Silent World

by Natalie Warren

  The werewolf seemed satisfied however and handed the straw to Raven. "Thanks," he said.

  "You're welcome," she replied and Jake led them to his front door again. "If we need more, we'll let you know."

  "I hope I'm not going to be your permanent dealer," he mumbled. "The fact that I'm helping a vampire is bad enough."

  "He'll be gone soon," Elaise promised him. "But thank you."

  He bowed his head and Raven shoved the cocaine in her pocket, unable to believe that she actually had drugs on her. The two girls said their goodbyes and almost ran back to their own dorm, knowing that students would be waking up soon enough and they didn't want to be caught.

  Jake had a very good point though, Raven sighed at the thought. She and Jason were not dating, but they had been together almost as soon as she came to the school. It had been weeks and they had grown closer and closer together and Jason had even made his claim on her. So why hadn't he asked her out? Was it all just a game? Was he just fooling around and secretly hoping to somehow get rid of her?

  She shook her head roughly. If Jason wanted to get rid of her then he would have let the vampires kill her. He would have told her he didn't want to be with her. If he really didn't want her around, he would make it so.

  They reached the dorm again and walked in. The three boys looked up and Jason took a sniff, his eyes narrowing. "You went to Jake?"

  "Even you should have guessed it," Raven scoffed. "Given how much of a crack-head he is." She pulled the packet from her pocket and walked over to the couch, giving it to Speed and handing him the straw. The kid grinned and Der got up off the coffee table so Speed could pour the cocaine onto it.

  "Was kissing him part of the deal?" Jason growled, sniffing again.

  "It was a kiss for Speed's sugars," Raven nodded. "What's wrong with that?"

  Jason watched Speed snorting the cocaine but he rose from the chair, looking at Raven. "Can we talk?"

  Raven took a deep breath and nodded, leading him to her room. They walked in and Jason closed the door as Raven stood in the middle of her room, not wanting to go near her bed. "So why am I in trouble now?" she grumbled.

  "You're not in trouble," Jason frowned. "Raven, I'm sorry for getting angry with you. It's just… Yesterday scared me." The blonde looked into his emerald eyes and saw the fear hidden behind the shield he held in front of it. "I nearly lost you and I want to protect you so that doesn't happen again. Then you kiss Jake…"

  Raven's heart went out to him and she reached up her hand to brush away a tear that rolled down his cheek. "It scared me too, but you scare me when you snap at me. I was only trying to prove a point to the headmaster. And as far as kissing Jake goes… You and me aren't even going out. If we were then no, I wouldn't have kissed him. But we're not, so what's the problem?"

  Jason was quiet for a moment and Raven gasped when he suddenly wrapped his arms around her and held her up against his bare chest. "Let's just forget about it. I don't want to lose you."

  She gave in and hugged him around the waist. "You're not going to lose me. I just don't want you to keep snapping at me. I only want to help."

  "I know," he whispered and Raven put her ear to his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. "I'll do my best to hold my temper. I'm sorry."

  "I'm sorry too," she sighed.

  The two of them left the room and rejoined the others just as Speed finished snorting his drugs. The little vampire smiled up at them and Elaise blinked at Raven questioningly. The blonde smiled lightly to tell her not to worry and Jason sat back on the chair, pulling Raven onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her waist.

  "So where do we start looking for a new vampire coven?" Der spoke up.

  "Vampires own large spaces of territory, just like werewolves do," Jason explained. "So there won't be another coven for at least twenty miles."

  "So there might be a coven near home," Elaise looked at Raven.

  "There's also the question of how we're going to get Speed out that far," Der pointed out. "And would the coven accept him?"

  "Wouldn't every other coven be as bad as Evan's?" Raven blinked.

  "Not all of them are as horrible," Jason whispered in her ear and looked at Der. "We could borrow one of the headmaster's cars to get out there and with me as a reference for Speed, the vampires should accept him."

  "But you're not a vampire," Elaise reminded him. "How can you be any sort of reference?"

  Jason shifted in his seat and Raven was prepared to stand up for him but he held her tightly against his chest. "That's exactly my point. Vampires can't go onto each other's grounds without being challenged. Without a good excuse, they are killed by the dominating coven. However, a lone vampire accompanied by a deadly werewolf, the coven would accept them."

  "What do you mean by deadly?" the Christian girl asked.

  "They won't know where I'm from," Jason chuckled. "With any luck, they know nothing of the school. If Speed turns up with me then the coven owning the territory will see that Speed knows how to befriend a werewolf; something many other vamps can't do."

  "Why would they want to?" Raven spoke up. "Vampires and lycans hate each other."

  "Some of them," Jason lightly tapped her nose. "But that's what you know from stories and movies."

  "Many vampires are afraid of werewolves," Speed told her. "Jason's kind are bigger, stronger and more advanced than mine. Not only that, vampires can't go out into sunlight; the major advantage lycans have over us."

