Raven

Two

I had been watching her for hours, when I started nodding off myself. But before I did, I started hearing her whimper. I think she was having a nightmare about the battle. I wanted to comfort her and tell her that it was ok. But I couldn’t. So, I kept watch. Hearing her whimper, had woken me up. I was alert and ready to jump off this chair and go to her. To protect her, if I needed to.

She stopped whimpering a little while later and seemed to have fallen back asleep. I sunk back into my chair and kept watch. Still on alert and also taking in my surroundings. What I am, our hearing is heightened. I could hear the lowest of sounds that a human couldn’t.

It wasn’t long before Raven started whimpering again. And because she had just done it and stopped soon after, I wasn’t quick to sit up. Because I thought she was going to stop like the first time. But I was wrong. Because soon after, she starts screaming. It was ear piercing. So, my only reflex was to jump up and rushed to her side. I sat in the edge of the bed and gently touched her shoulder, hushing her. Telling her that I was still here. It made her stop screaming, though she never turned to me. And every now and again, I would hear a quiet sob. My heart bled for her, it really did.

I wished that I was with her, when she was with her best friend. Because maybe, just maybe, I could have saved them both. But instead, they were both lost. Her best friend, he was lost to death. And Raven, she was lost right now, because she was grieving the loss of her best friend. I just hoped that she wasn’t lost for good. Because I loved her. I truly did. But also she had great potential in being a great Guardian someday. She had only been fighting because she was considered one of the best student fighters. She topped her grade.

Again, Raven didn’t say anything. But I stayed sitting on the edge of her bed and left my hand on her shoulder. If it was comforting her or not, I didn’t know. It gave me hope, that maybe it was because she didn’t try to move away.

Hours later, the sun had come up. I wished that I could stay here with her. But, I was needing to get back to my room, so I could shower and then grab my bag to leave. I needed to leave also, because I couldn’t have anyone seeing me coming out of her room so early in the morning. It couldn’t be known that, I had stayed in a student girls rooms overnight.

Before I left I wrote her a note telling her I had to leave before someone saw me here and that I had to grab my bag and I would see her in an hour and a half by the gates. I placed the note on the chair I had just been sitting on and then before I left, I opened up my mind to make sure there wasn’t any wanders around nearby. There wasn’t any. So, I left.

Walking across campus to my room, took about twenty minutes. I was glad that no one stopped me. Because I just wanted to do what I had to do and so I could leave. So, the first thing I did, was jump in the shower. It had freshened me up and made me feel a little better. So, once I was dressed, I grabbed my bag and left. I wanted to be at the gates before Raven got there, just so she wasn’t waiting for me. I didn’t want her to feel discouraged. It was bad enough, that she was already feeling lost and heart broken. She didn’t need discouraged to add to the list of what she was feeling.

When I arrived, I was relieved that Raven wasn’t there yet. Though waiting for me was one of the headmistress people.it made me worried that he was going to saying that Raven wasn’t going with me. And if that was the case, I wouldn’t go either. Because I couldn’t leave her alone here. Where it was unsafe. I had to protect her. And I wasn’t going to be able to do that when I was thousands of miles away.

I walked up to the guy, who was known as, Terri, and waited for what he had to say.

‘The headmistress, wanted me to give you this.’ he says. He handed me over a small white envelope. And now it had me worried, that it was a note to say that Raven wasn’t coming.

‘What’s this?’ I asked, anyway.

‘Nat says it’s to cover all of Raven’s expenses while she is with you. If you need more, Nat says, email her and she will transfer some more to you.’

Ok, I wasn’t expecting that. I was happy to pay for everything for Raven. But I couldn’t tell them that. I needed to play it cool.

‘Ok. Knowing my mother though, she’ll probably dote over Raven and do what she usually does, when she has guests.’ I tell him. And it wasn’t a lie. My mother would buy Raven something if she knew she needed it. And that’s without knowing her. That's what kind of person my mother was. And I get that from her.

‘Well, maybe you should give the money to your mother.’ he suggested.

‘Thanks.’

‘Oh, and before I forget, both of your tickets are paid for. It's an open ticket.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Alek, can I talk to you? Just man to man. Not Guardian or anything like that.’ Terri says. I thought he was going to leave.

‘Sure.’ I say. I've never actually spoken much to Terri before, so I was surprised that he wanted to talk now.

‘I’ve known Raven, since she was an infant.’ he says.

I didn’t know where he was going with this. But I thought, wow, I had no clue. But I guess, most of the remaining teachers and staff members would.

