It all began to make sense. "The headmaster knows…" he nodded again. "So, when he said your allegiance hadn't changed-"
"It has!" he snapped open his eyes and seized Raven's shoulders. "It has changed. I don't work for them anymore!"
Raven winced as his grip sent shooting pains down her arms. "Jason, you're hurting me!"
He released her at once. "I'm sorry! Raven, please… I'm not who I used to be. I promise. Please, believe me!"
Raven wasn't sure what to believe. She saw tears forming in his eyes as he silently begged for her to understand. For the time she had been at White Grass, he had been such a sweetheart to her, she thought. They'd had their arguments, but overall Jason was a great guy and cared about her a lot, doing everything he could to protect her. She sighed and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his waist. She rested her head against his chest and she heard him exhale in shock.
"I judge you based on who you are to me," she whispered to him. "So far, the judgment is still good." She had to admit though, she thought, she was just a little bit scared. Jason used to kidnap girls. The headmaster had challenged his allegiance after declaring he had put Raven in danger when they broke curfew to take a swim… Had he thought Jason was going to kidnap her or hand her over to the creature?
She felt his arms wrap around her and Jason held her tightly. "Thank you," he breathed. "You have no idea how much that means to me."
"But what about that thing?" Raven turned her head to look at where the creature had been. "Can't the police do anything? Dog catchers maybe?" It certainly looked a bit like a dog, or a wolf.
"No," Jason shook his head. "Nothing can stop it. You're either with it, or dead."
"Then… why did it run away when you showed up?" she knew it was a stupid question to ask, but she felt better about asking anyway.
"It knows me," Jason answered sadly. "It knows better than to get in my way."
Raven frowned and hid her face in his shirt, thankful that he had appeared in time to save her. "It was so scary."
"I know. Though let's not make a habit of me having to save you anymore," he muttered and Raven couldn't help but laugh. "How many times is that now?"
"I lost count," she admitted.
"Let's get you back to your dorm," he said and led her away from the oval. When they reached the building, Jason stopped and looked over his shoulder. Raven blinked up at him and saw the glare in his eyes. She half turned to look back at the forest, flinching and moving closer to Jason when she saw the creature again, half hidden in the darkness of the trees with its teeth bared in a snarl. She heard Jason growl and he took her inside. They nearly crashed into Eliza and Raven bit back a yelp when she gazed into the girl's golden eyes. Jason had told her that Eliza's eyes were some kind of deformity, but Raven still thought she was beautiful.
"What are you two doing out of bed?" Eliza demanded.
"Nothing," Jason answered, his voice strained as he shot a glance down at Raven. "Eliza, I want you to grab Der and Storm and watch the borders."
Eliza seemed to understand and she rushed away without another word. Raven looked up at the green-eyed boy with worry. "What if the creature gets her?"
"She'll be fine, trust me," he assured her.
Raven trusted his word as he led her away again but she bit her lip at the thought of going back to her dorm. What if Elaise was awake and they got into another fight? "Jason?"
"Yes?"
"Could I, um… stay with you tonight?" she asked quietly, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. "Elaise and I had another fight and… well… that thing."
She expected him to say no and tell her she would be fine, but he lightly kissed the top of her head. "Okay. But I do have to warn you, I only have one bed."
"That's fine with me," She muttered. She didn't want to sleep alone, and she looked down at the bracelet he had given her with the Evil Eyes. Could it really have protected her?
Jason changed direction, heading for the boy's dormitories. He held her hand the whole way and invited her into his dorm. They hadn't been noticed by any teachers and Raven wondered if Jason had mapped out their patrol routes in order to avoid them as easily as he did.
She looked around the room, seeing the living room and small kitchen… But there was only one door leading to another room. "Don't you share a dorm?" she asked.
"No," he answered. "Boys can choose to have their own dorms."
"That's not fair," Raven frowned but couldn't stop the yawn in time.
Jason chuckled and led her into his room. She blinked when she saw the bed frame off to the side of the room, but the mattress had been taken off and dumped in the middle of the floor. The top of it was smothered in pillows with a thin blanket at the end. She looked up at the green-eyed boy questioningly and he grinned. "I like the floor?" he murmured in defense.
"Okay," she nodded and kicked off her boots as Jason pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it to the floor where the rest of his clothes were located. Hadn't he ever heard of a washing basket?
He looked at her. "Um…"
"What?" she asked.
"If you plan on wearing your clothes, then you're going to die sleeping next to me," he tried to hide the grin, but failed miserably.
Raven glared at him, but she knew it was true. She would overheat sleeping beside him with a jumper and tracksuit pants. She knew only too well how bad it was to overheat at night and get up in the morning. She always got spikes of vertigo and had to sit down as her vision went black. She would sweat uncontrollably and resist the urge to throw up. She didn't really want that…
"Here, I'll help you get started," Jason reached forward and grabbed the zipper on her jacket, slowly pulling it down until the zips fell away from each other. Raven felt her breath catch in her throat as he took a step closer to her and pushed her jacket down her arms, taking it from her and letting it fall to the floor. "Now, I don't want to be a creep."
