Raven

by Heather Atkinson

  If Raven had been thinking clearly she would have kicked herself for not considering that option. But she was far too consumed by the past rewriting itself before her very eyes. A storm was going on in her mind, a hurricane powering through, ripping out the old, replacing it with the new and it was taking everything she had to withstand the force of it.

  “Well, now you’ve heard it all,” he said. “And I’m disappointed, I thought you would have taken it better.”

  She didn’t reply, gazing down at the floor, lost in her own world.

  “These are the only records of your admission to Stonefort,” he added, gesturing to the papers on the bed. “You were admitted before everything was computerised. No other record exists, so your connection to me will never be traced. You wanted me to vanish into thin air but instead you’ll be the one to disappear, you and Aidan. I’ll explain that you were found out so you did a runner. Sergeant Carter will probably try looking for you but he won’t get very far, I’ll make sure of it. Now, all that’s left is to get rid of you.” He shivered with pleasure as his goal was finally in sight. “I’ve waited for this for so long,” he said before punching her in the face, knocking her onto her side. He could have just shot her in the head but that wouldn’t be enough. He wanted to hurt her, to vent the pain that had tormented him all these years before finally ending her. Vengeance was something that must be savoured.

  He kicked her twice in the stomach before dragging her up onto her knees by her hair and punching her in the face again. Raven’s body went limp and she fell back to the floor.

  “God this feels good,” he said, kicking her under the chin, snapping her head back.

  Raven groaned, eyes rolling about in her head. She flopped onto her back, gazing up at the ceiling, lost and helpless as the past continued to rip her apart. Another punch to the face blurred her vision. She screwed her eyes shut as she fought off the encroaching blackness. When she opened them again she wasn’t looking up at the ceiling of the miserable little room where her mother had died, but the blue sky above the moor. Two ravens hovered over her, their wings outstretched. She reached out to touch them…

  “What the fuck are you doing?” said Jeremy, looking at Raven lying on the floor, trying to touch something he couldn’t see. Immediately his mind jumped to ghosts. Was her mum here?

  He shivered, the hairs standing up on the back of his neck. “Fuck this,” he said, pulling the gun from his belt. He’d had his fun. Now it was time to get out of here.

  Aidan was frantic. Raven had run upstairs and she hadn’t come back down. Now he was trapped in one of the rooms on the ground floor, unable to reach her because of those Nazi nutters out in the corridor with guns. He could feel the frenzy descending on him, that side of himself he’d done his best to restrain, that he’d promised Raven he wouldn’t unleash.

  “Sorry babe,” he said, changing the clip in the pistol. “I have to do it.”

  He produced one of the gas canisters, hurled it into the corridor and shot at it. The canister exploded, sending not only gas but shards of metal down the corridor.

  Luke screamed, dropping the shotgun, bits of metal embedded in his face.

  Aidan sighed with relief. There had been a risk that would trigger the explosives he’d planted. Fortunately the walls of Stonefort were thick, strong enough to insulate them against that smaller blast.

  While the four men were still stunned by the explosion, he leapt out, shooting down Doberman and Staffy. Only Pitbull remained, backing up towards the stairs Raven had run up to reload his shotgun. Aidan stomped up to him, his eyes wild and hellish, making Pitbull’s hands shake. He swore as he dropped a cartridge.

  Luke continued to writhe on the floor, in agony, hands to his bloodied face.

  Aidan took aim and fired at Pitbull, but the clip was empty. Throwing the gun down, he ran at him instead, intent on reaching him before he reloaded. Pitbull finally got the last cartridge to go in. Cocking it, he swung the weapon round in a wide arc.

  Aidan kicked out, knocking it from his hands and the two began to fight.

  Soft wings brushed Raven’s face. She smiled up at the two huge black birds, who hovered over her protectively. As she gazed at them she felt all the horror dissolve, leaving her at peace.

