"Raven!" Red screamed, his blood-red hair plastered onto his face from sweat. The black-haired girl turned around and, looking from the store's broken window, she saw the flash of police car lights.
Quickly she grabbed the expensive shoes they had broken in to steal and then bolted towards her friend.
Red grabbed her arm and both jumped out of the broken window, as the police cars came flying down the street, sirens ablaze.
Both teens ran quickly, passing several blocks, before finally turning left and dashing into an alley. The sirens sounded in their backs, as the cars stopped, lights still flashing, and a few men came out, hoping to catch the runaways.
But Raven and Red had lived on the streets a very long time, and they knew them better than the cops. Within seconds, both were beyond reach, hidden in a small crevasse in the brick wall of a building, where the shadows made sure they could not be seen.
Both were breathing hard trying to calm their beating hearts, but as the cops passed, running, guns out, they held their pant and waited. Soon, the sounds of footsteps died away and both kids were alone again, stuck in that small crack next to a dumpster.
Red had his arms around Raven's waist, and he could feel the girl sigh and finally relax, releasing every tense, escape-ready muscle in her body.
"Close one." He muttered into her ear.
To his dismay, the girl suddenly burst out laughing, squirming out of the gap. Frowning, the blood-red-haired boy followed her, wondering what was so terribly funny. He had never come this close to being caught, and never had he seen cops readying their guns over theft.
He grabbed her by one arm, and forced her to face him. Slowly, Raven calmed down, and looked into his dark brown eyes. But Red wasn't able to withhold her terrible red gaze, and quickly let her go, shrugging.
"I don't think you realize how close we came to getting caught this time." He mumbled, stealing another glance at her. He really liked Raven: she was very pretty, with long, natural black hair (Red had never liked girls with colored hair), furious red eyes that were unbearable when she was angry, and dead-pale skin that never tanned, no matter the time she spent in the sun.
Also, her face distantly reminded that of a snake, although that didn't make her any less pretty. Usually, she wore dark clothes; like now: she had a black tube top she had stolen a week ago and long black jeans she wore most of the time. Sometimes she added an expensive black trench coat to the rest, and it made her look even more beautiful and mysterious.
The boy had no idea how long she had lived on the streets, or who her parents were, if she herself knew them. He knew nothing about her, only that she was sixteen, turning seventeen at the end of the month of August, which was in three months. And that was all he needed.
Raven smirked.
"Yeah, I realize. But I don't worry: I live for the thrill of danger." She answered slyly, doing a twirl with the stolen shoes in her hands, her long hair flying around her pale face. Red smiled softly.
"And what if you were caught?" He asked in a low voice, coming closer to her. He tried to grab her again around the waist, but like a shadow, she slipped from his grip and smiled.
"I'd run away."
And with a swish, she turned around and ran down the alley, laughing.
Red snapped out of his confusion at what had happened and followed her quickly, taking the side alley she had disappeared into.
Raven looked over her shoulder and saw him following, so she continued laughing, as if calling to him. The two ran together into the night, and neither noticed a caped figure disappearing into thin air with a 'pop'.
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Right in front of the old warehouse their gang had for a home, Red caught her. But he suspected she had let him, just this once.
Nonetheless, he held her tightly as she laughed on happily, gasping for air after their run. Raven pressed her forehead against his chest, calming down a bit. Her mirth was now nothing but a low giggle. It was a lovely sound, like music to Red's ears.
Neither said a thing, and for a moment, they just stood there, listening to the distant sounds of night and cars in the city, letting silence crawl around them calmly.
Finally it was Raven that broke the silence.
"Let's go inside. I'm tiered." She declared, breaking free from his grasp and walking up to the rusty door. With a mighty heave, she pulled it open and it squeaked sinisterly. The girl disappeared into the darkness inside, with a grin over her shoulder. Red followed.
As soon as he stepped into the 'home', his joy seemed to die suddenly; the place was terribly depression, and no matter how long he had lived there, it was still as sad as ever. It was one of those things you never got used to.
There were many guys, in age varying from fourteen to twenty and two twin girls that were sixteen years old. Most of them were junkies, addicted to all sort of shit, and all those who were, were stoned right now.
Many mattresses had been laid down in the large room, on the dusty floor, and the teens were splayed on them, either sleeping or daydreaming. No one looked happy of his or her situation, and everyone seemed terribly depressed.
That depression spread onto Red like poison. But as he followed Raven, he noted that, as always, she seemed untouched by the misery around her, and even looked like she was in her element; it was weird, but it was one of the things that convinced the young man that she had lived all her life in tough conditions, and was simply used to it.
None of the others here had always led lives like these; once, they had been someone, and they had watched their life spiral and spin until they lost control over it.
Falling on a filthy mattress in the corner, next to the raven-haired girl, he sighed, and saw her nest herself comfortably against the wall. Already her eyes were shutting, her hands still locked on the shoes they had stolen earlier.
"Raven?" He asked softly, trying not to disturb a heroin addict that slept next to them, a needle clutched in his hand.
"Hm?" She answered softly, eyelids half-covering her red irises.
"Have you always been living like this?" He risked.
There was a moment of silence before the girl answered. It seemed she was pondering her reply.
