Bright, emerald colored eyes opened slowly in the darkness. The young, black haired girl who inhabited the small, concrete room sat up slowly and blinked a few times. She stood up, letting the thin, old, ripped brown blanket fall from her unnaturally skinny body onto the floor. She picked up the scratchy blanket and threw it on the cot that she slept in every night. She walked across the small, dark room in five short steps and shook awake the small, younger girl that was sleeping peacefully, hugging her old, ripped teddy bear.
"Rave?" The small girl whispered, her voice raspy from lack of water.
"C'mon Ray," Raven said. "You've been sleeping for twelve hours. You need to eat."
"I'm tired, Raven," Rayane whispered, rolling over. "I'll eat later."
Raven sighed and put her pale hand to the eight year old's forehead. She was burning up. Raven grabbed her blanket from the cot and threw it over her little sister. She snuggled up under the new found warmth and Raven heard her breath even within seconds and knew she was asleep.
Raven was fifteen years old. She had long, straight black hair that came down to her waist. Her emerald green eyes always sparkled, even through the darkness she had known for eleven years. She was unnaturally skinny, due to lack of food and her skin was paper white because she hadn't seen the sun since she had been put there.
She sighed yet again and walked silently over to her cot and sat down. She looked around the room, wondering what she had done to deserve this. In the room there were two beds, five crates, which were filled with food, a doorway that led to the unbeliveably small bathroom, and three stacks of old books that reached the ceiling. There were no windows and the steel door that led to the outside world was locked from the outside.
Even if the door was open, Raven doubted she would leave the small room anyway. She was scared of what lay beyond her cage. All the history books she had read about war and slavery had put fear into her mind. She didn't have any memories to look back on, seeing as she had been put in this room when she was four. No one other than her sister even knew she existed, except Martha, the maid who would deliver her food every day.
Her owners, which she knew from books that most people called 'parents,' had moved two weeks ago, and had taken Martha with her. Martha had wanted to tell the police about what was happening to the two girls, but Raven's owners had control of a very prestegious company and could fire everyone that she was close to. Raven had told her not to tell, explaining how she was terrified of what lay beyond the steel door that kept her there. When Martha had tried to explain that the history books were about just that, history, Raven had grabbed the CD player Martha had brought in for her three months ago and blasted her Evanesence CD and ignored her.
Raven wasn't completely sure about who inhabited the house now, and she didn't really care. All she was worried about was what would happen to her little sister. The past four years of Raven's life had been about making sure Rayane had enough to drink, enough to eat, enough to play with. She had gone hungry many times because the small amounts of food her owner's had sent down with Martha wasn't enough to fill the young girl up. But Raven didn't mind. Before she had met Rayane she had been contemplating suicide.
Raven sighed and walked over to the open crate of food that was pushed against the wall, next to the others. She grabbed a can of fruit and opened it with the knife Martha had given her. The maid's last words still rang in Raven's head as she slowly ate the sweet, mixed fruit.
"Your food will run out sooner or later and I've done all I can for you already," The maid had said sadly, looking away from Raven and instead at Rayane, who had been playing with her old teddy bear. "It's up to you what you do with that knife after that."
Raven had instantly knew what the maid had meant, but she didn't want to face it. She had just nodded and the maid had left the room, locking the door behind her. Raven had walked over to Rayane after that and hugged her, silently apologizing for what she knew would come soon. Rayane had hugged her back, sensing that something was wrong with her big sister.
Now Rayane was sick, they had already gone through half a crate of food, and Raven had been hearing noises from the upstairs. Whoever owned this house now was not a very quiet person. Another reason Raven didn't want out of the room. Loud noises annoyed her to the brink of insanity. She would never be able to function in the outside world. For now, she was content in her little room, as long as Rayane got better, everything would be alright. Maybe.
Kai Hiwatari smirked at his best friend as he strutted into the room with a girl on each arm. This was the third party Tala had thrown at the Hiwatari mansion this week. It was summer vacation and Kai's parents had left on a cruise after they had finished moving into the mansion. They had moved across town, so now Kai was living across the street from his best friend, Tala Ivonhov. Kai didn't mind the party's. He usually went to his room and blasted his stereo to drown out the sound. It was the house that bothered him. He would hear water running and a child sobbing late at night. He had searched the house and had found nothing. He couldn't find where the noises were coming from.
