by Darcy Town
Rake grimaced against the pain Dead Lara inflicted and shook his head. “Uhm, I do, but, uhm, I, you know, I’m still on my medicine. Keto won’t let me have it, so I can’t just leave now, you know.”
Ravil looked past him to Oro and Tasanee still blocking the doorway. She shook her head. Oro pushed Tasanee towards them.
Tasanee ran over and helped Rake up. “Rake, up you go.”
Rake snarled at her. “What the fuck do you want?”
“Whoa!” Tasanee let him go. “I’m just trying to help.”
“Help what?! What are you trying to do exactly?”
Tasanee looked between Ravil and Rake confused. “I’m trying to facilitate your reunion and talk.”
“Thanks!” He snapped in her face. Desperation, desire, and disgust rolled up into one knot of emotion in his stomach. He squeezed his eyes shut. “Fuck.” He staggered and Ravil helped him stand. His eyes shot open and he looked down at her, his hand gripped her shoulder, he tried to pull her closer and push her away. Dead Lara punched on his wrist. Rake’s fingers twitched on her skin.
Ravil’s eyelids fluttered at his touch, she wanted more. She leaned on him. She put her hand on his stomach to steady herself. A whimper escaped his lips as he struggled not to do something he couldn’t take back. He looked into the sky.
She looked to the doorway. “We should go and talk. We need to talk alone, Rake.”
Rake knew that a yes was going to escape his lips in a second. He would do whatever she wanted.
Keto shoved Oro out of the way and stepped out onto the deck. “Rake, get the fuck away from that child!”
Ravil made her hands into fists. “For the last time, I am not a child!”
Keto pointed at her. “Look at yourself, you came here prepubescent. Do you know what that word means, Rake?”
Rake sagged on the railing. “Of course I do!” He looked to Keto. “I’m not an idiot.”
Keto folded his arms. “Then get away from her.”
Rake took a deep breath and got his arm off her by force of will alone, being distracted helped. “I’m not…I’m not going to do anything.”
Danny stepped out behind Keto. “But you’re thinking of it.”
Rake ripped himself away from her side. “I…no...”
Keto glared. “We can see you’re thinking about it!”
Rake adjusted his skirt. “No!”
Danny stepped forward. “Rake, just calm down. I know you’re a good person and you wouldn’t do anything to her.”
Rake covered his eyes. “I…she’s a kid, Danny.”
Keto grimaced. “Like you care!”
“I do!” Rake tried to make that sound as if he believed it. He glanced over at Ravil and his chest burned for her. Was it true, did he not care? No, he swallowed, he did care, he did. He did! Oh God, please, let him care. He looked at his feet, not even he believed himself.
Ravil pointed at Keto. “Speak to me about what I want to do! Stop fucking addressing him and everyone else about my life. None of you are in charge of me and what I choose to do or who I see!”
Keto glared at her. “You cannot make informed decisions, regardless of what you might think. Do you hear that, Rake? Do you understand me?”
Rake held his head. “I, yes, I…”
Ravil realized Rake was going to crack and her temper reached a tipping point. “Fuck all of you! I am not a motherfucking child! I can make my own fucking decisions! I am no one’s slave anymore! I am Langone!” She jumped up on the deck railing and perched on the metal.
Rake reached for her. “Ravil, that’s dangerous!”
“You too, Rake.” She looked to the rave house, gauged the distance between the railing and it. “I guess I just have to make myself look like an adult if that’s the only way you idiots will speak to me as one.” She leapt. Rake swallowed his horror, his eyes glued to her. She made it to a balcony easily and rolled to her feet. She turned around and flipped them off before running into the chaos of the rave.
Oro pushed through Katarina, Danny, and Keto. “Rake, you have to stop her!”
Rake glared at Oro. “Stop her from what? Dancing? She said she wanted to dance.” He watched her run; she had wanted to dance with him and he’d let her go. He was an idiot, a fool.
“She’s not going to dance, stupid! She’s going to go have sex with some random guy, Rake! She’s trying to grow up!”