  The wings parted, revealing the broad expanse of the moors outside her home. There was the girl she’d seen coming into this room earlier, her fourteen year old self, scared and alone. As she watched, that girl was swept away, as though by an invisible tidal wave, replaced by herself, calm and serene, smiling back at her. The message was clear.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. Her face was swollen and bruised but she felt no pain, not with the ravens.

  The bird on the left opened its beak, the black chasm filling her vision. It released a deafening caw that made her entire body jump.

  The ravens were gone, the sky was gone. She was back in the stinking room in Stonefort and Jeremy was pulling a gun.

  Her fight back, Raven leapt to her feet, startling him. That second of hesitation was enough for her to kick the weapon from his hand and punch him in the face.

  “You were done,” he cried, staggering backwards. “I broke you.”

  “Yes, you did. The ravens put me back together.”

  “What fucking ravens?” he mumbled, dabbing at his bleeding lip.

  “My ravens. The broken little girl is dead. Only the woman lives and she can’t be broken.”

  She kicked him in the stomach, slamming her fists into his kidneys, making him scream with pain, sending him to his knees. Grabbing a handful of his hair, she bounced his head repeatedly off the radiator, screaming at the top of her lungs, releasing all the pain. She was tempted to keep going until his head split open like her mother’s had but she stopped just short of that.

  His face a bloody mess, Jeremy slumped to the floor, his breathing a wheezy rattle.

  She knelt before him, took a cable tie out of her pocket and tethered him to the radiator by the wrist.

  “You should have killed me the moment you had the chance,” she said. “You thought I was done. Big mistake.”

  “No,” he lisped through his broken teeth. “This is my revenge.”

  “Not anymore. I’m taking it from you,” she said, drawing a knife.

  CHAPTER 40

  Pitbull wondered why he’d tried to fight Aidan Gallagher. It was a different matter with a gun but bare-fisted he hadn’t stood a chance. He lay sprawled at the bottom of the stairs Raven had run up, covered in blood, struggling to breathe and only able to see out of one eye. He’d had to watch Aidan execute Luke. That had probably been a mercy, he’d still been screaming about all the metal in his face. Now Aidan was staring at him, eyes cold. He aimed the gun at him, the end of the barrel looking enormous…

  “No,” screamed a voice. “Stop the ants. The ants have got to be stopped.”

  Everyone had thought Stringbean was dead but he leapt to his feet, powered by the massive cocktail of drugs he’d taken. He charged at Aidan, who barely had chance to turn before he crashed into him, knocking him to the floor.

  Pitbull, unable to move, merely chuckled, which caused him immense pain.

  The trigger for the explosives slipped out of Aidan’s pocket. Stringbean snatched it up, triumphantly holding it aloft. “This is it, this will kill the ants.”

  “No, don’t,” yelled Aidan, attempting to snatch it off him.

  Stringbean pressed the red button, grinning with delight when a series of beeps started up, getting faster and faster.

  Pitbull relaxed, feeling much more at peace about dying now he knew Aidan Gallagher would be coming with him.

  Aidan shot to his feet. “Raven, get out,” he yelled up the stairs. “The explosives have been detonated.”

  The first explosive went off, raining plaster down on him. Pitbull vanished from view as the ceiling collapsed on him, blocking Aidan’s access to the stairs.

  “Shit,” yelled Aidan, the vibration beneath his feet i
ncreasing as the explosions grew in intensity. “Raven get out.”

  He looked around, wondering how the hell he could survive this. He was too far from the exit to make it before the final devastating bomb went off. He couldn’t reach his wife. But Raven was resourceful, she would get out, if Jeremy hadn’t already killed her.

  For a moment he was tempted to stay where he was and let the bomb take him. If she was dead he didn’t want to survive. No, she was still alive, he could feel it and he would live, for her.

  He raced down the corridor, tearing the steel door that clung onto the door jamb of one of the cells by a single bolt off its hinges. He dragged it into the bathroom, climbing into the metal bath, attempting to haul the steel door over the top of the bathtub, swearing when the door slipped from his grip.