"Hey Kai," Tala said, walking over to him. The two girls had walked away from Tala and were giggling as they grabbed a beer. "Having fun?"
"Yeah Tala," Kai said sarcastically. "Loads of fun."
"You could have said no," Tala said, plopping down on the couch next to him. "Not my fault you said yes."
"Yes it is," Kai said. "You black mailed me."
"Details, what's the point?" Tala said, smirking. "And besides, it's summer, your parents are gone for two and a half more months, and you own a mansion. What else is there to do besides party?"
"Not party?" Kai suggested. "I'll let you think about that for awhile. It might be a hard concept for your puny mind to grasp."
The two toned blue haired boy stood up and walked to his room, muttering the same excuse to many people who tried to stop and talk to him. When he reached his room he closed and locked the door and turned his stereo on full blast and pulled a book off of his book case. He was reading IT by stephen king. He was almost done and might be able to finish it tonight if no one disturbed him. He had learned how to block out increadibly loud and annoying noises thanks to Tyson Granger, one of the people in his group of 'friends.'
As Kai got lost in the book, hours ticked by and by the time he had finished reading the last page, people were begginging to leave. He walked out of his room and sat down on the couch and saw Tala lip locked with a blonde girl on the other side of the room. He sighed and waited. People continued leaving and soon he, Tala and the blonde girl were the only people left in the house. He sighed again and walked over to Tala and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Not to disturb you," Kai said. "But get out of my house."
Tala smirked and looked at the blonde girl. "Wanna go to my house?" He asked her.
"Sure," She giggled and they left.
Kai walked back to his room and lay down on his bed. He didn't mind the party's Tala threw, mostly because he didn't have to clean up the room because the maids took care of it, but also because they were sometimes fun. But after awhile all Kai wanted to do was lay on his bed and enjoy the silence he rarely heard. He sighed yet again and closed his eyes. All he wanted to do now was sleep. He was about to do so when he heard the noise again and his eyes snapped open. Someone was crying. It sounded like a little kid.
He stood up and walked out of his room into the hallway and listened. He couldn't tell what floor it was coming from, but it was definetly to the right. He walked down the long hallway until he reached the end and listened. Was it soming from the left or the right? The left. He follwed the sound until he reached the door to the basement. He opened it, ignoring his confusion, and found that the noise was louder. He was getting close.
He followed the noise all over the basement until he reached another door. It was made of what looked like steel and had several different locks on it. He pressed his ear to the door and was positive that the noise was coming from there. He found a paper clip and bent it into a strange shape and proceded to picking the seven locks that kept the door shut. By the time he heard the fourth 'click,' the crying had stopped, but Kai continued until he was able to open the door. He did so and walked into the small, dark, concrete room. He couldn't see anything and pulled the small flashlight out of his pocket. He turned it on and it shown around the room.
There were two old, dirty cots in each of the corners and five crates lined up against one of the walls, only one of which was open. There was a CD player laying on one of the cots and a doorway that led into a different room. Kai walked into the room and over to the open crate. It was filled with cans of mixed fruit. Though Kai wasn't sure how anyone would open them, as there was no can opener in sight.
The other room was a bathroom. There was a small shower, two towels thrown on the floor, a toilet and a sink. He walked out of the bathroom looking confused. He was positive someone had been crying, but there was no one here. There was nowhere to hide. Unless the person was under the cot. Kai frowned. No one was stupid enough to hide under a bed (or a cot). Or were they? He sighed and walked over to the cot and bent over, looking under it, the flashlight lighting it up. He was shocked to meet a pair of wide, fear filled emerald eyes. He stood up and shook his head, then looked again. The black haired girl was shaking in fear.
"Come out," He said, hiding his surprise.
He stepped away from the cot and the girl slowly came out and Kai stared at her. She was amazingly skinny, and her clothes limply hung on her paper white body. Her dark hair came down to her waist and her skin loooked like it hadn't seen the sun in years. She was about four inches shorter than Kai, and her clothes were old and dirty and ripped. She was still shaking, her emerald eyes kept darting from the cot that faced Kai's back, then to the door.
