Raven

Chapter Ten - Sacrifice

After a moment of strange silence, it is Acrobolt who nods assent to my question, silent and obviously thinking about something. All three of us set off at a jog, and I have a feeling of impending doom which I really don't like. The reason soon becomes known to me, when a single figure turns the corner behind us. "Guard!" I hiss to my friends, seeing the gun pointed on us. Acrobolt turns without slowing down and fires off a warning shot, as the three of us continue along the corridor.

But the shot misses its mark, and, as our chaser comes into the reach of a light, I see who it is; Bruce, the guns expert that I had been taught by. Oh, this is bad. We reach a crossroads, and I point left. "Lab's that way." They begin to follow me, and I jog down the hallway. Soon, we reach another crossroad, and I glance around. "It is literally right there, you two," I whisper, pointing to the left again.

"Bolts," I add, pulling him off to the side, down the right hallway a couple of steps, and motion for Toxic to keep running. I know that the lab will be unguarded at this time of night, especially since I know this place back to front. As she looks back once more, I nod and she jogs off. I sigh, trying to control my adrenaline, and look at my old friend. "Take these. I'll distract him; Bruce won't stop until one of us goes down. You know where the lab is." I hand him my quill belt, all five of them still attached. "Trust me, okay? I'll be fine..." I hope, I add silently, as I feel a small smile appear on my face. "He won't kill me, my dad's his boss."

Acrobolt smiles a tiny bit, but looks worried still, and honestly, I don't blame him. If I fail with this radical idea of mine, the whole mission could be screwed.

"Okay, Tweety. I trust you enough not to get yourself killed," he replies. I touch his arm gently as a farewell, not trusting my voice at the moment, and walk back into the main hall to face my fate. Bruce steps around the corner of the first crossroad, and I gulp. You would, too; he's six foot two, a fair bit taller than me, and has dark skin, a bald head and a black goatee, so he looks like an evil guy. Enjoy the irony.

"Hiya," I greet my dad's old friend in an easygoing voice, and the gunman hesitates. I clench my fists, trying to stop them from shaking.

"Estella?" He asks, looking shocked. Well, I don't blame him; I never used to wear black. I grin, crossing my arms, and hope that Bruce can't see my terror. "The name's Raven, actually. But I have been told that the resemblance is startling."

Bruce nods. "Yep. You sure look like her. But, if you're not her, then ...?" I never said he was very smart. I wave a hand dismissively.

"Who am I?" I interrupt him. "I already said, didn't I? I'm Raven." Bruce raises his gun, and I tense instinctively. I've never been shot before, and I don't really want to experience it. And at this moment, I really wish I have a gun, and that I can actually distract Bruce enough so that Harley can get away unscathed.

"Tell me the truth, Raven. I know you're lying." There is no denying the mocking tone of his voice.

I raise an eyebrow, creasing my eye mask slightly as my inner sassy girl makes an appearance for a moment. "Really? How would you guess that I'm lying?"

"Like this." He pulls the trigger, and time seems to slow down. I see the bullet moving towards me, hear a sharp intake of breath from behind me. I feel my own breath catch as I realise that I may actually die tonight. But, in saying that, I don't feel the impact of the shot when it hits, but am forced back with the momentum of the shot regardless. I fall to the ground, and black out for a moment from the sheer shock of a bullet in my system.