The Mirror

Chapter 5: Life As We Knew It

Raven awoke to the sound of voices reverberating through her aching head. She carefully pushed herself up into a sitting position, rubbing her temples.

As she noticed her wrinkled dress, she sighed, reminding herself to stop passing out in dresses. She scanned the room with her eyes, frowning as she noticed that it was still a mess. Elijah and Crowe were talking outside the door, with their backs turned, from what she could see through the crack in the door. She had just run her hands over her hair, smoothing it down, when she noticed the strange new character sitting next to her bed.

He was leaning back, the picture of comfort and ease. His eyes were sharp, an incredibly beautiful golden color with flecks of green, studying her with surprising intensity. His hair tumbled over his forehead in dark waves, a stark contrast to the light tone of his skin. When she noticed his shirt was unbuttoned and open to reveal the plane of his torso, Raven turned a bright, cherry red. She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes, refusing to be intimidated by this man.

"Who are you?" She asked, her voice sounding hoarse. She reached for the water bottle she usually kept on her nightstand, only to find the spot empty. She jumped when something hit her lap softly. Looking down, she noticed her water bottle. Returning her eyes to the stranger, she saw him lean back again, placing his elbows underneath him. "Thank you," she reluctantly said as she took a drink.

He nodded, and Raven sighed, looking towards her ceiling.

"You know, in these past couple days, I have had three strangers attempt to kill me." She looked at the new guy out of the corner of her eyes. "Please tell me you won't be number four."

That comment warranted a chuckle out of him, a small smile lifting the corners of his mouth. He shook his head slightly but never removed his eyes from her. With yet another sigh, she flopped back down, throwing her arm over her eyes.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd be quiet so I can sleep again." She commented sarcastically, earning a snort from her watcher. She smiled as she fell back into the oblivion of sleep.

Her phone buzzed, startling her awake. She glanced around her now silent room, Some things were picked up, placed in their rightful spots, just slightly offset. Her room was empty.

She rubbed her eyes, yawning.

Remembering her phone, she picked it up and saw that she had a missed call and three text messages. Usually, people didn't text her. Mila and her used the phone in case of an emergency.

Raven opened her inbox, seeing that one message was from Mila, explaining that her and her boyfriend were at the hospital getting checked after everyone mysteriously passed out, and the other two were from an unknown number. She switched to the missed call, seeing that it too was from the unknown number. She frowned, and returned to the messages, reading them.

We are meeting Crowe on his hunting ground in three days. I'll see you there, read the first one. She wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion until she read the second message. This is Elijah, by the way. I gave myself the liberty to take your number. Sorry. Raven smirked at that, shaking her head.

Three days seemed like ages after how quickly the past week had gone. Regardless, she was thankful for the time to realign her room's energies with her own, as well as the chance to come up with a lie to give to Mila about what had been occurring the past week.

Stretching her arms over her head once more, she climbed out of bed, picking up things along the way.

Two hours and a few dozen candles later, Raven had successfully cleansed the room with her incense. Already she felt better, despite the sweat rolling down her spine. She decided to continue cleaning, picking up the mess that still remained from the house party Mila had thrown. She hummed along to the radio she had turned on in the background. It brought her great contentment to see the house back in order. She hated to show or admit it but she tended to be just a bit OCD, especially when it came to her belongings.