Dark Angel (Sequel to White Raven)

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The End is Near

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Ary wasn't sure what time it was. She had laid down around midnight and had fallen asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She hadn't been sleeping well and when she could actually fall asleep, she was out like a light.

Things had gotten better since she told Rave about the miscarriage, but not all of her worries and concerns were gone. They still had to worry about who bombed the Sheriff's Office. Her uncle was stable, but was in a medically induced coma because of the swelling in his brain. The doctors didn't seem too optimistic.

It had been almost a week since she told Rave, since Rave almost killed Luke. Again. She hadn't heard anything from her family. She'd taken this time to take a step back from everything and focus on her relationship with Rave. Mads called her to update her about her uncle's condition, but that was the only communication she had with the outside world.

Rave wasn't in bed yet so it was at least some time before four in the morning. It made the fact that someone was calling her repeatedly a little more worrisome. It seemed that all she did lately was worry. She was terrified that this call was about her uncle.

The last she heard he hadn't been doing so well. He had a lot of swelling around the brain and if the doctors couldn't get to go down there'd be no coming back from that. Even if he did live he'd have brain damage and could possibly be in a vegetative state forever.

"What?" she mumbled into the phone, not bothering to see who was calling.

"B-Bella," it was Maddie and it sounded like she was crying.

"Mads?" Ary sat up in bed, instantly alert. This was it. Maddie was going to tell her that her uncle had died. Even though she had been expecting it, she didn't know if she could handle hearing it.

"It happened again," her sister sniffed into the phone.

"What happened again?" Ary asked. With all of the crazy shit that was happening with her family she was going to need a little more elaboration. Did Luke get shot again or did Juliana go off on one of her psychotic outbursts?

Juliana hadn't been around lately. Ary hadn't seen her since the outburst at the house and Maddie had told her that it was like their mother had disappeared off the face of the earth.

"Bella!" Maddie practically screamed her name.

"Sorry. What?" Ary shook away her thoughts and tried to focus on the conversation.

"There was another bomb, Bella," Maddie all but whispered the words.

"What?" Ary's heart dropped. "At the hospital? Uncle Jack-"

"No, not the hospital. Here, at home. At Aunt Charlotte's," Maddie corrected her.

"How? What happened?" Ary was trying to piece everything together even as she was still waking up.

"I don't know. Aunt Charlotte just called Dad like ten minutes ago," Maddie answered her.

"Is anyone hurt?" Ary demanded.

"I don't know. The place is on fire. They're putting it out now. Luke was supposed to be home, but we can't get a hold of him." Maddie sounded like she was going to start bawling again.

"Hang on," Ary muttered into the phone.

Not bothering to change out of her pajamas, Ary yanked on her socks and boots as she balanced the phone on her shoulder. She didn't even try tying her shoes as she headed out of the bedroom. Any thoughts of brushing her hair or even putting on a bra completely left her.