"Who are you?" Kai said. "Why are you down here?"
"M-my name i-is Raven, sir," She girl said, adding the 'sir' as an after thought. "I-I live here."
"No. I live here," Kai said. "How long have you been down here?"
"For years sir," Raven said politely, watching her little sister escape out of the room behind Kai's back. At least she would be safe from... whoever this was.
"Why are you here?" Kai asked again. Raven wondered why he had asked her the same question twice and decided to answer it the way she had before.
"I live here," She repeated.
"That's not what I meant," Kai snapped. "I meant how did you get here?"
"I was put here by my owners," Raven said. It was better to tell the truth than to have to remember lies. Martha had taught her that.
"Your owners?" Kai asked.
"I believe you would call them parents," Raven said.
"You live down here?" Kai asked.
"Yes sir," Raven answered, wondering how many times it was going to take before he understood that.
"Were you the one crying?" Kai asked. She stiffened when he asked this question and he wondered why.
"Yes sir," Raven said. "I was crying."
"Do you want to come upstairs?" Kai asked, taking a step towards the girl. She took a step back and shook her head.
"No sir," She said. "I want to stay here."
"Why?" Kai asked, wondering if this girl was insane.
"I know nothing of the outside world. I have read about war and the dangers of the world and I would prefer to stay here," She said. "The outside world is dangerous."
"There's no war going on," Kai said. "And the world is dangerous, but everything is dangerous."
The girl shook her head again and took another step back and bumped into the wall.
"Come upstairs," Kai said, watching the girl frantically shake her head. "I will drag you up stairs if you don't come willingly."
The girl's eyes widened and she slowly took a step farwards and Kai led her up stairs. When they reached the top of the stairs she refused to walk into the light, like she was afraid it would burn her or something. Kai grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into the hallway and shut the door. She closed her eyes tight to block out the light and Kai led her to the living room, which was already clean, thanks to the maids. He sat her on the couch and walked over to the phone. He dialed Tala's number and waited until he got the answering machine.
"Tala let the girl go and get your ass over here now!" Kai commanded and hung up. He waited five minutes before Tala walked in the door, looking very annoyed.
"What the hell Kai!" He said. "I was about to -... Who's that?"
"This is Raven," Kai said. "I found her in a locked room in the basement."
"Huh?" Tala asked. Raven stared at her hands.
"She says she lives here," Kai said.
"Well," Tala said. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know," Kai said. "That's why your here."
"Okay," Tala said. "Lets ask some questions first."
Raven nodded and waited, wondering what was going to happen to her. She wondered where Rayane was and what was happening to her.
"How long were you in the basement?" Tala asked.
"Eleven years," Raven said. Tala stared, then shook his head.
"Next question," Tala said. "Who put you there?"
"My owners."
"Who?" Tala asked, confused.
"Her parents," Kai said.
"Ooookkkkkaaaayyyy," Tala said. "Next question. Why did your umm... 'owners' put you down there?"
"They said I was a mistake and no one should know about me," Raven said quietly.
Tala raised his eye brows at Kai and Kai shrugged. He had found her. Now what was he supposed to do with her?
"Are you going to hurt me?" Raven asked suddenly.
"No," Tala said.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"I'm Tala," Tala said. "This is Kai."
"We should call the cops," Kai said, standing up. Tala grabbed his arm and pulled him into the kitchen.
"What?" Kai demanded.
"Maybe we shouldn't call the cops," Tala said. "Her parents are whack jobs. What if they come looking for us?"
"They'll be in jail," Kai said.
"Maybe you should ask her before you call the cops," Tala said. "Maybe she would rather not have you call them."
"What do you suggest I do with her then?" Kai demanded.
"For one, feed her," Tala said. "Two, new clothes. Three, get her out into sunlight. Four-"
"Okay! I get the point. You want me to keep her," Kai said. "But this isn't like finding a stray puppy and taking it home. This is a person. That I found in my basement."
"You're rich! you can do anything," Tala said.
"You're rich too. Why don't you take her?" Kai said.
"She wasn't in my basement," Tala said.
"This is ridiculous. I'm calling the cops," Kai said, walking away. Tala grabbed his arm.
