Apple had been worried when Raven didn't show up the day before, so she was relieved when she saw her in the hallway, but when Raven noticed her, she ran off.
This kept happening for a few days. Whenever they saw each other Raven disappeared, whenever they had lessons together Raven was gone as soon as the lesson was over and whenever Apple got close to her she pretended not to see her and ran away and if that was not enough she ignored her messages and calls. Had she done something wrong? Had they been moving on to fast in their relationship and Raven thought she was a slut? Has Raven never even liked her in the first place? Had she just been toyed with? She had to suppress her tears when she thought about it in public, or in the presence of her parents and every time she saw Raven running she felt her heart breaking a little more.
A few times she saw Briar and Blondie picking on her before she ran away, indicating that the two of them lost the last bit of respect towards her and did no longer care about her request to leave Raven alone. Knowing that she was still completely shocked when she walked into a classroom that should have been empty only to witness how Briar was holding Raven in a tight grip that she tried to escape from and Blondie opening the buttons of the shirt that her victim wore today while recording the process with her smartphone.
"Let's see how the entire school likes your body after I load this up on the internet, shall we?" Blondie sounded like she actually thought that was funny.
A heartbeat later Apple noticed that her hand hurt and that Briar was lying on the ground pressing a hand against one of her eyes and that Blondie was slowly backing off looking at the phone that was crushed under Apples heel, but all that was barely interesting. The only interesting person in the room was Raven. She reached out her still hurting hand to her and asked: "Sorry about that. Are you alright?"
Raven grabbed her hand and hugged her tightly. Apple was at peace in this moment. Her raging emotions stopped and relief and a tiny spark of hope took their place, but at the same time questions started to explode in her head. This meant she still liked her, right? That they still had a chance together? Her hopes were crushed, when Raven backed up and she noticed the tears in her eyes. She whispered: "I'm sorry Apple. I wish I could be with you.", turned around and ran off. Again.
What? Why? Those were the only things she could think of the entire time. While Briar complained about her black eye and declared their friendship over, while the teachers and the principal scolded her for hitting her friend and destroying her other friends property, while her parents scolded her for the same thing and when she was trying to sleep. Why would she say that? Why would she do that? Did she like her back, or not? If yes, why would she do that? Also if no, why would she do that? Nothing made sense anymore!
The next day after school, Apple snuck away so James, who was entrusted with bringing her back home wouldn't find her, and went to the address that she has gotten from Raven only friend she knew of. Her name was Madeline and she was a total weirdo who claimed to hear voices and referred to reality as a story, but she was nice and very cooperative after Apple had offered to pay for her favorite tea.
When she arrived at the door she was looking for she could only wonder that nobody had tried to rob her considering the kind of neighborhood she was in. This was where Raven grew up? It must have been really hard for her. How could there even be enough space to live in this little... well... house, right? It was too big to be a hut, but not by much.
She rang the doorbell ready to put her foot in the door until she was equipped with some answers and preferably Ravens never dying love.
A terrible looking Raven opened the door. She looked much older than she should have, her face didn't give any reason to believe that she had ever smiled in her entire life and her eyes were red and deep dark rings under them told a story of insomnia. When she recognized Apple fear took over her expression and she tried to close the door immediately, which failed due to smart preparation. Apple grimaced, but ignored the pain. "We need to talk!"
Despite what she just said she tore open the door, grabbed the face of a very surprised Raven an pressed her own lips on those of the utterly unsuspecting girl, then fell on her knees and started crying. A course of action most fitting for her confused heart, but not exactly talking.
She felt some relief, when Raven also knelt down and took her in a warm embrace.
"You never do something like that again? You hear me?" Apple sobbed and hugged the person responsible for this mess. Raven nodded, picked her up bridal style and carried her to the sofa were she sat down with Apple on her lap and hugged her until she got herself together again.
"So what was the whole avoiding me thing about?" Apple demanded to know.
"It is for your protection Apple. You are not save around me."
Now she just got angry. "What the fuck are you talking about?" What was she thinking? How was ignoring and avoiding her protection?
Raven went pale again and swallowed before she reluctantly answered. "Ever heard of hanging head killer?"
Apple nodded slowly. Everybody in the city has heard of her. She was caught a few years ago. She got her name because she decapitated he victims and hung the heads in the window of their bedroom for everybody to see. She has claimed at least fifteen lives before she was caught, one of them her own child. She has also been called the Evil Queen while the media reported on the trial due to her last name being Queen.
"She is my mother."
Apple's eyes widened and goosebumps claimed every inch of her body, but Raven was not finished. "I guess you need to hear what happened to understand." Her eyes looked dead while she told her story with a monotonous voice.
"We didn't know about anything until five years ago when my father was off to work and she decided that she loved us too much. Me, my brother and my father. She loved us too much, so we had to die. She loved my brother most, so she choose him first. She stabbed him. First where it wasn't lethal, so she could hear him scream she loved his screams, you know? When she thought he had screamed enough she cut his throat and cut and cut 'till his head was in her hand. His blood was everywhere. On my skin, on my clothes, on the ground, and on her. Most of it was on her. She liked it, when it sprayed on her. She wanted to hang his head in the window, but his hair was to short so she went to another room to get some string. She left the head on the ground where it could stare at me. I managed to open her knots and escape her fetters, so I could climb out of the window and escape."
Her empty gaze pierced right trough Apple before some life reignited in her eyes. "I am her daughter. I will kill you if I love you. One day I will go crazy like her and kill everybody I love! I am a monster!" Tears started running over her face. A sight Apple became all to accustomed to when looking in the mirror lately. "I don't want to kill you." She whispered. "I don't want to kill you" She repeated it a few times while Apple hugged her gently and switched to "I don't want you to die."
Apple had always thought heritage was something to be proud of and that family is something to be celebrated, but hearing Raven tell her story, telling it like she was entirely detached from it, because any other way would break her, had murdered that idea like Ravens mother has murdered her brother.
"You are not a monster Raven. You are one of the kindest, most loving and most forgiving persons I know. In fact you take the top spot in all three categories and I have never seen you use violence even in self defense, you are so peaceful even Gandhi could learn a few things from you. You are nothing like that woman. You understand? Not a tiny little bit." She told her while keeping her close to herself.
"How would you know? I could just snap one day." Raven protested, but snuggled up to her anyway.
"Anybody could." She admitted. "I really doubt you will though."
"M-hm." A moment later she heard her crush breathing evenly. Raven had fallen asleep.
With all the horror she just heard of she felt stupid that the most burning question in her head was: So... We are good again, right? Together and lovey-dovey?
Better late than never right? I had a little writters block. I hope you didn't wait to long.