Raven

Chapter Seventeen - Fallen

When I wake up the next morning, on Boxing Day, the first thing I do is cough. My throat aches, and it feels like someone is using a jackhammer on the inside of my skull. Or, as others have called it, a freaking bad headache. I curl up in a ball, and let the coughing fit subside before sitting up slowly and swinging my legs over the side of my bed. What did I do to deserve this? I think, rubbing sleep out of my eyes. I take a drink from the jug beside my bed, put my face in my hands, and give a quiet groan as I remember that I haven't taken a hayfever tablet since I returned from my capture. Oh, right. That.

About half a second later, there comes a quiet knock at my door. "Come in," I call, stifling another cough. My voice is all croaky like a frog now, apparently. Brilliant. The door opens a crack, and a familiar (but unexpected) face peeks in. Kira.

I crack a weak smile, gesturing for her to come in, and the younger girl leans against the door as she closes it behind her. "What's up?"

"Well ... nothing, really. You sound like you're getting a really bad cold, though." There isn't much sympathy in her voice, but something about her stance tells me that someone she knows has displayed worse symptoms than me right now.

"Pretty sure It's only hayfever. I haven't taken the tablets for it in ages, so... yeah." My voice trails off, and I look away from the younger girl uncertainly. I suddenly want to spill everything, these weird thoughts running through my head, the fear, the hope, my ever-fluttering heart, and most of all the strange clarity that I get from this way of life, but I don't. I can't.

"Where did you vanish to, last night?" Kira's abrupt voice startles me from my musings, and I jump slightly. I look up, and she continues as if to clarify, "I came in to check on you, and you'd vanished."

I hesitate before beginning my explanation, not exactly sure what to say to explain why I had left the base so late at night. But then I remember the note. Maybe I would get some answers, too, if I showed her. I find the paper next to the water jug, and pass it to Kira silently. Half expecting her to become as confused as I am, it surprises me a little bit when an expression of comprehension passes over her features, and she simply says, "Oh. That makes sense now."

"What did he mean by bad memories? I've been trying to puzzle it out, but ... I can't." I murmur, feeling faintly useless at my inability to figure this out.

Kira smiles lightly, and holds put the paper to give back to me. "Try again. Read the note, and tell me what you think. I'll help you along a little bit."

"Okay. Memories ... bad memories ... something bad happened to him on Christmas Day, that much is obvious, but what?" At this point, I'm talking mostly to myself, the croak in my voice slowly fading as I warm my vocal chords with speech. "By myself ... I could be over-analysing it, but maybe someone that he had a close relationship with Bolts left him?" I don't even notice the causal use of the nickname as I say it.

The gold-haired girl raises her eyebrows, leaning on the wall as she crosses her arms. "You're better at this than I thought. Yes, something bad ... really bad ... happened to him on Christmas Day... two years ago, now." Her tone becomes thoughtful as she finishes her sentence, and I fold my arms subconsciously.

"What exactly happened?"

Giving me a look, Toxic replies dully but clearly, "His girlfriend was murdered."

I sit there in stunned silence for a moment, staring at the girl incredulously. "M-murdered? How?" As I say the words, my voice trembles slightly. Poor Harley, I think, trying to sympathise with my friend. But, with a sense of defeat creeping over me, I realise that I can't. I have never been in a romantic relationship, much less one where I have lost that partner.

Toxic takes a slow breath, and begins in a quiet voice, "Her cover name was Acrogirl, and she was my brother's sidekick as well as his girlfriend. A part of the team, as much as you are now. How she died ... The whole team went on a mission on Christmas Day, well, at night, and it was raining really badly, as well as foggy and unusually cold. Acrobolt and Acrogirl were running from the cops, having completed their part of the mission. There was a man following them, and to this day we don't know who he is. They passed the guy, thinking he was some random pedestrian. They had almost made it back to the bushland, when the man pulled out a gun and shot Acrogirl. She died instantly, and something made Harley pass out. He won't tell me what, which doesn't help at all.

"It took Wills a whole hour to find him, and by that time, the man had vanished, taking Acrogirl's body with him. My brother, who had woken up by then, had pretty much dissolved into a wreck, and I don't blame him at all."

As my comrade finishes the tale, I stare blankly at the wall, visualising the scene in my mind, and finding that I can. But, as I see the scene in my mind, I shake my head sadly. "Poor him," I murmur, and Toxic nods.

"Yeah, and that's why he vanishes each year on Christmas Day; to remember. He can't let Acrogirl go, in a similar way that you can't let Reubin go." I stiffen at the mention of my youngest, now deceased sibling. How did she know about him? Reubin, my little brother who could have been my twin in looks but was actually Rhea's twin, had been killed in the same 'accident' that had taken my mother from me.

Toxic smiles. "Yeah, I know. But don't worry, I'm the only one that knows, in the Lords." She turns to leave, and once again I have that urge to spill my emotional secrets. But, pausing with one hand on the now open door, she says in a low voice, "Don't tell my brother that I told you about this. He doesn't like pity parties."