"Raven. Who is that?" I ask staring at the body tied to the tree above. The head is thrown forward and a rope is tied around the neck. Blood is slowly dripping and from Raven's view you can see the lifeless red eyes looking down.
"Alehandre." She whispers not able to look away.
"Valerian!" I scream and the normal whisp of air surrounds us then she's there.
"You're bro-"
"I already know. We need to get out of here now." She says and I pull Raven up.
"What's going on?" I ask her
"We'll talk when we get to the cave." She says. She grabs both mine and Raven's hands and suddenly the woods around us vanish. Leaving us in peer darkness.
"Valerian?" I hear Raven ask
"One minute stay silent." Valerian replies then I hear footsteps disappear. I feel someone move beside me then I feel Raven's warm but small hand land on my waist. She moves it up the side of me and I try not to shiver at her touch. She hits my arm then slides her hand down until she finds my hand. She weaves her fingers through mine and I squeeze her hand.
"I'm scared." She whispers and I pull her against my side. She places her head on my chest and I hold her to me.
"It's ok." I say. Through the darkness I can't see anything so I have to stick with feeling and words. She nods her head against my chest and I hold her tight.
"Follow my voice." Comes Valerian's voice through the darkness to the left.
"Why no lights?" I ask
"We'll be dead in an instant now come." Valerian says and I feel Raven pull away from me but never remove her hand from mine. We follow Valerian's voice and when she tells us to stop we stop. I smell smoke then suddenly a torch is lit in front of us and I can see Valerian's face clearly.
"Come on." She says and then turns around. We follow her silently and we come to a dead end. She knocks three times and a door completely invisible to the naked eye opens and a slither of light slips through.
"Quickly." She says and we nod. We hurry through the door and she shuts it behind us. We walk down a slim hallway then reach another dead end.
"Josiah." Valerian says into the door. She knocks twice and the door unlocks then opens and we see Josiah on the other side.
**
"Raven." I drop Eric's hand and fall against my brother he holds me and hushes me as I cry and cry.
"You're alive." I whisper and he nods.
"Thanks to Valerian. But I was more worried about you why did you run off?" He asks me
"I thought I could win on my own. I thought- I thought I was strong enough. But I was wrong, I failed. I failed you all." I say sobbing and he shakes his head.
"No Raven no." He says hushing me
"Our dad he's still alive he's just captured somewhere. He came to me in a dream it was him I know it was him he answered stuff nobody knew at all. He was here and he told me I was in danger that they want me to fight on the dark side. He he he."
"Shh shhhh Raven breathe. Eric." My brother says and I feel another set of warm hands land on my shoulders from behind. I'm pulled away from Josiah and pulled back against Eric.
"Get some sleep Raven. Eric stay with her." Josiah says
"No I don't need sleep I can't sleep not yet not until I figure out who did that to Alehandre." I say shaking Eric off much to my dismay.
"Raven you need to sleep we'll talk in the mor-"
"No! I need to know what is happening." I say crossing my arms and cutting Josiah off. Valerian walks up to me and places her hand on my forehead.
"Sleep Raven we will talk tomorrow." She says and I start to feel drowsy.
"No I need to-"
**
I catch Raven as she falls to the side.
"What did you do to her?" I ask
"Put a sleeping spell on her. She'll kick outta it in like an hour though and just be asleep on her own. Better get her to a bed now though cause she was stubborn and it usually wears off sooner. And I still don't know all about her so I dont know how long I can hold her. Room's are in the back." She says and I nod. I pick Raven up in my arms and look over at Josiah as he takes out the contacts. His red eyes look up at me and I keep my face blank.
"Are you gonna tell her?" I ask looking from him to Valerian then back.
"She'll find out eventually just like you." He says
"I found out because I'm a handler I have that ability your sister doesn't." I say
"No. But she's smart. She'll put the pieces together." He says and I nod turning away and heading to the back.
************************
"Eric." I blink open my eyes and look over at Raven. Her eyes are sealed shut but I swear I heard my name. She starts getting restless. And I hear her call my name again.
"Raven." I say shaking her a little. She starts panicking and I continue shaking her. Sweat starts dripping down her face and onto her chest and she continues rocking back and forth. I sit up and grip her shoulders shaking her.
"Raven!" I yell to her. A scream leaves her throat and she jerks up in bed sweat falling down her chest.
"Eric Eric Eric." She says gasping for air.
"Raven Raven hey shhh." Her eyes snap to mine and I pull her to me.
"Are you ok?" I ask and she nods
"Bad dream." She says wiping her face and pulling her hair back.
"Do you have any clothes here? Sweatshirt or anything?" She asks and I climb off the bed and walk to the closet. I open it and dig around finding and old sweatshirt and nod thigh shorts.
"Here." I say walking over to her she takes them from me and pulls on the sweatshirt then puts on the ones I gave her. We sit back down and she pulls her knees to her chest.
"Why were you yelling my na-"
"You died." She says looking over at me.
"Oh." I reply and she nods.
"How?" I ask after a few minutes of silence and she meets my eyes and I see tears in hers.
"Raven? How'd I die?" I ask and she takes a shaky breath.
"By my hand- I killed you." She says.
**********************************
Chapter 24:
En başından başla