Rake threw himself over the railing without thinking. He hit an empty balcony and rolled into the abandoned upper story of the rave house. No one was going to have sex with her, no one but him. He came to a stop and slapped himself across the face. “Disgusting fucking nasty bastard!”
He wouldn’t allow himself to touch her that way, but no one else got to either. Rake ground his teeth together, aware of how absolutely fucked up that sounded in his head. He saw a flash of white as she jumped into the crowd below. He growled.
She ran and that incited in him a desire to chase, to find her, to catch, to make his. He loved to chase, he smiled. Then he remembered she was looking for sex. He snarled as anger waged war with play. He bolted after her. Her feet and fingers left shining marks on the walls. Rake did not understand why he could see that, but he was not thinking on it. She was his.
Ravil shimmied down a rigging of lights and struck the dance floor. Black lights hit her body and she lit up bright blue and white, her hair glowed like a neon flame in the darkness. The ravers on E gaped and grinned, flocking to her like flies. She eyed them. She searched for a suitable male that she did not find offensive. She came up short. She wanted someone tall, dark, and handsome. She frowned…she should want someone tall, white, and red-eyed. Ravil held her head. Why was everything so confusing?
She felt Rake moving above her and she looked up. He stared at her through a hole in the floor. He hissed at those around her, warning them to stay away. Ravil bared her teeth, an open challenge. He searched for a way down. She ran through the crowd.
If he was going to treat her like a kid, she was going to make sure she didn’t look like one anymore. She didn’t know if sex with these Wasters would work, but she didn’t have many options. She glared at those around her. “Stupid, know nothing Wasters, making things difficult!”
Ravil burst into tears as she ran through dancers. She didn’t know why she was upset. It shouldn’t matter what they thought, what he thought, but it did. She ran away from her pilot when everything told her she should be at his side, but she had to do something. She wiped her eyes; she didn’t want to do this. She held in a sob, she had to, needed to, but all she wanted was him.
Rake crawled across the floor above her, peeking through the holes, stalking her across the building. Ravil looked up at him, their eyes locked. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Get up here now!”
Ravil couldn’t hear him, which was good, because she had to obey a direct order. She ran towards the speakers. Dancers around her flashed lights and glow sticks. She looked back and forth; she was unable to get lost. She was too bright, entrancing to those around her.
Rake dropped down into the crowd like a black leather spider. “Ravil!”
Ravil sprinted away. She jumped up onto the shoulders around her and leapt from person to person. She saw a white raised platform and headed towards it, needing to get out of the darkness that made her paleness so apparent. She jumped up on a white material and skidded to a stop. She was as white as the stage she stood on, she grinned.
The ravers around her went wild. The lights above shut off and a giant black light turned on. She glowed and everyone turned to look at her on the platform. She gaped. “What the fuck! Why?”
Ravers threw glow sticks, paint filled balloons, paintbrushes, and paintball guns onto the platform. Ravil picked up a balloon full of white paint, those around her cheered and hooted. The DJ took over the music. “Who’s challenging our white friend?”
A boy jumped up, he looked to be in his mid-teens. He grinned, high and covered in neon splatters. Ravi
l looked him over, he’d do. She snapped. “Come here and get undressed. We’re going to have sex.”
Rake ripped him off the platform and threw him into the crowd. He jumped up. “Ravil!”
Ravil snarled. “Fuck you, Rake! Leave me alone!”
Rake went rigid. She panted and her chest heaved in a distracting way. He took a step and reached for her. He grabbed his arm with his other hand and forced it back. He didn’t know what he’d do if he caught her. He imagined stripping her down and taking her right here, making his claim public.
Rake closed his eyes. Maybe if he didn’t have to see her, he could grab her and run. He took another step. Something wet and cold hit him in the forehead. He opened his eyes and touched his face; his hand came away with white paint.
Ravil stared at what the balloon had done. She picked up a red one. She threw it at him and it tore open on his belt. In the black light, the paint was luminous. He stared at the red, at the ground around him, and then back at her.
The DJ hollered, “She’s two up on you man. Time to strike back!”
