"The headmaster told me what happened," she whispered. "If you'd like, you can take a break from work today."
Elaise blinked. Her Information Technology teacher was a werewolf? She nodded slowly. "Thank you, miss." She was patted on the back and the brunette reluctantly sat between Katie and Mandy, aware of their curious stares.
"Any news on Raven?" Mandy asked. "Who hurt her?"
Elaise felt confused for a few moments but suddenly remembered that Raven was raped the day before by Kyle. Everyone had heard that Raven's ribs had been fractured. She had almost forgotten about it after what happened during the night. She glared at Mandy. "That's none of your business."
"Don't tell us you're still mad about the rumors?" Katie grumbled. "It was just harmless fun."
"You wouldn't call it harmless fun if I punched you both in the head!" the brunette threatened. "Leave Raven alone!"
"One night and you're both besties again?" Mandy snorted. "Unbelievable."
Elaise wanted to hurt them both and tell them exactly what had happened but she bit her tongue, knowing she couldn't. She kept silent during the entire class and ignored Brittany's minions.
After IT and English, Elaise made her way to the sick bay to check on Jason and Raven. She was almost overwhelmed by the amount of people in the room and they looked up at her with welcoming smiles of comfort. Jason still sat cross-legged on the floor and he looked as though he hadn't even shifted his position. Jake, Heath and a few other boys stood around him or sat on the beds close to them. A couple of girls were with them and they looked just as sad as Elaise felt. Eliza was crouched beside Jason and was delicately cleaning the blood off his face, neck and upper body with a wet cloth. He grumbled something as the golden-eyed girl had to rub hard to clean off splotches of crimson stains from his face but she ignored him and scrubbed more blood from his chest and shoulders. Jason still never took his gaze away from the curtain that blocked his view of Raven.
"How is she?" Elaise asked.
"Miss Clarence is still unsure," Eliza told her. "There's no signs that she's healing."
Elaise felt her gut twist with worry and she wanted to sink to the floor and cry. Her blood froze when an arm rested over her shoulders and a sick laugh sounded beside her. "I wonder if her ribs will heal too," Kyle grinned. Elaise felt her breath catch in her throat and she didn't dare to make a move. This werewolf in particular didn't make her feel very safe. "I'm always happy to do it again. If she lives, of course."
Jason simply snorted. "Put your paws near her again and you'll be clawing your way out of the mountain of dirt I bury you under." Did that mean Jason won? Elaise thought.
"We'll see," Kyle chuckled. "But if she dies, I can always steal her friend." Elaise's eyes widened but as soon as Jason snorted again, Jake and Heath stole Elaise from Kyle's grip and shoved him back. Elaise breathed as Heath gently ushered her over to where Jason was and she sat on his other side, safely behind a line of werewolves that would protect her.
"Steal my girl and nothing will hang between your legs ever again," Elaise looked up and saw Der walk up behind Kyle and smack him upside the head.
Kyle turned on him with a snarl but Der had the other boys to back him up. Before a fight could break out, Miss Clarence appeared. "No fighting!" she snapped. "I don't mind you being here to support Raven but if you're going to fight, get out!" Kyle grumbled and quickly took his leave. Miss Clarence dashed away again.
Der sat beside Elaise and took her by the waist, picking her up and sitting her on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and she smiled, feeling safe again. She glanced at Jason but he didn't look concerned at all. The brunette had expected him to lunge at Kyle and tear his throat out.
"What happened to my brother?" the green-eyed boy asked Eliza as she finished cleaning the blood from him.
"He fled after Evan called the other vampires back," Eliza murmured. "He'll be missing his ear though." Jason didn't even smile at the comment.
"And we weren't sure what this was going there, but it had Raven's scent," Elaise blinked as one of the other girls walked over and delicately put a mangled teddy in front of Jason. She walked back over to the others and once again, Jason didn't look down.
"That's Rover," Elaise said, barely able to recognize Raven's teddy through the rips and tears. "She's had him for years. He protects her when she sleeps."
"She'll be upset when she sees it in that condition," Heath pointed out.
"I might be able to fix it," Eliza offered with a warm smile. "If it means a lot to Raven, I'll try."
"Thank you," Jason muttered. "Elaise?"
"Yes?" Elaise blinked at him.
"I wanted to ask Raven, but I can't," she quickly detected the grief in his voice and she hoped he wouldn't cry again. "Why is she scared of blood?"
Elaise sighed and knew that the truth had to come out sometime. She looked around at all the werewolves in the room and she knew that if they were going to protect her blonde friend, if she lived, then they needed to know.
"She told you she was scared of forests and water too, didn't she?" Jason nodded slowly. "Truth is, they're all connected."
"What do you mean?" Eliza tilted her head to the side.
"Her father was an abusive man and he was never without alcohol. She lived with her mum and dad in a little shack in the forest because they were very poor. Lorna went to work every day and sometimes worked late at night. Raven was home schooled because they couldn't pay the fees for a proper school. I'll tell you this much…" Elaise took a deep breath. "Kyle wasn't the first to hurt Raven the way he did."
