Silent World

by Natalie Warren

  "Of course," Elaise smiled.

  "Then Boulder said something else that got to me," Raven frowned and looked down at her hands. "I don't know whether to believe him or not. Jason does."

  "What did he say?" the brunette asked quietly.

  "There's someone in the school that's on Evan's side," Raven looked up at her two friends. "Someone close to us that is against us. Boulder said they're closer than we think and if Jason didn't go back to the coven, me and him were both in danger. Jason said he'd be able to protect me…

  "Did you hear Evan talking to someone last night?" the blonde looked at Speed. "Boulder said the person was there and Evan was talking to them."

  "I don't remember anyone being there," Speed shook his head with a frown. "Sorry."

  "Who could it be?" Elaise's forehead creased as she tried to think. "If it was a vampire, surely the werewolves would have noticed."

  "Maybe it's not a vampire," Raven felt a lump lodge itself in her throat. "If Evan wanted a spy here at the school, wouldn't he have gotten another lycan on his side?"

  "So you're saying there's a werewolf that plans on killing you?" Speed didn't look happy by the idea.

  "And Jason," the blonde put her hands together. "Boulder said they were close to us, so it has to be someone we know."

  "Jake?" Elaise threw the accusation out in the open.

  Raven shook her head quickly. "He's on drugs eighty percent of the time and he would never have a clear enough head to do Evan's bidding."

  "Eliza?" even Elaise didn't seem to believe that the golden-eyed girl would do it. "Maybe not… How about Kyle?"

  "I doubt it," Raven shook away all thoughts of Kyle's malicious treatment of her. "He just wants claim on me to throw Jason off his game. Storm?"

  Raven had to admit, it felt wrong to be accusing the werewolves after most of them had taken such good care of her. But when she thought of Storm, she tried to imagine him working for the vampire leader of the area.

  "Why do you think it's Storm?" Elaise asked.

  "Because he was so dead set against Speed staying here," Raven pointed out. "He hates me, he hates Jason and Evan basically kicked Speed out of the coven so the spy might have been given orders to make sure Speed didn't stay here. Why couldn't it be Storm?"

  Elaise shrugged slowly. "Let's just assume everyone is on Evan's side and be cautious with what we say and do. The spy has to come out some time."

  That was true, Raven thought. If they were careful with who they spoke to, the spy would get very little information, therefore making them desperate and not as stealthy as before. If the spy slipped up, then Raven and her friends would figure out who it was.

  Unless the spy was already one step ahead.

  Over Thinking

  Raven couldn't remember a time when she had ever been this bored in her life. She was walking around with Elaise in the shopping center along with many other students of White Grass. Everyone was freaking out about the huge dance that was going to be held on the Sunday after exams that were only two days away. The headmaster never usually let students go to the shopping center on Wednesday nights but he was making an exception to make sure all students were ready for the dance.

  "Let's try this store!" Elaise almost shrieked with excitement and Raven was once again dragged into a new expensive store with many dresses. The brunette didn't care how much a dress was going to cost; she had managed to get her parents and Raven's parents to send five hundred dollars each by convincing them the two girls were doing well at their new school. Raven knew they could use the school's money, but Elaise didn't seem to want to.

  They explored the little dress shop and Raven pointedly ignored the pink dress she saw on display. She had never favored dresses, but when she was with Elaise… She couldn't even begin to describe this method of torture.

  "How about this one?" Elaise spoke up and Raven turned to look at her, seeing her brunette friend holding out a stunning one-shoulder, black dress that would almost touch the floor. It looked like it would hug the body perfectly and Raven shrugged.

  "It would look good on you," the blonde smiled, but frowned when a grin formed on Elaise's face.

  "Not for me," Elaise held it out. "Try it on. Would you rather the pink dress?" she challenged as Raven opened her mouth to protest.

  Raven shook her head quickly and gave in to Elaise's request, taking the dress from her and going to the change rooms. She closed the solid door and hung the dress up, quickly stripping of her clothes and taking the dress from its' hanger and pulling it up over her head. It slithered down her body until the ends nearly touched the floor and the fabric tickled her skin. She adjusted the shoulder strap and heard Elaise mumbling church songs to herself as she waited.

  "Are you sure about this dress?" Raven let her whimper be heard and she quickly fixed her hair, looking down at the black piece of clothing on her. It definitely stayed stubbornly tight around her, but it wasn't enough to feel uncomfortable so she was glad.

  "Come out here and show me!" Elaise insisted, impatiently tapping on the door.

  Raven took a deep breath and opened the door, stepping out. She froze in place when she saw Elaise's entire face turn whiter than a ghost and her blue eyes were open wide with shock.

  "Oh my God," the brunette whispered.

  "What?" Raven bit her lip, looking down at the dress again. "Do I really look that bad?"

  Elaise shook her head slowly, looking the girl up and down. "Put it this way, Rich… If I was a guy, I would beat the shit out of Jason and bang you! You are hot, woman!"

