Silent World

by Natalie Warren

  "That's bullshit and you know it! We're all bred to be fighters; each and every one of us. You're just not giving them a chance to prove it!" Who were they talking about? Raven thought.

  "I will not put them in danger!" came the furious snarl from the boss of the school. "Learn your place, Jason! You know I still can't trust you."

  "You should trust me! I know our opposition, and I know their weaknesses. If you just listened to me then we could protect the school-"

  "My word is final, Jason," the headmaster's voice settled. "You can come in now, Raven."

  Raven blinked. How had he known she was there?! She took a deep breath regardless and opened the door, delicately stepping into the office. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just didn't want to interrupt."

  "It's quite alright," the headmaster smiled and Raven saw Jason standing to the side of the room, running his hands through his hair and turning his gaze onto her. "Miss Peterson called me to tell me you were on your way. She told me you drew a picture. May I see it?"

  Raven gulped, feeling like a child. She walked across the room until she stood in front of the headmaster's desk. He sat on the other side as she gently placed her drawing on the desk and took a step back. She almost didn't notice Jason move to stand beside her until he spoke.

  "You drew that?" he asked, sounding slightly impressed.

  "We were told to draw a picture of our clearest memory," she mumbled in defense. There wasn't much point in trying to say it was in a dream.

  "So, you did see it," the headmaster seemed to state rather than ask.

  "I told you," Jason retorted to him. "She was seconds away from being kidnapped last night. Will you believe me next time?"

  Jason was ignored as the headmaster inspected the picture and allowed Raven to take it back. "Child, do you have any idea what kind of creature this is?"

  "No, sir," she replied and felt Jason's hand rest on the small of her back.

  "Good," the headmaster smiled. "Let's keep it that way."

  Killer Tales

  11. Killer tales

  "Hey, Rich! What'chu doing?"

  Raven quickly pushed the picture under her book and turned back to her other sheets of work. She glanced up as Sally and Stephanie approached her, sitting on either side of her in the dining hall.

  "Hey, guys," she greeted them and toyed with her pencil. "Just studying."

  "It's a Saturday," Sally frowned. "Why are you studying?"

  "I have a Math test on Monday," Raven told her. "I'm already behind in my class as it is."

  Sally looked disappointed and Stephanie sighed. "Are you okay? You haven't been yourself since Miss Peterson sent you to the headmaster's office the other day."

  "I'm fine," Raven answered and wrote down the answer to an equation on her paper. "I just want to try and catch up in my classes."

  "Really?" Sally raised an eyebrow and Raven silently wished they would leave her alone. They were awesome friends, but she really did need to study. After what Elaise had said when they first snapped at each other, Raven felt as though she needed to prove she could do good in her classes too. She wasn't just messing around and goofing off. "You need to have some fun today."

  "You can study tomorrow," Stephanie agreed. "We can go watch the boys play footy on the oval."

  "Sorry," the blonde shook her head, hearing her two friends gasp. "I need to study."

  "Fine," Sally gave up with a friendly giggle. "We'll see you later, okay?" Raven's friends hugged her from behind and took their leave.

  Raven took a deep breath and looked over at the food she had placed on the table beside her book. An egg sandwich with some fresh grapes sat on the tray and as tasty as they looked, Raven couldn't bring herself to eat.

  She answered another question on her paper before pulling her picture back out from under her book, looking into the vicious eyes of the creature that had almost taken her. She had contemplated on telling Elaise, but the two of them were still not talking. They argued almost daily, every time they were near each other, and Raven honestly saw no way of them ever becoming friends again. How had their friendship been tainted with such poison?

  She blinked at her picture and felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. What was it? The headmaster had told her it was good that she didn't know, but why? Surely knowing what it was could help ease her mind…

  "Good afternoon," she looked up as Jason snuck up behind her and pecked her on the cheek. "Your friends told me you were studying-" he spotted her drawing. "Are you okay?"

  "Yeah," she nodded and pushed her tray aside, putting the picture into her book and closing it up, putting it in her bag. "This upcoming test is just driving me crazy. Why aren't you studying?"

  "I don't need to," he smiled, taking a seat beside her and she noticed a little box in his hand. "I already know the answers to every question."

  "I wish I did," she frowned jealously. "I'll be lucky if I get higher than fifty percent."

  "Well, maybe luck is all you need," he held the box up for her and she blinked at him, slowly taking it from his hands.

  "What is it?" she asked. What had he gotten for her this time?

  "Open it and you might find out," he chuckled, his eyes beaming with mischief.

  Raven slowly opened the box and her eyes widened when she saw a lime green, four-leaf clover pendant on a silver necklace chain. She looked up at Jason in shock and he was watching her expression carefully.

  "It's beautiful! Thank you," she gave him a hug and he took the necklace from the box, reaching his arms around her neck to clip it on. It hung loosely and she smiled, admiring it. "You don't have to get me stuff like this, though."