  "So if Speed can show he can create an alliance with lycanthropes…"

  "Then the new coven will want him to help them create an alliance with any neighboring werewolves to avoid a bloody battle," Jason finished Raven's sentence.

  "Wouldn't it make sense if I went too?" Der said. "If Speed has the two of us, it's more convincing."

  Jason nodded. "So we have the plan down. Now we need to locate a coven and find out how to get there."

  "And time it before the next full moon," Elaise added.

  "But how will you find another coven?" Raven mumbled. "How do you even know where one would be?"

  "Research," Jason told her and looked at the brunette next to Speed. "You have IT today; I want you to search up any towns twenty miles from here and search for any references to people going missing, people being found dead or any dead domestic animals. Any possible forests nearby could help. Any of that can spot signs of nearby covens."

  "Yessir! I can print out any information I find and show you," Elaise saluted to the green-eyed boy, talking with a strong voice like a soldier. "You'd make more sense of anything I find in case I'm wrong."

  Everyone laughed at that and Raven found amusement as Speed started patting Elaise's head. The Christian girl found no problem with it and they all relaxed, not sure what to do next. Raven made herself comfortable on Jason's lap and soaked up the warmth of his body.

  "But why would Evan want to kill you?" Elaise said after a while. "I mean… why now after you spent so much time with them?"

  "Boulder pointed out that they needed to be able to trust me," Speed frowned, patting Elaise's head gently with his eyes bloodshot. "So Evan gave me the task to kill you or die."

  "Why though?" Raven frowned.

  "Because he protected you back at the house," Jason murmured. "Evan told him to kill you and instead he listened to my order."

  "Evan even challenged my allegiance," the vampire grumbled.

  "So all in all it was just a way to get rid of you," Der snorted. "What a great coven they were."

  "Any coven has to be better than theirs," Elaise retorted. "They put a cup full of blood in front of us and I had to drink it so Raven didn't see it!"

  "Sorry about that," the blonde hung her head.

  "Wasn't your fault," Elaise smiled.

  They all looked up as a knock came at the door and Raven got up from Jason's lap, walking over to answer it. She pulled the door open and felt her blood freeze when Storm stalked in, glaring at Speed when he spotted him.
>
  "Storm?" Der blinked.

  "Kyle was right," Storm snarled. "The headmaster demands to see you all for harboring a vampire inside the school! But the vamp stays here," he walked around Raven and slapped a wooden cross on the door, using some sort of glue to keep it there.

  Raven looked back at Jason and saw the worry on his face. Even she knew what was going to happen now; the headmaster would blame Jason for accepting vampires into the school and Speed would most likely be killed!

  Protecting the Enemy

  Elaise grumbled as the four friends found themselves in the headmaster's office again. She stood beside Der and wanted to grab his hand but she kept her arms crossed, hoping it might get a point across to the head werewolf.

  She looked across to Raven who looked ready to snap at any minute. With recently learning that her temper was caused by Jason's blood, the blonde was unpredictable and it reminded Elaise of a bomb that would go off at any second.

  With a quick glance at Der and Jason, standing there with worry on their faces, Elaise turned to the headmaster who sat on the other side of his desk with his head in his hands, shaking his head slowly. Storm stood at the window, staring out at the oval.

  "First it was yesterday and now you bring a vampire into the school!" the older man growled. "How much more-"

  "Don't say 'disappointing'," Raven grumbled. "You have no idea what's going on!"

  Elaise expected Jason to silence her, but he held his tongue. Instead, the headmaster glared at Raven. "Then maybe you should start explaining the situation to me before I have the little pest thrown into sunlight!"

  "You wouldn't!" Jason snapped and took a step forward threateningly. "He hasn't done anything wrong!"

  "Hold your tongue," Headmaster Smith turned his blue and gold gaze on the boy and looked back to Raven. "You seem to have a strong argument, so talk and you might spare your friend."

  "Sir, he's just-" the old man glared at Elaise and she bit her lip.

  "Speed needs help," Raven growled and Elaise prayed the blonde chose her words carefully now that the vampire's life was in her hands. "He was ordered to kill Elaise and I or Evan would kill him. Speed doesn't want to kill us and we want to keep him safe! If he could just stay here for a few days until we find a new coven for him-"

  "May I remind you, Raven, that he is a vampire," the headmaster propped his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands together. "And vampires need blood."

  "We have that problem already sorted," Raven muttered. "We know what we're doing."

  The old man didn't look pleased and Elaise felt her heart racing. Had Raven said the right thing? She looked up at Der and she caught his eye, seeing the same look of worry written in his chocolate eyes.

  "If we can find a new coven for him and take him there, then he will leave here," Raven went on. "But he needs a place to stay until then. He protected me from the other vampires when he was ordered to kill me. If not for him, I would be dead. I owe him and I'm going to protect him. Even from you if I have to."

  "You're pretty brave for a human," Storm growled, turning away from the window. Elaise felt shivers crawling down her spine and she knew Storm didn't like her blonde friend.

