"Sir, I have to agree with him on this one," Der muttered. "The entire refuge will be put out in the open and we'll be vulnerable. We can't risk it-"
"Quiet, Derrick!" the headmaster snarled at him and Raven frowned. Refuge? What did they mean by that? "There's nothing we can do. Which girl was it, Storm?"
Raven bit her lip and stared at the boy in the middle, slightly shorter than Jason and Der. "It was Stephanie Rockland, sir," Storm answered and Raven felt the floor drop from underneath her. "I presume she was heading across the oval to find something she had lost during the day; we found some shredded pieces of cloth at the scene."
Stephanie was gone? She was the one who was taken? Raven felt her stomach twist in more ways than one and she was almost certain she would throw up. Stephanie had seen the blonde's drawing of the creature and had been terrified just by that. Now the poor girl was living the real nightmare, being dragged off into the forest by that thing! Raven was never going to see her friend again. She was gone. But why? What would those people do to her?
"We can still get her back," Jason insisted. "There's a chance-"
"She's gone!" Storm turned on him. "How many times must you be told?"
"I used to work for them, in case you've forgotten," Jason whirled around to face the boy and snarled in Storm's face, seizing him by the shirt. "I know a lot more than a pathetic pup like you. There is a chance for her if we move now! Maybe you like cowering with your tail between your legs, but-"
"Jason!" the boy was silenced by a loud, rumbling growl from the headmaster. "Learn your place! Release Storm at once." Jason slowly obeyed and almost shoved Storm into Der. "We have company."
Raven gulped, knowing she was caught eavesdropping again! She tried to turn and sneak away, but she yelped as Storm appeared in front of her and grabbed her roughly by the arm, dragging her into the room. The boy pushed her to the floor and Raven whimpered as pain shot up her body. Jason snarled at Storm and the boy looked ready to bite back, but they were stopped by the headmaster.
"Why were you listening?" Storm demanded, glaring down at her with fury in his eyes. "This doesn't concern you!"
"Storm, don't be so harsh with her," the headmaster tried to speak calmly and Raven looked up at the four of them as she sat up on the cold floor. "It is my understanding that Stephanie was a friend of hers."
"She needs to learn her place as well," Storm growled and took a step forward, but Jason warned him back with another snarl.
"Leave her alone," the green-eyed boy demanded and helped Raven to her feet, pulling her into him and wrapping his arms protectively around her. "She knows about these situations. I told her."
"Just because she was almost taken," Storm snorted. "Does she know you used to do it too?"
Jason nodded and Raven looked up at him, her body trembling. "Stephanie…?" She had to force back the tears that threatened her but they stung the rims of her eyes.
"Yes, Raven," Jason frowned. "I'm sorry."
"What's gonna happen to her?" she instinctively put her arms around his waist and tried to bury her face in his shirt. She couldn't believe it; Stephanie was gone. She was kidnapped. But Stephanie was such a sweet girl! What had she done wrong to deserve this fate?
"She's dead," Storm muttered mercilessly and Raven flinched, her heart skipping a beat. "They would have already killed her by now."
Raven felt her skin crawling as fear set in. This time Jason's presence wasn't able to deter it and a stray tear rolled down her cheek. "No… She can't be…" Stephanie was… dead? The creature had kidnapped her to murder her? Is that what they did to girls? They took them… just to kill them?
"We're sorry, Raven," Der frowned. "There's nothing we can do."
"Jason, please take Raven back to her dorm," the headmaster requested. "Der and Storm, take Heath and Eliza and watch the borders. Make sure we don't lose anyone else tonight."
Der and Storm left the room in heartbeats and Jason glared at the headmaster before leading Raven away. They took the elevator back down and Raven felt grief weighing her down. Her chest hurt as though a hole had just been blown through her and more tears fell from her eyes.
"I'm sorry," Jason whispered, holding her hand. "If there was anything I could have done, I would have tried to bring her back."
"She's dead…" Raven mumbled, unable to believe that she had just lost a friend so easily. "Why can't you bring her back?"
"The headmaster's word overrules mine," Jason sighed. "If I went to get her by myself, they'd kill me too."
"That thing took every trace of her," Raven forced herself to breathe. "Even her shoe… There's nothing left of her." The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she pictured the ugly paw reaching out of the ferns to grab the little black shoe that Elaise and Raven had admired so much.
"I'm sorry," Jason repeated again. "But this is why I don't want you to go near the forest without me. I don't want them to get you too."
Jason truly had saved her life the other night, she thought and glanced up at him. She would have been killed by that creature if he hadn't of been there to scare it away. But now Stephanie was gone, never to be seen again. What excuse would the headmaster use to make everyone believe she had simply left the school like Courtney and Jocelyn?
A feeling of dread suddenly wrapped itself around Raven and a shiver crawled up her spine. She became extremely aware by the warmth of Jason's skin as it seeped into her own and she looked up at the green-eyed boy. "Jason?" she asked slowly.
