Raven sat back down with Elaise and avoided Kyle's stare. She noticed Sally walk over with Anthony, Gwen and Allison and they sat on the other side of the table, complete lying blocking Raven's view of Kyle.
"Are you okay?" Sally asked. "What was that about?"
"Don't worry," Elaise spoke up. "They were just disagreeing."
They seemed to understand and let it go and Anthony smiled. "So the two of you are friends again?" Raven was thankful for her friends and felt all bad thoughts disappearing.
"I found out Brittany was the one behind it all," Elaise sighed and Raven looked up to where Brittany was glaring at them, glancing off in Kyle's direction.
"That's good," Anthony chuckled. "We were all worried you'd hate each other forever."
"We've been friends for years," Elaise giggled. "How could we let a silly school break us up?"
"It's good," Sally commented. "I just wish Stephanie had stuck around to see it."
Raven felt her heart break all over again and she begged her body not to let herself cry. Elaise quickly came to the rescue again. "I heard she transferred?"
"She did," Gwen nodded. "She hadn't been here long so it would have been nice to see her adapt here. But she was always a quiet girl."
"White Grass just wasn't for her," Allison shrugged. "Maybe she'll have better luck at another school. Hopefully."
Everyone nodded and Raven looked up at Eliza, watching the girl hiding her face with her hands. One of the boys said something to her and she revealed her face to shoot a snide remark at him, anger written on her face as she put the boy back in his place. Raven had never seen Eliza that way. She was always so friendly…
"The people are going to chess club soon," Anthony spoke up and stole Raven's attention. "I don't know why anyone would have to go all the way out into the forest just for that, but I guess we can't argue with the headmaster."
"That's true," Sally pressed her lips together to form a fine line. "They're all so strange though; the people that go there. I dared Anthony to try and convince the headmaster to let him into the club but apparently… What did he say again?" she looked up at her boyfriend.
"I didn't have the 'qualities' of a chess player," Anthony scoffed, adding in the air-quotes. "However that works."
Raven was confused and wondered how that could be possible. Anyone could play chess, it wasn't a very hard game unless they were the type of players who made lightning fast movements. But what harm could come of someone else joining the club?
She thought for a moment and remembered when she had interrogated Jason about it. Hadn't he said something similar? Yes! He had said that the headmaster would have invited her to join them if he thought she was chess worthy; politely telling her no. Was Stephanie right when she suspected it was some kind of cult?
"There they go now," Gwen muttered under her breath and they watched as Eliza and her group got out of their seats, followed by Kyle and his friends as well as a few others. They all followed the headmaster out of the hall and Kyle shot a glare in Raven's direction. The blonde looked down at her tray of disgusting food and waiting until all the chess members had left the hall, leaving a number of students remaining.
"I wonder why it has to be so private," Allison frowned. "And why it has to be out in the forest. I thought that part of the school was off-limits to everyone."
Anthony shrugged. "Maybe it's a giant orgy," the brunette boy chuckled and Sally smacked him upside the head. "Owww… It was just a suggestion, babe."
"You and your filthy mind!" she rolled he eyes with a smile.
"You love it," he put his arms around her and kissed her cheek. Sally agreed and Raven found it adorable that they were so publicly close, just like Jason was with her.
She felt a shiver run through her. She missed Jason and his closeness. She liked having him around, cuddling her whenever he got the chance and knocking her off guard with swift, unexpected kisses on the cheek. How had they all of a sudden stopped being so close? Just because Kyle had tried to rape her the first time? He tried again and Jason was going to kill him. Could he have been the same back in the forest, given the chance?
"Hey," Sally spoke up, snapping Raven from her thoughts as the ginger girl looked at Raven and Elaise. "Seeing as my roommate is at 'chess club'," she didn't forget the air-quotes, "and I don't like being left by myself… Reckon I could stay with you guys tonight?"
"We'd love to have you over," Elaise grinned.
Sally giggled. "I would stay with Anthony, but it's that time of the month and he doesn't like having the temptation there when he knows he can't get any."
"Menstrual cycles suck," the brunette boy crossed his arms childishly.
"Awww," Sally smiled, hugging him. "Poor baby. It's okay, you can get a free bonus when it's over."
"Hey, we don't need to hear about your sex lives!" Elaise pretended to look disgusted.
Everyone laughed and eventually, Gwen and Allison took their leave to go and get some sleep. Sally told them she would go and get a change of clothes and she would meet the girls up at their dorm soon. She left with Anthony and Elaise turned to Raven.
"We'd better get out of here too," Elaise murmured. "People are still staring."
Raven knew that. A lot of people glanced at her after Jason's outburst, clearly wondering what it was all about. It was probably best they stayed curious, she thought.