  "I suppose," he grinned. "Why should I buy gems for a gem? I never thought about it that way."

  Raven giggled and toyed with the necklace, trying to ignore her burning cheeks. "Thanks." Though, as grateful as she was that he would think to buy her pretty things, she still found that she was distracted.

  "You still want to know about that animal," Jason seemed to notice and she sighed deeply.

  "Yes," she nodded. "I've never seen anything like it. Why doesn't the headmaster want me to know?"

  Jason glanced around at the few other students in the dining hall, eating something for lunch or doing studying like Raven was. "Babe, I want you to understand that it's not an animal that can be held down for long," Jason whispered to her and the breath escaped her. There was the babe word again! "It's a dangerous monster that no human being can control."

  "Why do I have the feeling you won't tell me?" she grumbled. Why was it such a big secret? Obviously if it existed, there had to be some sort of information in a book of some sort.

  That's it! She thought to herself. All she needed to do was find a book that had the information she needed.

  "I'm not allowed to," Jason mumbled.

  She snorted. "Fine. I'll go to the library and see if I can find it."

  He didn't look deterred. "You won't find anything," he said as she shoved everything in her bag and swung it over her shoulder, standing up. "Not even the slightest bit of information."

  "Then come with me, so I can laugh in your face when I do," she smiled and ruffled his hair, walking towards the doors of the hall. She heard Jason jogging to keep up.

  "Can I say 'I told you so' when you don't?" he asked cheekily.

  "Maybe," she nodded and they headed over towards the library. She felt the necklace lightly swaying and banging against her chest. She felt spoilt that Jason had bought her a second piece of jewelry and she had to admit that, for a guy who used to be a kidnapper, he was such a cutie.

  "I don't even know why you're bothering to try," he pointed out and she felt him grab her hand with his. "Your mission has failed before you've begun."

  "We'll see," she raised her chin. "I bet I'll find something."

  "Then let's make it more interesting," he mumbled and she glanced up at him. "What do you want from me if you find somethi
ng?"

  Raven smiled and looked ahead, her fingers intertwining with Jason's as they walked passed students in the corridors. A lot of them stopped to stare, but the blonde ignored them. "If I find something, I want a kiss from you; a proper one," she glanced up at him again and saw a tiny smirk forming at the corners of his mouth.

  "Okay," he dipped his head. "And if you don't, you have to spend tonight with me; exactly like last time."

  "Deal," she said and they found the library. Raven went straight to the Animal section and Jason sat down at a table near the many rows of shelves with books just on animals.

  Raven pulled a book from the first shelf and glanced up at the doors, seeing Elaise, Mandy and Katie walk in. The three girls spotted the blonde with Jason watching her and Katie looked as though she wanted to say something. Elaise whacked her in the shoulder and herded her to another part of the library, shooting a glance at Raven as the blonde decided to grab a stack of books and dump them on the table in front of Jason. She sat down and began flicking through the first book. Elaise quickly joined her other two friends and Raven scanned her eyes across the pages of her book, closing it and putting it to the side as she grabbed another one, flicking through.

  She noticed Jason dozing off by the time she was reading through the fifteenth book and he rested his chin in the palm of his hand. He looked so peaceful when he was tired; he looked as harmless as a kitten. Raven shook her head roughly before she lost herself in her thoughts of Jason and she growled when she finished reading through the first stack of books, slamming the last one shut and waking up Jason.

  "Do I owe you a kiss yet?" he asked smugly.

  "Not yet," she muttered and put the books away, grabbing another pile. She saw Elaise further away at another table with her friends and she guessed they were doing some study. The brunette kept looking in Raven's direction as she sat down again and continued flicking through books, trying to find something about the creature she had seen emerge from the forest.

  She also tried to ask herself why she had chosen to bet on getting a kiss from Jason. Her cheeks burned and she tried to picture his soft lips against hers, moving together like a perfect mold. Was it because of how sweet and caring he was? Because he treated her like a girlfriend, even though she wasn't? She silently scowled at herself and tried to push away those thoughts, refocusing. She breathed as she almost ripped a page from the book.

  Jason decided to put the books away when Raven was finished with them, to make it easier for her in her search. At least two hours had passed by the time she had searched through every book from animals listed A-Z and she closed the very last book, looking up at the boy in front of her. He was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed and a smug expression on his face.

  "Spending the night with me?" he guessed.

  "Seems so," Raven sighed and got out of her seat, putting the book away.

  "I told you so," he chuckled. "You weren't going to find anything about it. It's not an animal listed in any of these books."

  "Any of these books!" Raven suddenly looked around at the other shelves in the library.

  "No, Raven!" he quickly caught on to her idea and grabbed her shoulders. "You are not going through every single book in this library!"