‘I’ve watched her grow up. I've seen her rebellious ways. I don’t know why she never had many friends. Just the one. Jake. But now losing him, I've seen how it’s affected her. What I am trying to say, is that I think it’s good you are taking her with you. She trusts you. And she needs to get away from here. She is a special girl, Alek. So, take care of her.’ he says.

If I wasn’t reading his mind, I would have thought that he was in love with Raven too. But reading his mind, he was fond of her in a way, that he has known her all her life. I sensed protectiveness from him. I wondered who else had thought that way.

‘Of course. I can assure you, that my mother will make sure that she is much welcomed. I have a sister her age, I know she will like her. She is safe with me, Terri.’ I tell him.

‘I know.’ he smiles. ‘I’ll see you whenever you get back.’ he says and then walks off.

About ten minutes after Terri left, I finally see Raven. I was beginning to wonder if she was going to show. And so, when she reached me, again she didn’t say a word. I was getting tired of her silent act. But I couldn’t start a fight while we were still on the Academy’s grounds. Because she might just walk off and not want to come with me. I had to play my cards right. So, maybe when we were in Russia before I said something.

So, with a sigh, I walked past her and over to the car. I would have liked to open the car door for her, but I couldn’t while there were eyes probably still on us. So, instead, I walked around to my side and opened my door, threw my bag over to the back seat and then hopped in. Raven, she done the same thing, and once I knew she had her belt on, I took off.

The trip to the airport, I decided to stay quiet, because I knew it wasn’t going to do anything. It was only going to frustrate me more. And I was just too tired to get frustrated. The whole trip to the airport, Raven had looked out the window.

The flight had been in silence. And at one stage, I couldn’t handle keeping my eyes open any longer, so I closed them. And when I woke, I found that I had only slept for an hour. I was happy to see that Raven was getting sleep. She needed it more than me. But her sleep didn’t last long. I think she had a nightmare, because she suddenly abruptly sits up. It made me touch her hand and remind her that I was here. And I don’t know if she liked my touch, or she let me touch her because we had company and she didn’t want to make a scene.

'You must be tired.' I tell her, as we walked out of the airport. 'You can have a sleep in the car, because it will be a two hour drive.' I continued.

But she didn’t say anything. I couldn’t help sighing, because when was this silence going to stop. I feared that she will never talk again. That she will never talk to me again. I wanted her to so badly confide in me. I wanted to be the one that could be there for her and make her feel better.

Because, I haven’t said this before, But I knew what she was going through. I had lost a best friend. Not as young as what Raven has. I was twenty one, so three years ago, I had lost my best friend. I didn’t lose him to death exactly. But he miles well be. Because, he had been turned into a vampire. And I just knew that he was out there somewhere, just stalking around. I knew that if he had the opportunity, he would turn me too. But, he hasn’t shown himself, because he knew that I would try to kill him. He knew I would rather be dead, than be turned. Jai, he was once like that. But once you’ve been turned, you lose your humanity and you lose all sense of what is good.

I think about him everyday. Because he was the best guy I knew. I would always think, that he would have loved Raven. He would have thought she was beautiful and sexy and smart and funny and tough. It was hard not to love her. But he would never get to meet her. He would never see how she was. Or what I saw in her.

It was a long drive. And because I was exhausted, the drive seemed like it was just as long. Twenty minutes into the drive, I heard Raven fall asleep. I knew she had been fighting it. But I guess, exhaustion had taken it’s toll on her. I was glad that she could sleep a little. I was also glad that she could trust my driving to sleep a little. Because this was the first time she has been in a car that I was driving.

I became nervous about how my mother was going to think about Raven. I hadn’t actually told my mother that I was coming. So, she didn’t know that Raven was going to be with me. She actually didn’t know about Raven. I just hoped that my mother didn’t become suspicious of my feelings for Raven. Because it would make her worried. She would most likely give me a lecture too. I didn’t need to be lectured on who I should and shouldn’t like. I was a grown man. I didn’t live at home anymore.

But I was also excited to be going home and seeing my mother. Because it had been two years since I last saw her. The last time I saw her, was two years ago when I left Russia to move to the Academy in America. I knew it broke my mother’s heart to see me go, but she knew why I had to go. It was around the time I was still grieving for my best friend Jai. I had to go, to have a fresh start.

It was lunch time when I arrived at my mother’s house. It looked like she had guests. Now, I was wishing that I had called in advance. I wasn’t up to talking to anyone other than my mother right now. All, I really wanted to do was go to bed and sleep a few good hours. But, I was guessing that it wasn’t going to be that easy. All I hoped, is that they don’t wake Raven up.