  “Come on you bastard,” he cried as those beeps grew faster.

  Raven heard Aidan yelling and knew it was time to leave. “I’m not going to bother with you,” she told Jeremy, replacing the knife in her pocket. “The explosives will remove all trace of you. You’re right over the epicentre.”

  With that she ran from the room.

  “Raven,” he yelled, frantically tugging at the cable tie, which cut into his wrist, making him bleed. “Raven, I don’t want to die.”

  She ignored him, racing down the hall towards the stairs, leaping back when masonry fell from above, blocking her exit. She looked around, seeking another way out. Spying black wings she followed, running faster when she saw she was heading towards the staff quarters, where there were no bars on the windows.

  Raven burst into the room at the end, picked up a table and hurled it at the window, breaking the glass. Looking out, she saw the gardens were below, which were overgrown, full of soft moss and grass.

  Dragging the mattress off the bed, she shoved it out of the window, where it landed in the garden below.

  The building was rocked by another explosion, the beeps growing faster as they reached the grand finale. But she couldn’t leave Aidan behind. She ran back towards the door but a massive raven unfurled itself, wings spread, blocking her access out the door, cawing in her face, its pointed beak just inches from her eyes. All she could do was trust the ravens. Aidan must have already got out.

  Instead, she turned back round and ran at the window, leaping out of it, sailing through the air, landing neatly on the mattress, which cushioned her fall. Without stopping, she hauled herself to her feet and ran towards the large squat outbuilding that had been used for storage. Aidan had said it was strong enough to protect them from the force of the blast. It was where they were to meet if they got separated. She ran behind it, horrified to see he wasn’t there.

  “Aidan,” she yelled, pelting back towards the building.

  The blast knocked her off her feet, hurtling her back into the bushes where she lay stunned, gazing up at the sky, flames licking upwards, her ears buzzing from the force of the explosion.

  She took in a deep breath and dragged herself upright, staggering towards the smouldering building which - as Aidan had promised - had completely collapsed in on itself.

  “Aidan,” she screamed, jogging around the perimeter of the building, hoping to see him hiding in a different spot. Maybe he’d been forced to take shelter elsewhere?

  Raven came full circle around the main building without having seen him. She gazed at what remained of Stonefort, tears rolling down her face, feeling herself being ripped apart all over again. “Aidan,” she cried, the sound full of despair. She repeated his name over and over but still he didn’t come.

  The sound of sirens drew her attention back to the gates and she saw two fire engines pulling up, accompanied by an ambulance and police cars.

  She raced into the undergrowth, crouching behind a tree to watch the police vehicles and one of the fire engines speed down the drive, the rest waiting at the gates. The cars screeched to a halt and a group of people dressed in heavy black gear leapt out. Bomb disposal. She surmised they were checking the area was safe before allowing the other emergency service vehicles through. While they fannied about Aidan could be being crushed to death by all that fallen masonry. An image flickered into her mind of him lying dead in there, covered in blood and soot, lifeless eyes staring ahead…

  “No,” she said. That would not be his fate, on that she was determined.

  Keeping low, she ran through the graveyard, weaving in and out of the gravestones, refusing to think about her mother lying beneath her feet. In fact, the only thing she was thinking about was Aidan.

  Without slowing she ran at the wall, leaping at it, grabbing the top. She almost lost her grip on the soft moss coating it but she managed to place her boot on the gnarled branch of an old oak tree that held its limb out to her, as though it had been waiting for this moment to assist her. With its help she managed to scale the wall and drop down on the other side.

  She had to move quickly, before the police cordoned off the area, which they would do in the event of an explosion.

  Snatching her phone out of her pocket, she took out the sim card and dropped the handset down a drain. After snapping the sim card, that followed suit, along with the knives and cable ties.

  She ran around the side of the wall, heading back towards the gates of Stonefort.