"Yes."
And Raven shut her eyes, trying to fall asleep.
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Of course, that was a lie. She hadn't ALWAYS been living like this. Sure, her childhood was dark and hard, but she hadn't always been on the streets, alone, with no one to fend for but herself.
Because Raven was a proud being, that would help someone if she could. But if things go too dangerous, or if she had the choice between saving her life and saving someone else's, she would leave even her closest friend to their faith without regret. She knew there was no point in trying to save one if there was a chance of being caught herself.
Perhaps that trait came from her dark life. Or maybe she was just born with it.
Raven had no memory of her parents, and she had never heard about any relations she might have, whenever close or distant. All she knew was that her mother had been raped, and had ran from England to America, where she had given birth to her. The very day of her birthday, Raven's mom had committed suicide.
The day her mom had passed away, Raven had been sent to an orphanage by the hospital, and had been soon adopted by a nice couple that wanted a child.
Until she was two, the girl lived with them, and they loved her a lot. But then there came the problems.
Her foster father lost his job, and the couple went through much stress. And either time her foster parents would fight over their situation, Raven would get scared or angry. But when she felt those feelings, very strange things would happen.
Once, a nearby chair burst into flames when she broke into tears, and another time, all the plates on the table cracked in half when her foster dad raised his hands to hit her foster mom.
It wasn't long before the pair realized something was strange with their girl.
Finally, one day, they simply took her out, and left her alone in an alley to die.
And she would have, if an old woman hadn't noticed the two fleeing parents and went to see what they were running from. When she saw the little raven-haired girl, alone amongst the trash, still wondering what had happened, she decided to take her in.
But Penelope, the old woman, was very poor, and social services were always on her back, trying to get her out of her dirty little apartment and into a helping home. But the woman stood strong, and for three years she lived rather in peace with her adopted girl, loving her and caring for her, and not once did the little girl show signs of having any strange powers.
Until one day, when two men from the social services came in by force into the scrappy little apartment along with two cops. That day, Raven's fury came, immense and unstoppable, as the unwanted people badgered her guardian.
To her five-year-old eyes, she had to do everything to protect her savior, and so, she came forth, and in a flash of green, all four strangers dropped dead.
But the shook had been too great for Penelope, and she had a heart attack, and ended up in the hospital, only to die that same night. Raven was alone again.
The young girl had grown smart enough to understand that if she didn't run, she would be found and adopted again, which was something she didn't want. Inside her tiny mind, she still hated her former parents for leaving her out in an alley.
So Raven left the hospital in which Penelope had died, and joined the streets. There, she may have been alone, but she was free.
Again, the girl would have died, not knowing anything about survival, or the laws of the streets, but again, her luck brought her a young boy named Pup.
Pup was two years older than she was, and far more arrogant. His father was a popular drug dealer on the streets and decided to take her in and take care of her, teaching her a thing or two about writing or survival.
Raven grew in that environment, befriending Pup and a few of his friends. Life was hard, but she loved the way things went, having grown up with these kinds of problems all her life.
And even though she didn't know it, Dawg, Pup's father, always made sure she was safe, and out of the mistrusting reach of anyone on the streets. He made sure she wasn't abused or raped, like he had once been, long ago, when he was child. Raven learned to like him a lot.
But never did she tell him or Pup her real name, which she had learned from the social workers when they came to Penelope once.
She kept it secret because her real name was something she hated: it belonged to a man who had raped her mom (she didn't know why her mother had signed papers, agreeing for her child to keep her father's name) and it reminded her that once, she had had actual parents, and for reasons she did not yet understand, they had left her.
It was Pup who called her Raven, when they first met. He had said: "Hey, watcha doing there, raven girl?" and the girl had shrugged carelessly. They had become friends that day, because Pup had shown kindness and nonchalance when talking to her.
After living under Dawg's wing until she was thirteen, the girl finally decided to leave her mentor and friend to face life on the streets.
From then on, her life was just the same old things day after day: steal, sell, buy food, and find a place to sleep. The only changes and excitements came from the closeness of being caught or the terrible dares one gang could propose to the other.
Raven's natural cunning and careful nature had permitted her an easy life on the streets; besides; she had learned how to steal, seduce and trick from Dawg and it had dearly paid off.
At the age of fourteen, her slyness had allowed her to join the Silver gang, and even though she wasn't often with the members, sometimes she slept at their base, in the warehouse, always ready to bolt and save her own skin in case of danger.
The girl was a bit selfish, but if you weren't out here on the streets, death or capture were imminent.
So was the life of Raven of the Silver gang; always dark, but not always on the streets. And so was life the way she enjoyed it.
Smirking in her sleep, the raven-haired girl rolled up in a tight ball, finally releasing the shoes in her hand, and allowing them to fall next to her on the mattress.
Red smiled down at her lovingly, wondering what she was dreaming about.
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Second Harry Potter story (first one didn't work out), so please go easy on me. I hope you liked it, and as always, reviews and comments appreciated. No death threats please.
Next chapter, Raven gets a note from someone who claims to know her father. She is asked to meet him or her in a dark warehouse at the edge of the city. She has all reasons not to go, except that the person mentions her real name. . .