For the first time in probably hours, Jason turned his head and Elaise saw the shock in his emerald eyes as he looked at her. "Her father…" he couldn't even finish his sentence.
"Yes," Elaise nodded. "Her mum was at work and Raven was only seven. Whenever she resisted, her dad would hit her. She tried to tell Lorna, but her mum didn't believe her.
"One day when Lorna was at work, Raven's dad passed out from too much drinking… Raven was so scared that he would wake up and hurt her again that she grabbed a bat and used all of her strength to hit him over and over again with it so he wouldn't wake up again," Elaise pursed her lips. "He did wake up, and he snatched the bat from her. Instead of hitting her, he dragged her outside… She screamed at him to let her go, promising that she would never do it again, but he wouldn't listen to her.
"There was a well not far from the shack," she didn't miss the look of horror on Jason's face. "And her father threw her into it. The only problem was… the well wasn't full of water."
"What was in it?" Jake asked.
Elaise glanced at the curtain with Raven hidden behind it. "It was filled with blood. She tried climbing out, but she couldn't. Her father left her there for a long time and she barely survived. She thought she was going to drown in blood, and nobody would ever know that her father was the one who killed her. So now, whenever she sees blood, she thinks back to that moment when she almost died in it.
"As soon as her mother found out, she took Raven and they ran away. They didn't care where they went, but anywhere was safer than there. It wasn't long until Lorna met Raven's step dad who owned a nice house and he let them stay. Raven grew up resenting them both. She wouldn't trust her step father and she hated her mother for never believing her…"
Jason frowned, taking it all in. "That answers all of my questions. Except one."
"What question is that?" Elaise asked.
"Why did her dad have a well full of blood to begin with?"
The brunette frowned and cuddled up to Der. "Not even Raven knows the answer to that one."
Payback is a Bitch
22. Payback is a bitch
Elaise adjusted her welding ask before continuing on her piece of work in Engineering class and she quickly welded the two balls on separate bases. She smiled and shut off the welder, putting it on the table. She pulled her mask off and put it down, grabbing a small rag and dipping it in some polish, coating
her project in a protective layer.
"What is that?" Der asked as he appeared at her side.
"Doorknobs," Elaise replied, holding them up. "Made of pure silver that I found in the storage room."
Der blinked as her if she were crazy. "What do you plan on doing with them?"
"You'll see," she smiled. "I'm going to need to get Eliza and Jake to help me with my mission."
The blonde boy was clearly confused. "Elaise, what are you up to?" he asked as she checked that the doorknobs turned properly.
"You'll see," she repeated and they heard the bell ring. Elaise put her project in her bag and packed up her things, taking off the rest of her safety gear. Der did the same and he followed her out into the hall as the class left the room.
"Can you please tell me what you're going to do?" he frowned. "I know you're going to put it on someone's door."
"And that's all you need to know," Elaise grinned and saw Jake about to walk past. She called out his name and he froze, turning to look at her as she caught up with him. "I need you to do me a favor."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Tell Eliza that I want you and her to meet me at the basketball courts at lunchtime," Elaise told him. "I'll tell you then." Jake blinked at her and turned to Der who simply shrugged.
"Thos people didn't give you drugs, did they?" Jake accused.
"You're talking to me about drugs?" Elaise raised an eyebrow at him. "Please, just meet me there. I need your help."
Jake looked like he wanted to refuse but he nodded. "Okay. I'll go talk to Eliza and we'll see you then."
"Thank you!" she called as Jake walked off and she smiled up at Der. He crossed his arms and she let her smile fade. "What?"
"Elaise, what are you going to do?" he pleaded. "I was worried sick all night and I'm worried again now."
"It's for Raven," Elaise insisted. "Trust me. Meet me at lunch as well and I'll tell you." She gave him a strong hug and he gave in, kissing the top of her head.
"Okay," he murmured. "I just hope you know what you're doing."
Elaise watched as Der moved off to go to his class. The brunette made her way to her Science class with a smile on her face and she prayed that Eliza and Jake would help her. She knew it was a sin to be doing what she had planned, but it would be well worth it, she told herself.
Science was boring and History was even worse. Elaise wasn't able to concentrate in the least when she let her thoughts go back to Raven. Jason was still sitting in the sick bay, waiting for the first sign of good news, and Elaise wished she could sit there all day with him. When the bell rang for lunch, Elaise hurried to reach the basketball courts. Der was already there with Jake and she gave her boyfriend a hug.
"So what's this favor?" Jake asked.
"Wait until Eliza gets here," Elaise mumbled and sat down on the court, waiting for the golden-eyed girl. "I don't want to repeat this."
The oval filled up with students and Elaise saw Mandy and Katie sitting in the courtyard, watching her. It was five minutes before Eliza ran over. "Sorry!" she gasped. "Miss Peterson stopped me in the hall to talk to me about my Art assignment. What's this favor you want us to do?"