Rake snatched up a pink balloon. Ravil grabbed a paintball gun. She narrowed her eyes. He tensed and grimaced. She fired at his face. Rake dodged and threw his balloon. It burst on her leg, covering the limb in pink paint.
Ravil slipped.
He caught her ankle and pulled her along the ground. He grabbed her wrist. Ravil fired the paint gun into his chest, covering him in green paint and bruises. Rake made a face and reached for the gun. She squirmed and he found his hand on her breast instead. Rake tore his hand back.
Ravil pushed him off and rolled to her feet. She pulled her tube top over her head and threw it at him; leaving her in just a bra. She turned to the crowd. “Who wants to have sex with me? I’m open for takers!” A few teenagers nearby raised their hands.
“No!” Rake threw a balloon and hit her square in the back, covering her shoulders in cold, blue paint.
“Fuck you, Rake!” Ravil turned and fired her gun, launching green, blue, and red pellets. The crowd cheered.
Rake rolled to the side and leapt for her. She knew where he was and where he planned on going, she dodged easily. She picked up a long green glow stick and swung it at his head. He grabbed it and ripped it from her hands, it cracked splattering them both in green.
Ravil found a red stick and parried his blow. Their eyes met, they stared at their glow sticks and back to each other. Rake pushed, he was stronger, but she held her ground. He stepped in close until they were nearly touching. Their glow sticks crossed in front of their faces, illuminating them in green and red.
Rake pressed her back and said in all seriousness, “There is no escape. Don’t make me destroy you.”
Ravil’s lips twitched. “I’ll never join you!”
He grinned. “If you only knew the power of the—”
Ravil whacked him on the side of his head.
Rake’s smile turned into a laugh. She laughed with him. She relaxed. Rake wiped white paint off his face, his stance changed from tense to casual. “Ravil.”
“Rake.” She let her glow stick drop. “All I want to do is hang out and catch up.”
He tilted his head back. “Why are we fighting?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
He tossed his glow stick. “This is stupid.” The crowd made a large unhappy sound. He leaned down, picked up a balloon, and tossed it from hand to hand. “But this is kind of fun.”
Ravil took a few steps back and grabbed a paintbrush and paint bucket. “How do we play?”
“I think we just get as much paint as we can on each other.” He used her orange tube top to wipe his face off. “I’m going to win of course. You should give up now or I will destroy you.”
She scoffed. “Whatever.”
Rake tossed the balloon at her head.
She ducked. She flipped paint at his face, but he dodged. Ravil hucked the paint can towards him, sending a wave of red paint into the air, it landed in front of him. He slipped on the red liquid and fell on his ass.
Ravil leapt on him and swiped the paintbrush across his face, neck, and chest. She made another slash. “X!” She jumped back to grab another bucket.
“Oh no you don’t!” Rake caught her wrist and flipped her onto her back. He upended a paint can on her neck. “Oops.”
She slapped him in the face with a balloon, yellow splashed up the side of his head and into his ear. “Ha!”
“Oh yeah!” Rake sat on her chest and scooped up paint off the ground, rubbing it into her hair.
Ravil screeched and punched him in the stomach. She pushed him off, laughing, and dove for a paintball gun. Rake leapt after her and they fought over the same weapon. He spit out paint. “Mine!”
Ravil kneed him in the chest. “I got it first!”
“I’m stronger and bigger, so it’s mine!”
“No!” Her finger hit the trigger and sent paintballs out into the dancers.
Rake twisted the gun. “Gimme!”
“Jerk face!” Ravil tried to turn the gun on him.
He laughed. “Nice try!”
A hand got around Rake’s foot and pulled, getting his attention. He made a face of surprise and looked down. Keto had his hand around his ankle. Rake kicked. “Keto, let go! She’s going to get the gun and win!”
Keto yelled, “Get off of her!”
“Ha!” Rake twisted his boot free and jumped to his feet. He stood and stared at Keto with his hands on his hips. “I win!”
Danny ran up to the other side of the platform, he looked tired. “Rake, come back to the house please.”