"Let's go," the blonde left her tray where it was and headed for the door. Elaise ran to catch up and the two girls made their way up to the dorms. Elaise dashed away to fix up the spare room for Sally and Raven sat on the couch, turning the television on and finding a decent channel, but everything was fuzzy today.
With a knock on the door, Elaise skipped over to answer it and let Sally in. The ginger was taken to the spare room to put her bag down and they regrouped in the lounge room. Sally smiled at Raven and held up a movie; The Notebook.
"No…" Raven mumbled but Elaise giggled and snatched up the movie, putting it into the DVD player. The girls made themselves comfortable and Raven sighed, preparing herself to go through the torture of the chick-flick. "We couldn't watch something slightly more interesting?" she complained.
"This movie is great," Sally insisted. "I love it!"
Raven accepted it and was falling asleep halfway through the movie. Elaise and Sally were nearly in tears by the end and Raven rolled her eyes. It was the most painful torture she had ever experienced and by the time it was over, she felt as thought time had just saved her life at last.
The three of them decided to get some sleep and Raven shut her bedroom door, going for a quick shower and having to gently take the bandages from her ribs. They hurt a lot and she soaped her body and hair, rinsing the suds away and finishing her shower. She dried herself off and couldn't help but check the mirror every few seconds, glancing over her shoulder. She wrapped the bandages around her body and put on fresh undergarments. She threw on a pair of tracksuit pants and one of Jason's shirts that still carried his smell. She hugged her body and soaked in the sake feeling she got from his scent. She frowned when she told herself how much she missed him. Being held in his arms had made her realize just how much she wanted him back.
She towel dried her hair and brushed the knots from it, glancing over to her bed and biting her lip. Elaise told her that she had pulled the sheet from the bed and it needed washing, but Raven didn't want to sleep in the bed. She grabbed Rover from her desk and took a pillow and a blanket, taking it out into the lounge room and making herself comfortable on the couch.
She turned off all the lights and cuddled up to Rover, drowsiness claiming her. She fell into a world of dreams, but it didn't take long for them to turn into nightmares.
*.*.*
"Do you know where they are?"
A man emerged from the trees and stood tall, sniffing the air. He looked over his shoulder at Snake and nodded. "Piece of cake."
"Are we really walking into the school?" Speed asked, looking around the man at th
e giant buildings. "What if we're caught?"
"The refugees aren't here," the man growled and flinched from the shooting pain in his body. It wanted to obey the laws of his kind but he refused to let it just yet. Glancing up at the full moon, he shook himself. "We won't be seen. Let's get this done."
The man led his three companions across the oval towards the school. He picked up the scent quickly and couldn't understand why anyone would want to follow the girl around. She carried the horrid scent of mistletoe! Nevertheless, the man followed the scent into the school. Speed hid behind Slayer and Snake strolled casually through the hallways.
The man quickly stopped his companions and glanced around a corner, snorting when he saw two teenagers hooking up. The kids didn't notice the small group dart past and the man sniffed out the corners, letting the others know when there was a teacher nearby. It was easy finding their way around the school, following the tangy smell of mistletoe. The man became confused when he reached an intersection of hallways. The scent continued forward, but there was another scent the crossed it; a much stronger scent of mistletoe from another body. Faint, but very overpowering.
"What's wrong?" Slayer asked.
"Nothing," the man replied and moved on, making sure to keep on track. They avoided more teachers and the man growled when she stronger scent joined the one he was following.
"What's the girls name?" Speed asked, unable to stay quiet.
"Raven," the man grumbled. "Now shut up."
"What does she look like?" Speed ignored him.
"She's a blonde," the man spoke, barely able to keep his temper down. His body twitched with pain again but he reminded himself that he was the only one who had seen her.
"Is she pretty?" Speed spoke up again.
"Shut up, you useless corpse!" Snake hissed and smacked the boy upside the head. Speed stopped walking and the man turned his head, registering the mistake his companion made. Speed started to sob and tears trickled down his face.
"Now look what you've done!" Slayer snapped at Snake and quickly went to calm the boy before he alerted everyone of their presence. "It's okay, kiddo. Snake didn't mean it."
"Yes, he did," Speed muttered like a five year old. "He hit me."
"You didn't even feel it!" Snake spat.
"Apologize to him," Slayer said to Snake.
"What?!" Snake exclaimed. "No! It's his fault for not shutting up. I don't even know why he was allowed to come-"
The man grabbed Snake by the throat and pushed him into the wall, snarling in his face. "Just apologize to the brat!" he growled. "Or else you're going to be the reason why our mission fails. If you fuck this up, I'm taking your head!"
"You're not allowed," Snake sneered.
"I'm sure the boss wouldn't care; one less fuck up to worry about," the man muttered. "Now apologize so we can hurry this up. I haven't got much longer and you can't walk into the rooms."