"Yeah?" he responded.
"When you told me… you used to do it too. That your sins could never be forgiven…"
"Yes, Raven," he breathed and she felt his hand tighten over hers. "I used to be a killer."
*.*.*
"You brought me something as scrawny as that?! I can't keep excusing this!"
A growl sounded form across the room as a man dressed in black glared at the giant creature lying in a corner, chewing on a large bone. The man rolled his eyes. "If you don't start doing your job properly, we'll replace you!" Another growl.
"Sir, maybe you could let me try!" came a childish voice and the man watched a young boy of fifteen skip across the room towards the beast. The boy was growled at, but he sat next to the creature and reached his hand forward, petting its head.
"Speed, I can't trust you to complete the job either," the man scowled in annoyance. "You're nothing more than a child."
"So?" the boy smiled. "I can still do just as good a job as he can." He pointed to the animal but quickly returned to petting it.
"I would rather trust Snake with the task until we find a suitable replacement for this thing," the man glared at Speed's pet.
Speed looked as though he had a sudden idea and almost bounced where he sat. "Can we bring Jason back?!" the beast beside him snarled viciously at the boy and Speed snorted at him. "I'd stop petting you! I liked Jason."
"Jason was a traitor to us!" the man snapped before the beast could growl again. "Though he was more useful than what he left us with. He knew how to get a job done; an aspect to be admired. He protects the school now, and because his pet is less powerful, we fail to snatch the amount of bodies that we were once able to."
"We're useless without Jason," Speed pouted. "Why can't we convince him to come back? I thought he liked being here."
"I presume you scared him away!" the man glowered at the boy. "You and your need to pet everything!" The beast shook its head away from Speed's hand but the boy smiled and latched onto its neck, cuddling up to it as though it was a fluffy puppy.
"Me and Jason were friends!" Speed frowned. "I couldn't have scared him away. He was cute!"
The man rolled his eyes and covered his face with his cold hands. "Why couldn't we have found a straight kid?" he muttered to himself.
"Hey!" Speed grumbled. "I heard that."
Speed was ignored. "Snake! Slayer!" Two men were at the man's feet in an instant, bowing low to the ground. "Jason has restricted us from taking what we
need, and now we will take what he needs."
"Sir?" one of them looked up with hunger written in his eyes.
"Bring me the girl," the man smiled to show his pearly white teeth. "The one he calls… Raven."
Surprise!
12. Surprise!
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We are gathered here under the eyes of God to send our prayers up to the heavens in hope that one day they will be answered."
Raven looked up at the priest from where he stood at the altar and she forced away her tears. She sat beside Jason who had his head down and she looked further up to the left of the room where Elaise was sitting among a few other students.
Subconsciously, Raven leaned forward and rested her elbows on the back of the seat in front of her, putting her hands flat against each other and leaning her forehead against them. She glanced up and saw Elaise looked back at her with a curious gaze, but Raven closed her eyes as the priest spoke more about God and began to recite verses from the Bible.
This was just a simple Sunday for most of the people at the school, Raven thought. But for her, and a few others, this quiet day at church was more like a funeral for Stephanie. The blonde took a deep breath and felt Jason's hand rest on her leg. The night before he had told her he was a killer; he had kidnapped girls from White Grass and murdered them. Raven had been scared, but just by looking at the green-eyed boy she didn't feel scared of him. She wasn't scared that he had once killed people, because she knew that he wasn't that person anymore. She had heard a lot of people in the past say that people can't change their ways, but she was sure Jason had. If one had enough willpower, they could do anything.
Dear God, she whispered silently. If you do exist up there, then send my best wishes to Stephanie and the other girls. I hope their spirits can rest in peace and I pray that one day these killings will stop and the remaining girls here can be kept safe from harm.
"You okay?" Jason whispered to her and she leaned back in her seat.
"I've been better," she answered quietly and placed her hand over his.
As soon as the people in the hall had sung the traditional church songs, they had all gone out to the reception outside for some breakfast. Raven didn't move from her chair and Jason sighed, brushing her hair out of her face.
"I have to go talk to Eliza," Jason muttered. "Will you be okay on your own?"
Raven nodded and Jason kissed her temple before walking out of the church. Raven slowly stood up and was prepared to walk out, but the priest spoke to her from where he was dusting of the Bible.
"I thought you were not a believer," he said to her and she stood in the middle of the aisle, blinking up at him. "Now it seems that you have some faith."
"I wouldn't go to that extreme," Raven told him quietly. "Let's just say I've lost two friends now. I don't want to lose any more."
"May God bless your soul," the priest chanted.
She bowed her head and turned to see Elaise standing at the door of the church, looking as though she wanted to say something. Raven didn't want to risk a fight and she walked past her friend, leaving the church and heading back up to the main buildings.
