Rewrite (Raven x Apple)

~Chapter Forty-Two~

Raven flung a black jacket over her arms, looking back at her bed. Yup. She was still asleep. And Raven needed to be fast about this. She had gotten one last letter from these blackmailers. But they weren't asking for money or possessions, they just wanted to see her. Raven thought it was strange how they were willingly about to expose themselves, but she couldn't risk them pulling anything if she didn't show. But a sliver of hope made its way into her mind. Maybe, just maybe, since Raven pulled that stunt in the castleteria, they would stop. Everyone knew already.

Raven turned her head towards the clock hung on the wall. 1:38. Perfect. The night was dark, the pitch black sky spotted with bright white stars and a high, glowing moon. Peaceful.

Peaceful.

Right?

Raven snapped herself out of her daze, a string of fear running through her. After all, this was a strange time to meet up with two blackmailers. She grabbed her mirrorphone and shoved it into the pocket of her jacket, making her way over to the door. Her hand trembled as it reached for the doorknob, and right before she grabbed it...

"Raven?"

Busted. Like every other time.

Raven turned her head, putting on a nervous smile. Apple stood in the small space leading to the door of their dorm, a few feet away from Raven.

Raven then turned her entire body to face Apple and walked towards her, holding the best fake smile she could muster.

"Apple..."

She gently took Apple's hands in her own, looking lovingly into her eyes.

"What are you doing?" Apple sleepily asked, blinking a few times.

"Nothing, nothing, Apple..." Raven spoke in a quiet, soft voice, trying to maintain a warm smile for Apple.

"Come back to bed."

"I'll only be a moment, I promise."

"What are you doing?" Apple asked again, still curious.

Raven brushed her fingers gently across Apple's cheek, still holding onto Apple's hand with her free one. Her hand made its way into the platinum curls on the side of Apple's head.

"I'm just meeting with someone."

"It's still dark outside."

Raven kissed Apple's forehead gently.

"I'll be back before you know I'm gone."

"Come back to bed," Apple sleepily demanded again, gently squeezing Raven's hand as she looked into her eyes. In a way, Raven enjoyed that sometimes they acted like they were a married couple.

"I'll be back with you in a few minutes, sweetie"

Apple blushed at the sudden nickname, her expression softening a little. In all honesty, Raven didn't mean to let that slip out, but she was a little glad it did.

Apple sighed and glanced away, the smallest trace of a smile forming in her lips.

"Okay..."

She kissed the bridge of Raven's nose.

"Be safe."

Apple wanted to ask more questions, but ultimately decided not to. All she knew was that she would be waiting with open arms when Raven got back.

Raven smiled warmly at Apple, giving her hand one last gentle squeeze before letting her go.

"Thank you."

She walked towards the door and opened it, looking back at Apple one last time with a smile, before, almost reluctantly, leaving.

Apple stood in the doorway, watching Raven run down the dormitory hall. She breathed something soft and quiet under her breath as she watched Raven go.

"I love you..."

~

Raven found herself in the gardens of the school only a few minutes later, right where the blackmailers asked her to meet. She glanced around at the gardens, a dim moonlight being her only source of illumination.

"Hello?" She breathed out shakily, her worries multiplying tenfold. Only now had she realized how creepy this actually was. One again, she looked around, praying that the blackmailers had bailed.

"Raven." A voice called out from behind her. A familiar voice. A shiver went down her spine. She didn't know whether it was from the outside temperature being dramatically different from the one inside, or if it was her being creeped out by...well, everything.

Raven turned her head, seeing two dark silhouettes standing near a rose bush. She couldn't make out their faces or features in the darkness. She wanted to walk closer and finally satisfy her need to know who these two people were, but something stopped her. Most likely, it was her own anxiety that stopped her.

"What do you want?" Raven spoke firmly, despite her words dripping with fear.

The pair of blackmailers didn't give her response besides a quiet snicker.

Raven inhaled a shaky breath.

"Look, I don't know who you are or what your motive could possibly be, but leave me alone. Leave Apple alone. Leave both of us alone. I've given you what you want."

Only one thought went through the blackmailers' minds at that moment. They grinned at each other, almost as if they shared the exact same idea.

'Oh, don't worry. Apple will be left alone.'

Raven gritted her teeth together in anger, hearing the blackmailer's continued silence.

"What do you want?!"

"We just wanted to say sorry, Raven." One of them spoke.

Before Raven could continue, the one to her right threw a flower in front of her feet. A red rose. But it was...glowing?

Raven took a shaky breath, pointing at the flower.

"What is that...?"

"An apology."

Raven's gut told her not to pick it up. Something about the soft, dim light coming from the flower was so indescribably eerie. But her curiosity overshadowed her common sense, as she knelt down and picked it up.

She rose to her full height once more after picking up the flower, cautiously holding it between two balled hands. She looked back up to where the blackmailers were before, and to her surprise, they had vanished completely.

Raven softly gasped at their sudden disappearance, her eyes widening slightly as she looked around, her long jacket swaying with her.

With no sign left of the mysterious duo, she let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding, her gaze drifting back down the flower in her hand.

She brought it to her nose out of curiosity, but almost immediately, a pang of pain hit her head and she stumbled backward.

Raven cursed and raised a hand to her head. Her vision began to distort and her body shook as she felt herself becoming weaker.

With a pained groan, Raven attempted to pick herself up once again, but fell back onto the cobbled ground of the gardens. Her body weakly lay limp on the ground as her eyes shut. Her body shook in pain as her breathing became shorter and shorter.

Her eyes shut as she attempted to breath out a weak call for help, but to no prevail, before everything was cut out.

Word count: 1134