She grumbled and her cheeks burned. "This was your plan all along, wasn't it?" she accused. He simply smiled. She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, pulling her long-sleeved shirt off and quickly adjusting her bra. She took her socks off and shoved them into her boots. Now for her pants… Was she really game enough for this?
"How about I make you feel a little more comfortable?" Jason smirked and before Raven could reply, he was kicking off his own pants, leaving him in a pair of briefs. Raven's face felt like it was on fire as the boy turned and threw himself backwards onto his mattress, putting his hands up behind his head. "Come on, babe. You can be comfortably warm, or die of heat. Your choice."
Babe? Did he just… Did he really call her babe? She knew he had called her that once before, when they were yelling at each other, but now was different. Raven forced herself to shake it off and sighed. "Why must you be so warm?" she grumbled, slowly pushing her tracksuit pants down her legs and stepping away from them. She knew her face would be bright red as she stood in front of Jason in her undergarments, and she told herself she didn't feel any better with him stripped down as well.
It wasn't as though Raven hadn't been in situations like this before; she had been naked in front of guys plenty of times. But this was different. There was no sex involved in this situation, and Jason wasn't just some random boy. He had spent a whole month looking after her and cuddling her and giving her swift, cheeky kisses across her face; not once had he kissed her lips. Standing in front of him like this, it felt different.
"Hey, it's not my fault you wanted to sleep here," he chuckled and pushed his blanket back for her. She walked over to the mattress and sat down before lying awkwardly next to Jason, keeping a small space between them. "See how great I am? I got you into my bed without even suggesting it myself!"
"You're a sneaky bastard," she scowled but he pulled the blanket over them and turned onto his side, reaching for her. She bit her lip as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. She was once again overwhelmed by how warm he was, but her eyes drooped and J
ason's chin leaned against the top of her head.
"You know me too well," he said smugly and she lightly tickled his stomach, hearing him sigh.
Raven smiled but frowned when she thought of that creature in the forest. Courtney and Jocelyn had been taken by it, and a bunch more girls in the past. Raven would have been taken too if Jason hadn't saved her. She didn't care that he used to be a kidnapper, but that thing… What if it tried to get her again?
Hang on… She changed her thoughts as she welcomed the warmth from Jason's skin, reminding her of the night in the pool. If Jason used to work with that creature and its owners… what about his story of leaving his adopted family and his own brother to come straight to White Grass? Did he purposely leave out his former line of work in case it scared Raven off?
"The creature won't get you," Jason whispered in her ear, probably feeling her muscles tensing up. "As long as I'm around, you're safe."
She nodded slowly. "I know. But… Jason?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm just curious. You never told me your brother's name."
She felt his arms tense up around her. "You never asked," he responded lightly.
Raven had to admit that was true. "I'm asking now…"
Jason was quiet for a few moments and Raven was patient with him. He'd had a tough childhood. Did it hurt him to think back to it? "Boulder," he answered at last. "My brother's name is Boulder."
"Boulder," she echoed in a whisper and wondered who would name a child after a rock… "Do you think I'll ever meet him?"
Jason's hold on her increased slightly. "Let's pray that you don't."
"Why?" she frowned. Whether he was just as bad as their adopted family or not, he was still Jason's brother.
"Goodnight, Raven."
She sighed but let it go. She made sure she was comfortable in Jason's arms and drowsiness claimed her. "Goodnight, Jason." She felt his breathing deepen and his heartbeat became steady. Was he already asleep? She smiled and let her eyes close, feeling safe in his arms. Soon enough, she too was in a world of dreams.
*.*.*
"Okay, everyone! This lesson, I want you all to draw a picture of one of your most clearest memories, adding in detail of the feelings you had in those moments."
Raven glanced up at her Art teacher as she handed out blank paper to everyone in the class. Raven got out some drawing pencils from her pencil case and thanked her teacher when she received a piece of paper.
Raven yawned and remembered waking up next to Jason. She had been laying with her back to him, but his arms had been around her all night and she remembered feeling his warm breath on her ear. He had been right; she'd been comfortably warm all night long. She would have died if she'd slept in her clothes! She had woken up early and Jason had complained, begging for cuddles as he struggled to wake up properly, snuggling his face into the crook of Raven's neck. She had regretfully told him that she had to get back to her dorm to change and get ready for classes. He had frowned and pleaded for her to stay, grabbing her and giving her a strong cuddle before finally letting her go. Raven had never met a boy that wanted her to stay with them in the mornings, and she had never met one as adorable as Jason.
