Prologue

The house was buzzing with the voices and laughing of forty people. Numerous groups of them formed and reformed as individuals went from one covey to another, giving the impression of an undulating lifeform. Naya Cusitar sat on the couch with one of these groups, a rolled dollar bill made its way around as the lines on the table disappeared one by one. After snorting a line of coke, Naya looked around the room and her eyes met those of a guy she had seen on several occasions. His dark eyes observed her with an air of disapproval as he took swigs of the beer he held in his hand. He was a rather intimidating fellow with black hair, about 6'2", a powerful build, and an aura around him that commanded respect among the derelict reprobates that made up the present company. No one actually knew the guy's name, but he was known to people in the dark circle of deviance as Raven. Naya had talked to him a couple times and she always got the impression that she had offended him though she could never figure out how. She hardly knew the man and their acquaintence was certainly not long enough to have provided opportunity of rendering such a malfeasance. Yet he was standing there, giving her the same look he always had in the last three months. She turned her gaze from him and inhaled another line.

Raven took another long swill of his beer, emptying the bottle. Putting the bottle on the mantle he was leaning against, he turned from her and went into the kitchen for another beer. He didn't know why the teenage brunette girl caught his attention. He'd seen many people come and go within the Denver drug circles, but he'd never cared. To him, they were all the same. They all had their reasons for shooting up, snorting or smoking and she likely did too. But there was something about her that was all wrong, something he had never sensed with anyone else he'd come across. There was little variation among the common addicts. Their lifestyle had led them to the streets and crackhouses and they adapted to the meanness of that existance, slowly losing their souls as time went on. They all belonged there, she didn't.

The vision he had the first time he'd seen her flashed in his mind again. An image of a tallish, Asian boy with short half black, half blonde hair in a mohawk, with a piercing on the right side of his lip and glasses. Along with the image was his tenor voice calling 'Naya-san' and a smile as his gaze turned. He'd had visions like these since he was a child. It wasn't premontion, or ESP or anything, at least nothing that would really fit the definition of such. Merely images that came to him and he never knew what they were. They were usually nothing but images. This one however was different in the fact he could hear this boy's voice calling to her accompanied by the feeling this person was important in a crucial way. He couldn't discern anything more beyond this, and it bothered him seeing her amongst the lowest tier of civilized society. Something within him screamed she wasn't where she should be. This just added to Raven's confusion as to why he'd notice this one out of many when he'd never paid attention to anyone else before. He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the familar pressure and headache that usually followed his visions. Aside from his crappy childhood, it was the reason he did heroin and meth. Opening the fridge, he took a beer out and after popping the cap off, he emptied half the bottle in one draught.

A few hours later, Naya stepped outside of the house and stood on the porch. She breathed in the fragrant air of the warm, July night, the muted sound of merriment and obnoxious voices behind her. She gazed at the twinkling lights of the city below and tried not to let the sadness that had been her world for the last three months invade her coke addled mind. The door opened behind her and panicked voices came from within as several people came running out of the house. A few of the guys jumped over the porch rail and ran at full speed away from the house in all directions, some girls following them. A few seconds later, half the people in the house came running out the front door, freaking out and yelling as they ran. Suddenly she felt something grip her elbow. She turned her head and saw Raven.

'We gotta go. Now!' he barked sternly as he pulled her along with him.

'What's going on?' she asked confused

'Someone overdosed and the cops will swarm this place in a few minutes.' he answered, his voice surprisingly calm.

He dragged her down the street and turned the corner, never letting up his grip on her arm. After they had gone two blocks down, they heard sirens and Naya turned to look up the street. An ambulance sped up the road followed by two police cars. Her eyes widened in shock as she turned to stare at his handsome face.

After they had walked several more blocks in silence, he turned into a neighbourhood park and sat down on a bench just outside the reach of a lamp that illuminated the path next to a playground.

'Where do you live?' he inquired after another several minutes of silence.

'Applewood.' she answered quietly, still reeling.

'That's in Lakewood isn't it?'

Naya only nodded.

'If we head to the rail station now, we should be able to catch the last train.' he muttered. 'Come on, I'll take you home.'

Naya stood up and followed him out of the park in the direction of the train station.