"What if they put her in a foster home and she gets put with a murderer and he kills her and it'll be all your fault," Tala said.
"You're not going to give up are you?" Kai asked.
"Nope," Tala said. "Do you give in?"
"Fine," Kai sighed. "She can stay. But only until my parents get back. Then they'll kill me. And her."
The two walked back into the living room to find Raven still sitting on the couch where they had left her. She had her eyes closed and Tala glanced at Kai who whispered, 'She's been in a basement for eleven years. Her eyes are sensitive to light.'
"You're staying here," Tala said. Raven opened her eyes and looked at him.
"You can have any room you want as long as you don't bug me," Kai said, sitting down.
"Are you hungry?" Tala asked her.
"No sir," Raven said, ignoring the empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. One can of fruit wasn't enough to fill her small stomach up. "I've already ate."
"What did you eat?" Tala asked.
"Fruit," Raven said.
"Are you thirsty?" Tala asked her.
"No sir," Ravens throat burned as she said this. She turned to Kai. "I may have any room I want sir?"
"As long as you don't bug me," Kai said. "And stop calling me sir."
"Yes sir," Raven said quickly, biting her lip as she realized she had called him sir again.
She slowly stood up and looked at the two boys. The one who was called 'Kai' had two tone blue grey hair that was spiked up in the front. He had two blue tringles on each of his cheeks. He was wearing a black sleeveless muscle shirt and baggy gray pants and a strange looking belt. He was also wearing a scarf and Raven found herself wondering why he was dressed so strangely.
Tala had bright red hair that was sticking up in an almost gravity defying style and icey blue eyes. (I don't like Tala's clothes so...) He was wearing a black T-shirt that said 'Everything I know I learned from Family Guy.' There was a list of things under that and he also had on baggy blue jeans.
"May I go now?" Raven asked quietly, trying not to cover her eyes with her hands.
"Whatever," Kai shrugged.
Raven nodded and walked out of the huge living room. She walked down the long hallway before she came to a door that looked oddly familiar. She placed her hand on the door knob and felt a jolt of electricity go through her body. She turned the door knob and opened the door and walked into the room. It hadn't changed from the last time she had been in there.
The bed still had the old blue comforter on it and was still painted powder blue. The old toy chest filled with stuffed animals was still there at the end of the bed and Raven found herself wondering why her owners hadn't taken all this stuff with them.
"Rayane?" Raven whispered.
"Rave?" She heard a weak voice say from under the bed. Raven ran to the bed and looked under it as her little sister crawled out. Her face was flushed and she looked like she was about to cry.
"What's going on?" Rayane asked weakly.
"Nothing," Raven said. "Get on the bed and cover up. I'll tell you later but right now you need to focus on getting better."
"Ok," Rayane agreed and climbed on the huge bed. She snuggled up under the unbelievably warm covers and was alseep instantly.
Raven sighed and looked at her little sister. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do now. If she let Rayane show herself and the two boys turned out to be untrustworthy then Raven would have endangered both of them. But if she didn't let Rayane show herself the little girl might not get better.
Maybe the two boys knew how to make her better. Maybe they could help. Or maybe they would just hurt her more. She would just have to see how Rayane was feeling in the next few days. If she wasn't better by then than she would ask for help. If she was... then she would just go from there.
Kai sighed as he looked at his best friend, who was currently leaning on the wall, smirking victoriously. Kai glared at him and his smirk only widened.
"For the record," Kai said. "I blame you for this."
"How do you figure that one?" Tala asked.
"If you hadn't thrown your party I would have been asleep and wouldn't have heard her and wouldn't have gone looking for her," Kai said. "Why can't you throw a party at your house?"
"'Cuz my parents aren't gone for the summer," Tala said.
Kai sighed. "You're taking care of her."
"Why me? She's living in your house," Tala argued.
"It's your fault I let her stay here," Kai said. "You take care of her. I don't want to babysit another immature idiot."
"How do you know she's an immature idiot?" Tala asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Even if she's not I'm not taking care of her," Kai said.
"Whatever," Tala said. "But if I'm taking care of her you don't have any say in what she does."
"Why should I care what she does?" Kai asked. "Get out of my house Tala, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah," Tala said, walking to the door. "See you tomorrow."