  Raven was still getting used to what her best friend had just said and she looked up as the store clerk approached with a smile. "That dress looks amazing on you. Turn around and look in the mirror," she said kindly and Raven did as she was told.

  At first she was startled when she saw the person in front of her with long blonde hair cascading over her shoulders and her bright hazel eyes beaming, standing out thanks to the mild eyeliner and eye shadow. She was wearing the same dress as Raven and her bare feet were just visible under the fabric. This girl looked absolutely beautiful, even without shoes.

  It took almost an entire minute before Raven realized she was staring at her reflection.

  "That's me?" Raven breathed, unable to believe it.

  "It sure is," Elaise nodded, looking amused as the blonde turned from side to side to get a better view of her dress. "Jason is one lucky guy."

  "I know the perfect shoes to match the dress," the clerk said and dashed away, returning with a small shoebox. Raven turned around as the woman pulled the lid off and all three of them looked down at the silver heels with little buckles that would strap up around the ankles. Raven looked at the heels and was relieved that they weren't very high.

  The clerk led Raven over to a chair and let the blonde put the heels on. Raven strapped them up and stood back up, a little too fast. Her heart fluttered with panic for a few moments but she collected herself just in time to avoid falling over. She took a few quick breaths and saw Elaise and the clerk smiling.

  "This feels really weird," Raven told them and walked in a decently big circle, getting a slight feel for the shoes. It wasn't very hard to walk, but if Raven had other fears. "I don't know how to dance. If I try in these… I'll make a complete fool out of myself."

  "We'll fix that," Elaise assured her and turned to the clerk. "How much?"

  "One-fifty for the dress," the clerk answered. "The shoes were seventy-five but I'll let you take them for forty."

  "Sounds good," Elaise was close to jumping with joy and Raven took her shoes off. "Do you have anything that would suit me at all? I already have heels that match everything so I don't have to worry about shoes."

  The woman looked the brunette up and down, pondering for a few moments, deep in thought. Raven and Elaise jumped as she suddenly clapped her hands together and her face lit up dramatically. "I have just the thing!" she exclaimed and dashed away again.

  "Just a little b
it creepy," Raven giggled and went back to the change room, changing back into her normal clothes and pulling her shoes back on. She put the dress on the hanger again and carried it out of the tiny room with the shoes. Elaise was just ducking into another change room and she shut the door before Raven could see the dress.

  "Would you like to pay for those now or wait for your friend?" the clerk asked in a sweet tone.

  "Now, please," Raven saw her wallet slide under the door of Elaise's change room and the blonde picked it up. Elaise was carrying it in her bag for Raven so it didn't get lost.

  Raven gave the shoes and dress to the clerk and followed the woman to the counter. She pulled three fifty dollar notes from her wallet with two twenties and put them on the counter. The clerk put the heels back in their box and put them in a bag, folding up the dress and neatly putting it with the shoes, passing the bag over to Raven and taking the money, typing something up on her register.

  "So? How do I look?"

  Raven looked up and her jaw dropped when she saw Elaise standing in a floor-length, lime green, strapless dress. She did a little twirl and Raven saw the small corset ties at the back. "You look amazing," the blonde complimented her friend, stunned by the beauty of her friend. Neither of them were very fond of wearing dresses normally, but when Elaise wanted to look girly, she could definitely pull off the look every time no matter what she chose to wear. "Der is a lucky guy too."

  Elaise giggled like a child and ran back into the change rooms, returning in her normal clothes and holding the dress and her wallet in her hands. Her handbag was swung over her shoulder and the brunette quickly paid for her dress, costing two hundred dollars. Raven put her wallet back in Elaise's bag and they thanked the clerk before leaving, carrying their new items in the bags.

  Raven felt her necklace banging against her chest and she looked down at the four-leaf clover that Jason had bought for her, as well as the Evil Eye bracelet clipped around her wrist. She thought about the mid-term exams that were two days away and she sighed.

  "You okay?" Elaise asked.

  "Just worried," the blonde replied. "There's only tonight and tomorrow left to study and then it's the exams. What if we fail? What if all our studying hasn't paid off?"

  "Relax," Elaise told her calmly. "We've been studying our butts off for these exams; we had to have gained something out of it all. We'll be fine. If we fail then we just need to study harder. We've only been here for a couple of months so failing one set of mid-term exams isn't the end of the world."

  She was right, Raven thought as they walked around the shopping center to find Miss Peterson. They couldn't be perfect students in a couple of months. White Grass Academy was a very advanced school but the two of them had improved a lot since signing up, even if they did find out the hard way about the refuge and the potential every-night-threat of the vampires.

  Raven hard studied her hardest with her friends and made sure she could memorize almost everything she learned, getting her friends to test her. Studying alone for the Art exam was harder for her, but Eliza took the time to help her. The blonde haired girl was sure she was ready for the exams. She hoped.