  "One of these books have to have something!" Raven exclaimed and caught Elaise looking over at her again. "And if you won't tell me, I'll figure it out myself."

  "Trust me, you don't want to," he insisted. "It's a horrible thing to get mixed up with."

  "But why?" she frowned. If he just told her, she would let the subject drop.

  "Because," he pulled her into a warm hug and she sighed, resting her head against his chest. "I don't want you to be put in danger. I wouldn't forgive myself if that happened."

  Raven gave up and wrapped her arms around his waist, soaking in the warmth of his body. Why would she be put in danger if he just told her what it was? What difference would it make if she knew?

  *.*.*

  Raven's eyes snapped open as a loud banging sound came from the front door of Jason's dorm. She blinked a few times and wriggled free of the boy's arms as the banging continued. Jason was awake in moments, his eyes wide as if a fire alarm had just set itself off.

  "I'll be back," he whispered and jumped to his feet, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and dashing out of his room to see what the problem outside was. Raven got up and pulled on her clothes, glancing out the window into the midnight sky. She popped her head outside Jason's bedroom door and saw him speaking to a boy she now knew as Storm.

  "Jason, this is a major problem," Storm was saying. "It's getting worse. The headmaster is furious-" He spotted Raven and Jason glanced over his shoulder to look at her. "What's she doing here?"

  "It's okay," Jason said to him. "You guys go out and see if you can possibly get her back. I'll go talk to the headmaster."

  "Very well," Storm glared at Raven before disappearing from view.

  "Jason?" Raven mumbled and walked over to him as he snatched his shirt from the kitchen bench. As soon as they had returned to his dorm for the night, he had dramatically pulled his shirt off and tossed it away as he had led Raven into his room.

  "Babe, I want you to stay here," Jason told her calmly, pulling his shirt on. "I promise to be back as soon as I can."

  "You said 'get her back'…" Raven frowned, her skin prickling. "Was someone taken?"

  His expression was grave and he nodded slowly. "Stay here. I'll be back."

  Raven watched as Jason left the room and shut the door. She tried to think of who would have been taken and she quickly prayed that it wasn't Elaise. Her heart raced when she thought of the possibilities and she told herself that she had to make sure! She would apologize to Jason later, but she had to know for sure that it wasn't her best friend.

  She ripped the door open and shut it behind her, racing out into the hallway. She ran as fast as she could with her bare feet thudding against the cold, hardwood floors towards the girl's dormitories. She didn't care if teachers could hear her as she found her dorm and pulled the key out of her pocket to unlock the door. She growled as her hand trembled violently and she struggled to try and get the key into the lock.

  Calm down, she tried telling herself and she forced herself to take a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment and slowly put the key in, unlocking the door. She put the key back in her pocket and pushed the door open, rushing in and barging into her friends' room.

  "Elaise!" she gasped as she entered the room and she saw the brunette quickly sit up in shock, rubbing her eyes and glaring at her when she recognized the intruder.

  "Raven? What the fuck do you want now?"

  She was safe, Raven thought. Elaise was still here. The blonde chewed her lip and ignored Elaise, moving over to her window and looking down at the view of the forest. She frowned when she saw a bunch of broken ferns, even from this distance, and a little black shoe sat on the grass just outside the borderline. She felt her skin crawl when she saw a large, hand-like paw reach out from the ferns to grab it, pulling it back into the darkness of the forest. Raven fought back tears and told herself that someone else was gone. Whoever it was, they would have been terrified at the sight of that creature, and Raven could only imagine them kicking and attempting to scream to get away.

  "Raven, I don't appreciate being woken up in the middle of the fucking night!" Elaise hissed and rolled over in her bed. "Now do me a favor and get out of my room."

  Raven nodded, not wanting to fight with her now. She ran out of the room and back out into the hallway to go find Jason. She knew he would be upset that she didn't listen to him, but she had to know that Elaise was okay. He had to understand that, surely.

  She decided to go up to the headmaster's office, knowing the green-eyed boy would be there now. She went to the right building and took the elevator up, stopping at the second-last floor and taking the last flight of stairs to the top. She didn't know why, but a voice in her head told her that she didn't want them to h
ear the elevator and know she was there. She reached the headmaster's office and froze when she heard Jason growling. This wouldn't be a first time, she admitted silently.

  "We need to send our people out there to get her back!" Jason snapped and Raven peered into the room, seeing the headmaster standing from his chair with his hands firmly resting on his desk. Jason, Storm and Der were standing with their backs to the blonde but Raven could see the tension in their bodies. Wasn't Storm meant to be trying to go and get the stolen person back?

  "They're not fighters, Jason," the headmaster growled. "We cannot get her back."

  "We have to do something!" Jason clenched his hands. "I'm just as sick of this as you are. If we don't do something then this whole place will be destroyed!"