So, with a sigh, I turned the engine off and then hopped out of the car and walked over to Raven’s side of the car. I carefully opened the door, so it wouldn’t creak, and then carefully unbuckled her seatbelt and lifted her in my arms. It wasn’t a first time that I had to hold Raven. But I will never get over how light she felt in my arms. She weighed nothing. She always felt fragile against my massive built. I knew she was anything but fragile. She was the most toughest girl I knew. I guess right now though, she was a little fragile.

When I reached the door, I had to knock with my foot. I could have just walked in. But because I hadn’t lived here for two years, I thought I would respect my mother and knock. It didn’t take long for her to answer. And when she did, I watched as her face lit up seeing that it was her oldest son had come home. Though she was quick to frown, when she saw Raven’s sleeping form in my arms.

‘Your room is free,’ she was quick to say and stepped aside to let me in.

I didn’t say anything and walked straight up the stairs and then down the hallway and then the last room on the right was my room. I carefully adjusted Raven to more of one arm, while I opened the door. And then I walked straight over to my bed and with my free hand I reefed the blankets back. And then I gently laid her down and covered her back up. I admired her for a moment and then touched her cheek, so gently before I turned and left the room.

I knew I was going to have to explain everything to my mother. She was going to want an explanation. And I could give her that. She was owed that. So, before I got my bags out of the car I went to find my mother. She was where I used to always find her. In the kitchen. She was always cooking. She loved cooking. It had become her coping mechanism when my father had died.

‘Alek, moya lyubov', ya ne znal, chto ty vozvrashchayesh'sya domoy?’ she speaks Russian. She offered me her motherly smile.

Alek my love, I didn’t know you were coming home.

V shkole bylo srazheniye. Sotni umerli. Shkola byla pochti zakhvachena. Takim obrazom, shkola zakryvayetsya, poka zashchita ne vosstanovitsya. Izvinite, chto ya ne pozvonil pervym.

There was a battle at school. Hundreds died. The school was nearly taken over. So, the school is shut down until the protection is back up. I’m sorry I didn’t call first.

Bred kakoy to. Priglashayem vas v lyuboye vremya. Odnako u menya yest' odin vopros.

Nonsense. You are welcome here anytime. I do have one question though.

Yeye zovut Voron. YA nastavlyayu yeye. U neye net sem'i, chtoby poyti, poetomu ya predlozhil yey vernut'sya domoy so mnoy. YA prodolzhu trenirovat'sya.’ I say.

Her name is Raven. I am mentoring her. She doesn’t have a family to go to, so I suggested that she come home with me. That I will keep her training up.

Vy dvoye’ she asks.

Are you two,

YA yeye nastavnik, ona moya uchenitsa. U menya yest' odna pros'ba. Ona tol'ko chto poteryala svoyego luchshego druga. Yeye yedinstvennyy chelovek u neye byl, poetomu ona seychas nemnogo khrupka. O, i ne govori, chto ya skazal yey, chto rasskazal tebe o yeye drugom.’ I tried to sound like it was the truth. I didn’t want my mother to get suspicious of my true feelings.

I am her mentor, she is my student. I have one request. She has just lost her best friend. Her only person she had, so she is a little fragile right now. Oh, and don’t mention that I told her that I told you about her friend.

OK’ she says, but I think she didn’t buy it. I know she didn’t want to make a big deal in front of the rest of the family. So, I was probably going to hear about it when we were alone.

Ok.

Mne nuzhno otdokhnut'. YA yeshche ne spal do bitvy. YA budu govorit', kogda ya vstanu.’ I needed to go now.

I’m going to need to rest myself. I haven’t slept since before the battle. I will talk when I get up.

My mother kissed my cheek and said it was nice to see me home and she was glad that she didn’t lose me. I told my mother that it was nice to be back and then once I kissed her cheek, saying I loved her, I left so I could get my bags. Though when I stepped into the living room, I found my bags were already there. I bet my mother ordered one of my brothers to get them I'll admit, that I was grateful. Because now, all I had to do was go back to my room and fix a bed.

I grabbed my bags and then headed up the stairs. I first placed the bags inside my room and then walked over to the lining cupboard and grabbed the fold out bed and a few blankets. I quickly, unfolded the bed and practically just threw the blankets on and then carefully grabbed a spare pillow off my bed and then laid down.

I expected to fall asleep straight away, because I was so exhausted. But it suddenly hit me, that Raven was asleep in my room and in my bed. We have never come that close before. I didn’t think I was capable of ever sleeping knowing that the girl I loved so much, was asleep in the same room as me.