"I need you to help me with my mission," Elaise grinned and opened her bag, digging around until she pulled out the doorknobs. Eliza and Jake shied away but Elaise assured them it was okay. "None of you have to touch it, but I plan on putting this on Kyle's bedroom door."
"Why?" Eliza blinked.
"That fuck-face raped my best friend," Elaise scowled. "This guy is going to pay now that I know what he is!"
"So what do you want us to do?" Jake muttered.
"Eliza, I want you to distract Kyle if he comes close to his dorm, and Jake, I want you to pick the lock on his door and keep an eye out for any of his friends while I change the handles. Can you please help me?"
"Elaise, this is a bad idea," Der started.
"I love it!" Eliza flashed a toothy grin. "I'm up for it."
"It if means pissing Kyle off, it's worth it," Jake nodded. "But he'll catch our scents."
"Not if I throw him off his game," Elaise raised her chin. "I've mixed up several concoctions so I can disguise our scent and he'll never know we did it."
"You'll have to test it on us first," Eliza reminded her. "Just in case."
Elaise nodded and glanced back, seeing the forest on the other end of the oval. She frowned when Sally's piercing scream echoed in her ears once more. She still saw the blood spraying out of the ginger girl's neck after Bullet tore a chunk out… She felt a shiver run down her spine but someone grabbed her chin and forced her to look away from the forest. She blinked into Der' eyes and he flashed a sympathetic smile.
"Don't even think about it," he said. "We got you away from there. It's okay now."
Elaise nodded. "So, do you guys think you're up for it?"
Eliza and Jake dipped their heads. "When do we do this?" Jake asked.
"Now," Elaise answered. "We'll go to my dorm and test the scent-masker I made, then we'll get to work on our mission."
Eliza giggled. "You make it sound like we're a secret agent team!"
"Close enough to it," Elaise put the doorknobs back in her bag and Der helped her to her feet. She looked up at him, still getting used to the idea that he was her boyfriend. "Do you want to help?"
He didn't look too enthusiastic about it but he shrugged. "Only because my conscience will bug me if I don't."
Elaise took a deep breath and led the three werewolves back into the building. They weaved in and out of students hanging out for their break and they took the elevator up to the girl's dormitories. Elaise grabbed her key as soon as they reached her dorm and she let them in, dashing to her bedroom. She went to her desk and found the concoction she was looking for and she brought it back out to show the others.
"Okay, let's test it," Eliza smiled.
Elaise sprayed it around herself quickly and Jake took a sniff, his eyes widening. "Wow, it works!"
Eliza and Der sniffed to try and catch the brunette's scent, but both of them were equally as shocked as Jake. "I can't smell you at all," Eliza confirmed. "You'll have to spray Kyle's entire room though, so he doesn't catch any scent trails."
They departed from the room and made their way over to the boy's dormitories. Der led them up to Kyle's door by following his scent and Elaise felt her blood pump with adrenaline. "Eliza and Der, go down the hallway and if it looks like anyone is going to come near the room, send them the other way," they nodded and split up. "Jake, can you pick the lock?"
"Can't you?" he challenged.
Elaise shook her head. "Raven always had that job…"
Jake noticed her bite her lip and he grabbed the door handle, turning it with a smile. "This idiot loses his keys all the time so he never locks it."
The brunette girl cheered up again and Jake walked in first, sniffing in case Kyle was already in. "All clear."
Elaise pushed her way past and Jake followed, shutting the door. He turned and watched as Elaise crouched beside Kyle's bedroom door and moved fast, unscrewing the original doorknobs. She pulled them off and dumped her bag on the floor, opening it up and putting the doorknobs in it. She pulled out the silver ones and attached them to the door, making sure they were tight.
She was going to spray the room and leave but her eyes caught on something in Kyle's room. A sinister smiled grew on her face and she prayed to God that he would forgive her for such wrong doings.
"Jake?" she mumbled.
"What's wrong?"
"We're gonna need a bigger team."
"Why?"
Elaise sprayed the room and looked at Jake. He confirmed there was no scent left and they walked out of the room. Elaise sprayed the door and Eliza and Der joined them.
"All done. Now, new plan," the brunette smiled. "We need more secret agents."
"What are you up to now?" Der frowned.
"I need a frame," Elaise explained. "A big one."
"The Art
room is open on breaks for students working on projects," Eliza smiled. "My girls are in there so I'll get them to help me bring out a frame. Do you want it brought here?"
Elaise nodded. "But we'll need more people to keep an eye out for teachers and students. This display is going in the dining hall."
They all looked pleased by the half-explained idea and Jake spoke up. "My boys can help with that."
"They're all werewolves, aren't they?" Elaise had to ask and her friends nodded. "Okay, bring them back here with the frame and I'll explain when you get here. Make sure you bring a black marker too!" she added as Jake and Eliza ran off.
Silent World Page 29