  “Sorry, you can’t go in there,” said a uniformed officer on guard at the gates.

  “Please,” she cried. “You have to let me in. My husband’s in there,” she added, gesturing to the pile of rubble.

  The officer looked over his shoulder, puzzled. “In there?”

  She nodded. “He was kidnapped. “Please, is he alive?”

  Uncertain what to say, he looked to his superior for help. “Sarge,” he called.

  When Tom appeared at the gates, she couldn’t decide whether that was good or bad.

  “Raven?” he said. “What the hell happened to you?”

  In her fear for Aidan’s life, she’d completely forgotten that she’d had the shit battered out of her. “I was attacked.”

  “By who?”

  “I don’t know, there were two of them and they were masked. I got a call, from Jeremy.”

  “Constable Elias?”

  She nodded. “He told me he had Aidan and that I was to come here or he’d hurt him.”

  “You mean he kidnapped him?”

  She nodded, eyes wide with fear. “He’s in there, you have to get him out.”

  “So PC Elias could be in there too?”

  “Maybe.”

  Tom turned to whisper in the ear of one of the constables Raven recognised as Stuart, who nodded and reached for his radio.

  “Radio silence,” Tom told him. “If there are more bombs in there it could trigger them.”

  “Oh yeah,” said Stuart before running up the drive towards the bomb squad team leader instead.

  When Raven tried to run after him, Tom grabbed her and held her firmly but gently. “You can’t go up there, not until we’ve had word it’s safe.”

  “But he could be hurt.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Or worse.”

  “And if he is hurt we’ll find him. But we have to be sure there aren’t any more bombs.”

  She nodded, Tom catching her when her legs went weak. She was already exhausted and in pain but the shock of what had happened to Aidan was catching up with her. He was still in the building, of that she had no doubt. If he’d been okay he would have come to her, unless…

  It occurred to her that he may have used the cover of the blast to disappear again. She shook the thought away. No way would he do that to her. Not even Aidan Gallagher was that callous. He’d have let her know he was okay at least. He hadn’t come to her, which meant something was really wrong.

  “Sit down,” said Tom, leading her to a patrol car.

  “I don’t want to sit down, I want to find my husband,” she said, attempting to free herself from his grip but she was too weak.

  “Don’t worry, you’re not under arrest,” he said, opening the rear door
.

  Raven slid inside, grateful to sit down, unable to tear her eyes off the smoking heap of rubble that was still visible through the gate.

  Tom got in the other side, closing the door behind him. “I’ll ask one of the constables to get a paramedic to check you over.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “I really think…”

  “I’m fine,” she snarled. She sighed and closed her eyes. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. If you’re refusing medical treatment…”

  “I am.”

  “Then you can tell me exactly what happened.”

  “I was in town,” she began in a tired, halting voice. “I was going to do some shopping. I had a call, from PC Elias. He said he had Aidan and I had to come to Stonefort.” She paused, thinking he’d question her but he didn’t, so she went on. “When I went to fetch my car, I was attacked by two men. They did this,” she said, indicating her face. “I fought them off and drove straight here. When I got here, I found it like this, a pile of rubble.”

  Raven tried not to cringe at how weak her story was. Tom wasn’t stupid and her tale was full of holes, but the less detail she gave the better.

  “Did PC Elias say why he’d taken your husband?”

  “No.”

  “Did he say anything other than you had to come here?”

  She shook her head.

  “Why would he want to abduct your husband?”

  “I don’t know,” she said helplessly.

  “Who were these two men who attacked you?”

  She shrugged.

  “You told me you hadn’t seen Aidan for a year.”

  “I hadn’t. He came home a few days ago.”

  “Where had he been?”

  “Travelling abroad.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Just travelling.”

  “That’s not cheap these days. Where did he get the money?”

  “He works as he goes along, in bars, waiting on, that sort of thing. He can’t stay in one place for long.”