She sat down in the courtyard and looked up at the sky, seeing a flock of birds flying south. She knew she had a test to study for the next day, but she couldn't bring herself to go back to her dorm to do so. Jason had asked her not to tell anyone about Stephanie's death and she couldn't use it as an excuse to postpone her test. She had to go through with it as if she had no idea what happened to Stephanie.
"I'm surprised you're not with Jason," she looked up at the sound of a familiar voice and Jake sat beside her. "You reek of him."
"I'm surprised you can tell I was with him to begin with," she retorted.
"Are you kidding?" Jake recoiled. "It's like you're smothered in his stench."
"If you've just come to insult Jason and try to hit on me again, please don't," Raven frowned. "I'm not in the mood to hear it."
"Jason told me what happened to her. I'm sorry."
Raven blinked up at him. "Why would he tell you that?"
"Because we're still friends," Jake answered calmly. "And I won't hit on you. Not after you just lost a friend."
"Thank you," Raven leaned her head on his shoulder before she knew she did it. She shrugged it off and bit back her tears. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" he asked.
"Your hand," she mumbled.
She felt his body shuddering as he laughed. "Don't apologize for that. I'd been smoking weed with some mates that morning so my head wasn't clear."
"So you are a druggo," Raven snorted. "You're not high or drunk at the moment?"
"Nope," he answered. "You don't have the scent of mistletoe on you. You and your friend still not talking?"
"Oh, we're talking," Raven rolled her eyes. "But it's not civilized. All we seem to do is argue and have a go at each other."
"What happened between you two?"
Raven was quiet for a moment and she sighed. "I honestly don't know. She started making more friends and focused on her schoolwork and we slowly talked less and less. Then one day she snapped at me and it's been nothing but fighting."
Jake nodded to himself. "Maybe give it some time. Everything will fix itself in the end."
"I doubt it," Raven looked up when she saw Elaise storming over with Katie, Mandy, Brittany and a few other girls behind her. Raven and Jake got to their feet as the brunette reached them. Brittany stood back, almost bouncing with joy.
"So now I'm an arrogant, controlling, snobby bitch? Seriously, Raven, when are you going to grow up?" Elaise hissed.
"Fuck off! I never said that," Raven scoffed. Where the hell would she have heard something that bizarre?
"Brittany told me that she heard you talking to Sally about me," Elaise scowled. Of course, it had to have been Brittany. Who else?
"Oh, well at least you're spreading rumors instead of your legs for once," the blonde sneered at Brittany.
The black-haired girl tried to say something but Elaise cut her off. "Speak for yourself. If you have a problem with me then why don't you just say it now? I'm over your shit and I'm sick of hearing that you've said something about me-"
"Well maybe the stuff you've been hearing is just as pathetic as the person who told you!" Raven growled. "Because from my point of view, you're the one who's been going around the school telling everyone shit about me! I've tried to ignore it, but if this is how you want to play."
"Like what?" Elaise challenged.
"That apparently I'm a wimpy little slut that has no self-respect and that I turned out this way because my father used to beat the shit out of me!" Raven hissed and saw Elaise's eyes widen. Raven lowered her voice as she glared at her friend. "Only you know about my father."
Elaise frowned. "I never said anything like that. Yes, I know what your dad was like, but I would never-"
"You're really going to believe her?" Katie interrupted. "She's been telling everyone rumors about you!"
"Why don't you shut the fuck up?" Raven snarled.
"You need to watch who you're talking to," Brittany stepped forward and sized up to Raven again. Jake kept his mouth shut and stood back so Raven couldn't rely on him at all.
"Why should I?" Raven glared up at her. "How do we know it wasn't you telling everyone a bunch of lies?"
"What motivation would I need to do that?" Brittany raised her chin.
"Maybe because I taught you a lesson on my second day," the blonde reminded her. "Good enough?"
Brittany shrugged it off. "That just helped me figure out you're scared of blood. So what would happen if I made you bleed?"
Raven had no time to move as Brittany swung her hand up and punched her in the face. The blonde stumbled back but a right-hook smacked into her stomach, causing her to double over and sink to the ground.
Brittany wasn't able to attack her again as Elaise lunged forward and grabbed the girl by her hair, ripping her back and throwing her into the wooden table.<
br />
"What the fuck was that for?!" Brittany screeched at Elaise.
"You might have a grudge against her but purposely scaring someone with a phobia is just plain dog!" Elaise growled at her. "Even I have more respect than that!"
"Who cares if she has a phobia?" Katie snorted and Raven looked up at the girl, slowly rising back to her feet. Jake moved to support her and she thanked him quietly. "She can get over it."
Raven felt a warm, sticky liquid seep out of her lip where Brittany had busted it open and the blonde already felt her fear rising up as it slowly dripped from the corner of her mouth. Katie pushed Elaise out of the way and the brunette spun around to see Katie approaching Raven. Before she got the chance, Eliza appeared out of nowhere and jumped between them, snarling at Elaise's friend.
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