He released Snake and the stubborn idiot mumbled an apology to Speed. The child hugged Snake and the man ushered them on. They quickly made their way down hallways again and the man insisted they took the stairs instead of the elevator when the scent led into the giant contraption. He'd pick up the scent as soon as they reached the right floor.
Speed was the first to shoot up the stairs with incredible silence, not making a single sound. The others followed with silent footsteps and on each floor, the man made sure he tried to detect the scent. It wasn't until they got to the top floor that the scent became strong again, mixed with the scent of the other one.
"Which room?" Speed asked, clearly getting over the strike from Snake.
The man blocked out the other scents as best he could and focused on the scent of mistletoe, walking down the large hallway until he reached a door with gold numbers: '397'. "Here," the man told them.
"Now what?" Slayer blinked. "Only you can go in there. What if there's more than just her?"
"I'll bring them out one by one," the man rolled his eyes and quickly unlocked the door, pushing it open and looking around. He went to a room on the left where he detected a new scent and he saw a girl laying on a single bed, the sheets pushed away to reveal her black nightdress. She had the slight smell of blood and the man bit back a smirk, gently picking the girl up and carrying her out. His companions looked pleased as the man handed the first girl to Slayer.
"Is this her?" he asked.
"No," the man shook his head and went back in. He followed the faint smell of mistletoe to one room but he didn't see the girl in her bed. The whole room stank of blood and he blinked with confusion, moving on to the next room. He almost jumped out of his skin when he saw the things the room contained. He couldn't take his eyes off the crucifixes hanging off everything with the wooden stakes laying on the desk. There was a small glass bowl beside them containing little silver beads and he glanced over to the bed where a brunette girl lay entangled in blankets. She was the one that reeked of mistletoe!
He made his way over to the bed, delicately stepping over all the obstacles and looked down at the girl. He knew this one; she had been seen in the forest with another one of the refugees a few weeks ago. The longer he stared at her, the more his skin prickled with a horrible feeling. Something in his body screamed at him to leave her, but orders were orders.
He bent to pick her up but her eyes shot open and she stared up at him, her blue eyes flashing with fear. He growled and his hands quickly found her throat, tightening their grip. He heard her choke and she feebly struggled, trying to pull his hands from her neck. He let her go when she fell into unconsciousness. He breathed quickly, feeling his heart race. He had almost caused their mission to fail!
The man calmed himself and picked the girl up from her bed, pulling her blankets from her. He carried her back out to the others, giving her to Snake who glared at the man before taking her.
"Is that one-"
"No," the man answered Speed's unfinished question and he ducked back into the room, sniffing and trying to figure out where Raven was. He jumped when he heard a quiet moan and he stepped towards the couch, peering over it and blinking when he saw the blonde curled up with a teddy in her arms. He smiled; this was the prize.
He moved around to the other side of the couch so he could pick her up, but he saw her eyes flicker. She blinked up at him for a moment and her eyes narrowed. "Jason?" she whispered. "What are you doing here?"
The man thought quickly and his fist met her head, knocking her out and watching her body go limp. He picked her up, but she refused to let her teddy go. He shrugged it off and walked out of the room with her in his arms, ready to take her straight to the boss.
It's All True
17. It's all true
"Raven, wake up!"
"Will you shut up already?!"
Raven groaned as her headache kicked in and she blinked open her eyes. She tilted her head to the side when she saw Elaise over a man's shoulder, trying to kick him in the face and slamming her fists against his back.
"Elaise?" Raven mumbled but took in everything else when she saw the trees blurring past.
She looked forward where another man was carrying Sally over his shoulder, still asleep. She glanced down at the ground and saw it blurring past her. As her consciousness recovered, she felt the arms holding her. She was taken aback when she looked up and saw the features of Jason on the man's face, but she knew it wasn't him. When she repeated to herself that she was being carried in a man's arms through the forest, she finally took it all in.
"Raven? Are you okay?" Elaise croaked, her voice unable to go above a whisper.
Raven nodded and looked up at the man carrying her again. "Who are you?"
"Nobody, my dear," he answered with a chuckle and didn't even look down at her as the three girls were carried through the forest.
"They took us from the dorm," Elaise whispered and Raven saw red hand marks around her neck. Did someone choke her?
Realization kicked Raven harder than anything and she hugged Rover. "You're t
he ones who kidnap the girls from the school."
"For a blonde, you're smart," the man carrying her laughed but almost dropped her when his body convulsed.
Raven bit her lip and felt fear creeping up on her. These people were going to kill them. They were going to take them back to their lair and brutally rip them apart… Why? Why would people be that cruel?
"Stop squirming!" the men holding Elaise snarled at her. He had two puncture wounds, fully healed, on his left cheek and it looked as though he had been bitten by a snake.
"Make me!" Elaise spat, her voice hoarse.
"I will!" he went to throw her over his shoulder but Raven saw another person run at his side.
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