They rode the 30 minute train ride in silence. Naya was still trying to grasp the night's events as Raven tried not to think at all. They finally got off the train at Oak station and he let Naya lead the way to her house. After another 15 minutes, she turned up the walk way of a green two story house with red brick accents, a detached garage and a large bay window on the right side. Raven whistled slowly as he took in the house in front of door was framed on both sides with frosted glass and the door itself was inlaid with two windows. The house was dark and the only sound was a light wind caressing the leaves in the nearby trees. Naya went up to the door and pulled out her keys.

'Aren't you worried about waking your parents?' he asked in a soft voice.

Naya froze. The sudden stiffness in her entire body was not lost on him.

'What the hell are you doing here?' he asked, sharply. 'You have a beautiful house, you strike me as someone who excels in academics and you have your whole life ahead of you. What the hell are you doing with people like me?'

Naya said nothing and kept her gaze on the door.

'Answer me, damn it' he growled as he marched up behind her and whirled her around to face him.

'They're gone, ok,' she burst out, tears falling down her face. 'Is that what you want to know? My parents died three months ago. I have nothing left. The pain is too much and I can't deal with it. All I see when I go to sleep is their coffins. That image haunts every minute of the day. I come home and all there is nothing but dead silence. I miss hearing my mom say 'Hi honey, welcome home' when I get home from school. I only go to school to get away from the deafening silence that is my reality. I used to excel in academics but I just don't care anymore. I'm stuck living with a pain that won't leave me. Hell I don't even care if I live or die. Happy now?'

'Someone cares very much if you live or die.' he whispered without thinking.

'What?' she snapped.

Raven sighed. Now he knew why she had gotten into drugs but that didn't change the fact she didn't belong there. The image and voice of that asian boy floated into his mind again.

'You don't belong among us lowlifes,' he said firmly, turning his dark eyes to hers. 'There is someone out there that needs you and if you keep coming around us, you'll end up dead. You say now that you don't care if you live or die, but I've heard that a million times from people who are like you. Lost, scared of the path they were unknowingly dropped on. They all say that, but as they slowly waste away, they realize as the end creeps ever closer that death was not what they really wanted. So you can just stop saying that cause that's bullshit.'

She glared at him.

'You dishonor your parents in the worst possible way with what you're doing,' he continued as he stepped menacingly toward her.

'How dare you say that,' she replied furiously. 'You don't know anything about them.'

'I don't need to know them to understand that the last thing any parent would want is watching their child self destruct.' he growled, venomously. 'How dare you treat their memories with such blatant disregard. You're a selfish bitch using them as a reason for your shabby behaviour right now.'

Her eyes flashed angrily as she reached up to punch him, but he grabbed her arm and held her wrist firmly.

'Now get in that house.' he grunted dangerously.

They stared at each other for several minutes before Naya turned and unlocked the door. He stepped in after her and closed the door after she flipped the foyer light on.

Raven stayed with her for a few weeks and helped her through withdrawl. Her detox wasn't as severe as most people he knew, but then she hadn't been using for that long. He listened when she ranted, held her when she cried, stayed by her while she slept. Though he hadn't been successful in any of his attempts to detox, he knew well enough what she was going through and was able to guide her through it. Once he felt she was over the worst of it, he decided it was time to leave her. He gave her some suggestions and advice on dealing with cravings and anxiety. He knew it would be a rocky road ahead for her, but he had a feeling she would be alright once she found her way.

'Are you sure you'll be ok?' he asked as he stood on the front step.

'I think so,' she answered, smiling slightly. 'I hope so anyway.'

'You've come this far out of drug hell,' he replied encouragingly. 'Keep going, and don't look back. Promise?'

'I promise.' she said as she hugged him. 'Thank you for being here with me.'

'No problem,' he remarked, hugging her back. 'but if I ever see you around those people again, you and I are gonna have it out.'

He turned and headed down the walkway. He stopped and turned to her.

'Remember what I said that night,' he reminded her. 'There's someone out there waiting for you. You need to find your way to them.'

She nodded as he walked off the lawn and headed down the street. She watched him until he disappeared around a corner. She was a little sad to think she would never see him again. Unbeknownst to her, he kept his eye on her to make sure she never faltered.