When Raven had returned to her dorm in a good mood, Elaise was already waking up and was in the kitchen to get a drink of water. She had asked Raven where she had been all night and they had argued. Raven had told her it was none of the brunette's business, not bothering to tell her she'd spent the night with Jason in case she took it the wrong way and spread it around with her friends. Not that Raven thought Elaise would do that, but still…
She had gone to her room and gotten changed, brushing her hair and fixing her make-up, ignoring Elaise as they both went to breakfast. Jason had invited Raven to join him and she had sat with him, Der, Eliza and a few more of their friends. They had been shocked when Jason told them about Raven almost being taken the night before and Eliza fussed over her, asking a bunch of questions to make sure the blonde was okay. Raven had assured them she was fine, but none of them looked any happier. Der had told Jason that the creature had left, not bothering to stick around. The green-eyed boy had been pleased with that.
It was now two o'clock in the afternoon and Raven had just finished a Science lesson with Elaise. Neither of them had spoken to each other as they had been forced to continue being lab partners, and it had been a very awkward class. It had ended too slowly for Raven and she was now sitting in Art class. She picked up her pencil, trying to think of what her clearest memory would be.
She glanced over at Stephanie's work and asked what her friend was drawing. Stephanie explained that it was a field of flowers that her ex-boyfriend had once shown her. Raven contemplated on drawing Jason and how he looked in the morning with his hair all messed up as if he had rolled around in his sleep all night like a dog.
Her hand moved almost on its own and she started drawing the memory that was clearer to her than any other. She didn't glance up once as the pencil strokes were so sure of themselves and she formed the base of her drawing. She added in the dark shading and the face, and when she was finished she almost jumped out of her seat. She leaned in towards the page to inspect it and forced herself to breathe. She stared at the picture of the creature she had seen the night before and went over every detail. It was as if she was looking right at it again when she saw the ferns she had drawn around it. She had added every single detail she could remember about it. Its eyes looked bloodthirsty with its body crouched low, one paw in front of the other as if had prepared to spring at her. She felt her blood turn cold just by looking at her drawing and she still couldn't believe that Jason had once helped this beast to kidnap girls from the academy. Could it understand the human language?
"Hey, that looks- What is that?!" Stephanie gasped, looking over at Raven's drawing. "That's a memory?"
Raven didn't know how to answer. Should she tell Stephanie about it? When the blonde thought about it more and more, she guessed that it really was meant to be kept a secret. If it wasn't, then everyone would already know, surely. No one would go near the forest and no one would dare break curfew.
"Not a real one," Raven lied quickly. "It was… in a dream I had last night." She wasn't lying entirely; she had dreamt of the creature and it had chased her, but when she snapped awake she had felt Jason's strong arms tighten around her in his sleep and she had felt safe, falling back to sleep easily.
Stephanie blinked at the picture. "That was in a dream? More like a nightmare to me."
Raven shrugged but as the teacher walked around and spotted it, the older woman's face lit up with fear, quickly replaced with fury. "What the hell is that?!" she demanded angrily.
"It was in a dream," Raven lied again, her skin crawling.
Her teacher wasn't convinced. "Straight to the headmaster's office!" she almost spat in the blonde's face. "Take that thing with you!"
Raven glanced at Stephanie and they both shrugged in confusion. The blonde packed up her things, putting them in her bag and swung it over her shoulder. She rose from her chair, grabbed her picture and headed out the door with everyone staring at her quizzically. What had she done wrong?
She left the classroom and walked down the quiet hallways, hearing a student call out an answer in one of the classes. Raven had to admit, she was getting more and more accustomed to the school and could easily navigate without a map. She looked down at her picture and felt shivers run down her spine. That thing had nearly kidnapped her. Would it have killed her? Would its owners have raped and tortured her? Raven gulped as each thought became worse than the last and she prayed that none of them were the case.
She took the elevator up to the top of the next building, knowing she would have died halfway up the staircase if she'd tried to tackle it. She found her way to the headmaster's office and was about to knock on the door when she heard angry voices from inside.
"We need to do something about this!" It was Jason! What was he doing in there?
"You know we
can't!" was the headmaster's reply. "We're not strong enough. If we try, we'll all be done for."
"But we can't just sit by and wait for every girl in this school to be kidnapped!" Jason snapped. "We've lost two in the past couple of weeks and we almost lost Raven last night." They were talking about the creature?
"It would have been her fault for walking around after curfew-"
"No, it wouldn't have! Everyone sees the rules as challenges; to be able to break them without getting caught. No matter how many rules you put in this place, nobody is going to stick to them entirely. You know that."
"I know. I've been trying to keep the girls safe, Jason. I really have! But there's only so much that I can do."
Raven heard Jason growl loudly. "That's. Why. We. Fight!" he was clearly trying to control his temper. "Teach them! If they can learn, maybe there's some hope for this school."
"They're not as strong as you," the headmaster spoke as if he was reminding Jason. "They're not bred to be fighters."
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