let go of Whitney's hand and was now standing as well.

            "What can you do to me? You were scared of me before!" Anger blazed in his eyes from my taunt. He didn't retort because he knew it was true.

            Calm down Raven. This is not the place for this. A very small voice in the back of my head rang lightly.

            "I think you should leave Raven. Just until you've calmed down." Rhett growled. I rolled my eyes and walked out, not even saying goodbye. I pushed through the creaky door and strode down the hall. I was pissed and I need to let loose somewhere. I wanted to scream, to let my rage out.  When I got outside the building, I changed to a raven and flew. Flew to a tree far away from the infirmary where I could just not think. I flew to the edge of the grounds, where a lone tree stood that looked over a lake. Mountains were on the other side of the grounds.

            The rising sun glistened off the lake. The grass was a vibrant green. The landscape looked like one from The Sound of Music. The only thing that ruined it was the guards that were posted on the borders. They were in their forms which were all dangerous animals. From where I was perching, I could see a panther, a two polar bears and a spotted hyena.  Since I was still on school grounds, I couldn't be busted and besides, it was Saturday. We can sit in trees if we want to.

            The wind picked up and I ruffled my feathers to keep warm. So many thoughts ran through my head but the biggest one was; why couldn't Whitney trust me? I trusted her with my life. I wanted to help her. A small tear escaped my grey eyes.  I quickly rubbed it off with my wing.  I couldn't shed tears. Not now. Besides, I was a badass. Badass's didn't cry. That just showed how weak you truly were.

            I swiveled my head toward the sounds of wings flapping. It was an eagle; Derek. How did he find me again? He landed next to me. The branch shook under his weight and made me uneasy.  He looked at me and I stared back. Some animals could talk to another, but not all animals possessed this talent. Besides, I didn't want to talk.  I took off and swooped down to the ground.  Derek followed. I landed on the grass and changed back.

            "Why are you here Derek?" I asked, my voice hinting that I didn't want to talk. I had too many emotions rushing through me like a wild river rushing through the Grand Canyon.

            "You found where I like to sit." He stated. "I go there when I have a lot on my mind."

            "What's on your mind?" I said with a flat tone.

            "Dad.  He's pestering me about my love life. He can't keep his nose out of my private life. It sucks."  I couldn't answer. "What about you?"

            "Trust issues with a friend." I sat down. Derek didn't follow.  "Honestly, I don't know who I can trust."

            "You can trust me." Derek replied as he sat down.  He took my hand and rubbed it. I pulled away. The eagle boy stared at me with confusion and concern.

            "I know, but I'm causing you trouble with your dad. I'm wondering if we should just not do this anymore." I stood up and walked away from Derek, placing my head in my hands. I felt a headache coming.

            Derek frowned, "I don't care what my father thinks. It's not his life, it's mine and I can who I want to date." He stood up and embraced me from behind. I grasped onto his arms delicately.

            "Then can I trust you with something?" I asked. I hadn't told anyone about this. The dream.

            "Anything."

            "I had a dream." I blurted out. "I was in this neighborhood and it was burned to the ground. I was…searching for my parents. I stumbled across this woman that looked somewhat like me and she was about to tell me something when this guy, a little bit older than myself came out of nowhere and killed the woman.  I knew he was a demon right away.  The woman called him Drake. He was going to tell me something as well, but then the dream ended. I-I think it was a vision." Derek stared at me.

            "Is there anything you want me to do?" He asked gently, bending down to kiss my cheek daintily.  It felt like a snowflake landing on my cool cheek, melting the flake and then having the water absorbed into my skin.

            "Find out who this Drake is.  I have to know, but I don't know where he is."

            "Ok." Derek then added, "Are you up for a mission?"

            "Hit me." I smirked a tad as I turned to face him in his arms. My eagle boyfriend pulled out his Iphone and scrolled through his notes app. I cupped his hands.  They felt cool to the touch.

            "I have the name of where a group of demons have been hiding out. They're hiding out at Smith River state park near Helena.  I don't know why they're there but I want you to find where they are and observe for a little bit. See if they are doing anything interesting that I should know about.  Especially if there is a large group and if they have any humans or us." He stopped and then remembered something, "Oh, and see if Tanya is there. I have to know if she went demon."

            "Got it. I'll leave tonight." Then I added, "Are you sure you didn't have feelings for this girl?"

            Derek hesitated for a second and then lowered his voice a little. "I did, but when she disappeared and never returned, those feelings died with the thought that she had died. Then I met you." He kissed my cheek lightly and then smiled.

            I crumpled into Derek's chest and listened to his heartbeat.  He laid his head on top of mine, kissing my head as well. A blaring announcement interrupted our bonding moment.  It was a direct announcement. All students were to report to the Great Hall for devastating news.

            "Bet this is about the death from last night."

            "It is." Derek said gravely. We detatched ourselves and, hand in hand, walked to the great hall together.

Author's Note

ignore grammar