  They found the teacher and waited for the time when they had to go back to the school. The students all showed up and Miss Peterson double-checked that everyone was with her and they caught the school bus back to White Grass, getting back just in time for dinner. Raven and Elaise took their bags up to their dorms and made sure they were quiet, not wanting to wake up the sleeping vampire in the spare room.

  Elaise hadn't found any evidence of vampire covens nearby and Jason wasn't able to check because he never had IT. Elaise's computer was still in construction so they just had to keep relying on the brunette to find something.

  Raven hung her dress up in her wardrobe and put the shoes under it where they would be safe. She brushed her hair again and found Elaise waiting for her in the kitchen. They left Speed alone and made their way down to the dining hall, both of their stomachs grumbling.

  They grabbed trays and filled them with food before joining their werewolf friends at the usual table. Raven scrunched up her nose as she sat next to Jason and he swiftly pecked her on the cheek.

  "So have you got your dresses all picked out?" Eliza asked the two girls as they all began eating.

  "Yep," Elaise nodded, glancing up at Der. "We even got Raven a pair of heels. Problem is, she can't dance."

  "Thanks for telling everyone," Raven grumbled.

  Over the last two weeks, Raven's temper had dramatically dropped. Jake had been right about Jason's blood causing her fuse to shorten but now that her menstrual cycle had taken its toll, she was herself again. Everyone had been relieved and Jake had tried his hardest to piss her off, having no luck. If anything he pissed Jason off, the blonde reminded herself. The green-eyed boy had gotten annoyed with Jake's words and almost attacked the boy.

  Jake was also a very good drug dealer for Raven. Whenever Speed got the urge to feed, Raven would dash off to the brunette boy's dorm and he would already have a packet of cocaine in his hand when she turned up at the dorm, throwing it up and catching it with simple amusement. Speed had still needed a dose of blood and Jason was able to help with that. He had gone to the butcher's on a Saturday and returned with a bag of cow's blood. Speed had taken a tiny taste and was hooked instantly. He had vowed never to taste human blood again now that he knew how good animal blood was. Raven was proud of the little vampire.

  "Don't know how to dance, huh?" she heard Jason mumble in her ear. "We can fix that."

  "What do you mean?" she asked him quietly.

  He didn't answer her question and he looked up at Elaise. "I'm stealing Raven tonight. I hope you don't mind."

  Raven was confused, but she reminded herself that this would be the first time she stayed in Jason's dorm for the night in almost a week. She had gotten used to sleeping in her own dorm again considering she had Speed watching over her. She had to admit it was still creepy to have a vampire wandering around the room all night while she slept on the couch, still not comfortable to attempt sleeping in her own bed. She knew she could trust Speed but the thought of being attacked while she slept was just too vivid in her head to shake away.

  "That's fine," Elaise smiled. "I have my Dance exam to practice anyway so I would be boring company tonight."

  The brunette had successfully choreographed her own dance and had shown Raven a thousand times. Elaise was definitely a great dancer but she always insisted that a little bit more practice was always good in the long run.

  Raven felt a cold shiver creeping up her spine and felt eyes trained on her back. She looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Kyle eying her off, but instead she bit back a whimper as she locked eyes with Storm. His eyes were cold as he stared at her and she quickly turned back around, trying to remain calm.

  Since the day Boulder came to the school to tell Jason about the spy that was in the school and could strike out at any minute, Raven had suspected Storm because of his hostility towards her, Jason and Speed. She was almost positive that Storm was the spy for Evan and she had kept an eye on him. Elaise had insisted on being careful with all of the werewolves as well, just in case and Raven wasn't able to help herself when she shared her worries about Storm with Jason. The green-eyed boy had tried to tell her she was wrong but she wasn't convinced. Storm also seemed to suspect that Raven had been watching him and he had increased the amount of hostility towards her. He had growled at her one day in the hall but Jason had turned up and saved her from the boy's fury.

  They finished dinner and Raven was eager to escape Storm's gaze. Jason took her from the hall after the blonde said goodnight to her friends. She followed Jason up to the boy's dormitories and found his room. He invited her in and she walked into the lounge room and turned around to face Jason as he shut the door.

  "So would you mind explaining to me why you've stolen me tonight?" she crossed her arms and stood tall with confidence. It faltered however when Jason wal
ked gracefully over to her without any effort.

  "Elaise said you don't know how to dance," he smiled.

  "And you do?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

  His grin grew. "I may have been trained as a mindless murderer but Evan was like a father to me and did teach me a little about being a gentleman."

  Raven was disbelieving but when she thought about learning how to dance, she couldn't stop the feeling of panic. Jason walked over to the stereo he had on a table at the side of the room and Raven crept towards the door. She glanced over at him and saw him carelessly looking through CD's. The blonde smiled and reached for the door, grabbing the handle and she tried to turn it… but she couldn't.

  "You're not getting away that easily," she turned back to Jason and saw him tossing a key up in the air and catching it.