  "You underestimate me," Raven hissed. "I don't have as many weaknesses as you do! I know too much for you to start thinking I'm so helpless."

  "Tell me, child," the headmaster silenced Storm with a wave of the hand as the younger lycan opened his mouth to shoot a snappy remark. "What are you going to do if the refuges catch his scent? Their first instinct will be to kill."

  "No it won't," the blonde scoffed and Elaise held her breath. "You forbid them to fight against the vampires."

  "And if you're so convinced the refuges will attack him, I'll put a silver doorknob on the door so they can't enter our dorm," Elaise spoke up and exchanged a glance with Raven, a smile on the blonde's face, happy she had support. Jason and Der looked disappointed for a few seconds but recollected themselves.

  "Besides, Speed is a refuge too now," Raven pointed out. "So why can't he be allowed to stay here? The place you apparently call a refuge."

  "It's a refuge for werewolves," the old man narrowed his eyes at her and Elaise hoped Raven wasn't pushing her limits.

  "It's still a refuge," she retorted. "Sir, give Speed a chance."

  "He's a killer."

  "So was Jason at one stage. You gave him a chance, so why not Speed?" Raven stepped forward and Jason reached for her hand but she walked up to the headmaster's desk and placed her hands flat on the smooth wood, her palm resting against a giant crack that Der had said was caused by Jason the night they were taken. "Don't say it's because he's a vampire. There are hundreds of werewolves across the world that are just as bloodthirsty and rogue as Evan's coven and there are many vampires out there that would prefer to make friends with your kind."

  "But he is a vampire and he is from Evan's coven," the lycan reminded her. Elaise waited with anticipation to see what Raven would respond with.

  "Don't judge a book by its cover," the blonde whispered, loud enough for all to hear but low enough to prove a point.

  "I'm expected to listen to a girl who tried to blow up her school?" the old man leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

  Raven responded by standing up straight and copying his gesture. "Firstly, I didn't try and blow up my school; Elaise and I simply tried a little explosion in a bin on the oval, away from everyone else. And secondly, have you seen me trying to 'blow up' this school for the amount of weeks I've been here?"

  "No," the headmaster's face became blank, guarding whatever thoughts he had in his head.

  "Exactly," Raven snorted. "People can change. And if Jason could change after growing up doing nothing but killing, then a fifteen year old boy can to. Jason got a second chance, so why not Speed?"

  "He's a vampire, that's why," Storm muttered.

  "Shove a squeaky toy down your throat, puppy!" Raven snapped and the boy jumped, quickly recovering from the sudden shock. Jason had to hide his chuckles. "If you don't want to trust Speed then trust me. I haven't given your secret away so you have no reason not to trust me."

  The headmaster was silent for a few moments that felt like hours and Elaise gave up the tough act and stepped closer to Der. He instinctively put his arm around her and she hugged his waist, praying that her friend had won the argument.

  Elaise watched the old man pondering Raven's words and looking down at his desk as if it would give him an answer. He looked up when Raven spoke again. "Please, sir. I know what I'm doing. Please trust me."

  Silence gripped the room again and Elaise found herself holding her breath. She looked over to her best friend and saw her hazel eyes shining with some kind of strength Elaise had never seen before. For all the years of being afraid, was Raven finally building her courage? Elaise smiled and felt proud of her blonde friend, thanking God for giving her so much strength.

  "Very well," the headmaster sighed. "But he is your responsibility and if he hurts anyone, the blame is on you, and you alone."

  Raven bowed her head. "Thank you, sir." Elaise exchanged an excited glance with Der and Jason and she felt her heart leaping with joy. Raven had just saved Speed's life! Again!

  "What?" Storm gasped. "Sir, no! We can't let a vampire stay here under the care of a human! How can she have any hope to keep him under control?"

  "My word is final," the headmaster glanced at Storm. "Raven will be his guardian until they can find him a new coven."

  "But-"

  "Must be hard," Raven sneered, "having a human overrule your argument."

  Storm growled but the headmaster waved them away. Jason moved forward and grabbed Raven, leading her out of the room. Der took Elaise's hand and they followed, taking the elevator down and Elaise couldn't keep the smile off her face.

  She jumped however when they got out of the elevator and Raven suddenly jumped up and down like a child and cheered loudly, throwing her arms up. "Oh my God, that was so intense!" she
squealed. "I can't believe I convinced him!"

  "For a second I actually thought you were going to attack him in the beginning," Der laughed. "Or Storm, either one."

  Raven kept bouncing and Elaise giggled as Jason sighed and bent down, grabbing the blonde by the legs and standing up, hauling her over his shoulder. Raven grumbled and crossed her arms.

  "You didn't have to do that," she told him.

  Jason was quiet and Elaise saw the smirk on his face as they headed back to the dorm. The tension between them had been fixed and Elaise was happy to see them together. If only they could not argue at all then things would always be perfect with them.