“Why?” Rake looked between Keto and Danny. “We’re having fun.”
Keto tried to climb up on the platform, but ravers pulled him back. Rake pointed and laughed. Ravil looked around. “Rake!” She grabbed his hand. “Let’s go.”
Rake picked her up without thinking about it. “Where to?”
Ravil shrugged and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re the pilot dipshit. You choose.”
Rake grinned. “Right! I’m the pilot.”
Danny reached for them. “Rake, wait!”
He looked at Danny. “I never said we were going to stay, Danny.”
Danny yelled over the crowd, “Rake, don’t!”
Rake shifted Ravil’s weight in his arms. “Then stop trying to interfere, we’re just trying to hang out.”
Keto shoved through the crowd. “We’re trying to keep you from raping her, you shit head!”
Rake and Ravil made faces. She looked at him. “You wouldn’t.”
Rake met her gaze. “No shit Bebette, really?” He turned to Keto. “Don’t you think I could have in the times we were alone, on the streets?”
Keto glared at Ravil. “She can’t consent, Rake. Remember that! She’s a minor! Even if she says yes, it doesn’t count! Do you understand?”
“Okay, I’m officially sick of this shit.” Rake looked towards the exits. He shouted, “Move please!”
The ravers opened up a corridor. Danny and Keto ran as Rake leapt into the gap. Teens pushed back on the adults, finding the fight amusing. Rake sprinted and looked up at Ravil. “You’re taller, but you don’t weigh any more than you did then.”
Ravil nodded, her bones had gotten longer, but thinner. “You were drug addled, you don’t remember anything clearly. I’m the same as I was.”
Rake smirked. “You have a limited use on that I’m telling you now, it’s only going to work so many times. And I’m not fooled, you grew.”
She laughed. They hit the street and skidded to a stop. Evgeniy was the only one out, the street empty besides the Cosmonaut. Ravil tugged on Rake’s ear. “Go to Rat’s workshop!”
Rake turned and dodged into an alley. Evgeniy let them by, a look of amusement on his face. Rake ducked behind two buildings and took the long way round to get into the field. She watched him look around cautiously. “I can run on my own, you know.”
Rake dropped her. “Yeah, I
know.” He hooked a finger and they entered the field by way of a few junked cars that pierced the chain-link fence. The weeds and brambles on the other side were intense, but Ravil knew exactly where they were. She grabbed his hand and took off. “Come on.”
He followed without protest. “Why are we going to Rat’s workshop?”
“I have something to show you and we can hide out there until those jerks chill out.”
He smirked. “Keto will never chill out. He’s always been a serious ass. I don’t even think he has fun, ever.”
She made a face. “I can’t believe he said that stuff to you, how rude and terrible!”
Rake watched her run, her muscles moving beneath her smooth skin, the paint still slick and luminous. He looked at their linked hands, her fingers delicate and long. He could believe it. He swallowed and faltered. He stopped and looked behind them. Ravil noticed, but did not say anything. She waited.
Rake pretended to scan the area, but he was trying to decide what to do. The fire inside hadn’t died entirely; the spark there was a burning ember, a light waiting to roar into life. Just what was he capable of? He turned and looked back at her; he found everything about her alluring. The shape of her lips, her slight waifish frame, and the strength she possessed. He wanted to fall to the earth where they were.
Ravil smiled and kept walking.
He followed as if on a tether. Was she that unaware of the monster that trailed her or did she not care? Rake knew he should turn around and leave, but he couldn’t bear the thought of her away from him. When had he last felt that for anyone? Not since Lara. He tripped on a root. He shut the realization out; he couldn’t accept what it meant.
He looked back to Ravil and grimaced. If Danny and Keto hadn’t tried to split them up, they’d still be around others, safer, not driven to being alone like this. There’d be others to keep them from—
Rake bit his tongue. Was he already justifying what he wanted to do? Saying they’d forced him to be with her alone, that he had no choice? He stopped. “Ravil.”
Ravil didn’t look back. “It’s just a little ways more. Come on!” She disappeared around a tree.