Chapter Twelve
"Day seven, emissaries from Europe went to the North American capitol of Washington, D.C, to discuss the growing terrorism from the group calling themselves The Pride..." Raven read quietly to herself, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
It had been several weeks since her date with Daniel, and now the two of them were going steady. The media for the city had snapped up the news like a ravenous flytrap snaps at a large meal, and she had seen the interview with their waiter from The Blue Swan on several news channels and journal covers. Rumors had indeed spread, but they were easy enough to ignore and disprove. The only real annoyance was how much Zane and Jayme teased her about the relationship, and how Eve had been attempting to become her friend just to get close to Daniel. This had, of course, failed, and now the woman hated her even more than she had to begin with.
The stories about the Alpha Heir and his new girlfriend had quickly been overshadowed when the Alpha decided to reveal to the World Parliament who it was that was messing up everything they were working so hard to control. He had sent them an anonymous letter from an undisclosed address above ground telling them the name of their group, and that they would stop at nothing to destroy them. It was clearly a scare tactic; and it worked. The World Parliament was in a complete panic, desperately trying to find out where this mysterious letter had come from, and where The Pride could possibly be based. They had no idea how large the organization they were dealing with was, and President Boulder had given an address reassuring the world that The Pride was "nothing to worry about". He could never have been more wrong.
Raven sighed and scribbled the classification label across the side of the folder and tossed it onto the edge of her desk. Ever since the Alpha had sent that letter, almost every file that was brought to her had something to do with the government trying to find them. It got somewhat tiresome, and she had to admit that she missed the more exciting files she had gotten before all of this started. However, Raul assured all of them that this was a major step in the right direction. He said that if the Alpha was confident enough to tell the World Parliament about them, then he was certainly confident that their mission was almost over.
A knock on the door tore Raven from her thoughts, and she looked up to see Zane standing in the doorway, holding a stack of files in his arms.
"I've got some gifts for you, Raven." he said, grinning ear to ear and setting them down on her desk.
"Are you kidding me? Look at how thick these are! It'll take hours to finish all of this!" she growled, running her hands through her hair in frustration; things had gotten a lot busier since the Alpha's letter, too.
"I wish I was, but I'm not. You think it's bad for you, we have to type these things up. It's such a pain in the ass." Zane replied, shrugging and leaving the room.
Raven groaned and snatched the first file up, flipping it open and starting to read. Her eyes widened at what she read; this was an order to destroy a weapons supply building in South America. This was definite proof that things were getting more intense above. If they were destroying weapons supply companies, then surely bigger companies were up next.
"This is crazy...I've only been here a couple of months, and things are getting really intense. I hope things don't go crazy after we finish this business." she muttered to herself.
"I agree wholeheartedly."
Raven looked up to see Daniel walking into the room, a small frown on his face. He walked over to her and bent to plant a quick kiss on her cheek, seeming somewhat distracted. She looked up at him and noticed dark circles under his eyes.
"Have you not been sleeping?" she asked softly.
"I didn't sleep well last night. I've been thinking about all of this mess. Wondering if this whole destroy and replace the government thing is going to work." Daniel whispered back, sitting down on her desk.
"I've been wondering about that, too, but it's too late to stop now. Your parents probably wouldn't listen to us about it anyway."
"You're probably right. We just have to wait and see what they do."
"When do I get to meet them?" a sly grin spread across her face.
"Eventually. For now, I need to go talk to Elite Santana. I just wanted to see what you were up to. See you later." Daniel smiled and walked out of the room, leaving Raven alone to think.
Things were certainly getting more intense around Casa de Los Muertos, and Raven wasn't sure she was liking it. She wanted to make the world a better place, but was starting to think that this might not be the best way to do it. There was starting to be a lot of violence, more so than anyone was comfortable with. She had never been a fan of violence; it was part of why she joined The Pride, to stop government cruelty and abuse. The violence The Pride used wasn't much better than what the World Parliament did.
She sighed and scooped up the next file. The day passed by in a blur, and by the time it got to quitting time, Raven's eyes were burning from reading all of the files. She stood and muffled a yawn with the back of one of her hands, picking up the last stack of folders and carrying them carefully to the back room. Her arms were full, so she had to use her elbow to push the door open. She was surprised to see that several of the filing cabinets were left open, and looked like someone had been combing through them hurriedly.
"Elite Santana, can you come here for a moment?" she yelled nervously, not sure what was going on.
A minute later the man peeked around the door, a curious expression on his face.
"What is it, Mrs. Eromreven?" he asked calmly.
"Why are all of these cabinets open?"
He looked at the cabinets, then chuckled.
"Oh, that. Our Heir was looking for a certain file that was stored away about a year ago. I suppose it took a lot of digging around. Looks like he was in such a hurry that he forgot to close the filing cabinets." he said just as calmly, stepping into the room.
This gave Raven an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She and Daniel hadn't been dating for all that long, and she had never even met his parents, but she had learned a lot about him during their time together. One of the things she had learned was that he was a surprisingly organized person that liked for things to be in order. For him to forget to restore order to a room after he had messed it up was very unusual. Whatever he had been looking for, it was very important; and that worried her.
"What was he looking for?" she asked quietly, taking her files to their respective cabinets and closing the open ones.
"I am afraid that it wasn't a file that I was overly associated with, so I don't know much about it. If I remember correctly, it has something to do with the history of the three World Wars. I asked why he wanted it, but he just told me not to worry about it and ran back here." Raul said contemplatively, his brow furrowing at the uneasy look on Raven's face.
"Elite Santana, can I ask your opinion of something?"
Raul watched her for a moment, confused, then nodded.
"Yes, of course."
"Do you think The Pride is going about this the right way? I mean, what happens if we fail? If a new corrupt government rises from the ashes of the old one?" Raven asked with a hint of bitterness in her voice.
Raul leaned back against the wall and thought about her question for a few silent minutes. He had considered the same question several times himself, and had never come up with an answer that he was comfortable with. The thought of another corrupt government made his blood boil with anger, but the other option was far worse; war and anarchy. He had to satisfy himself with the hopeful assumption that the Alpha's plan would work.
"I don't really know what to tell you. I'm sure that there probably is a better, less violent way to achieve our goal. However, that would take more time than what we currently seem to have." he said slowly, drumming his fingers against the wall behind him.
"What do you mean?"
"You wouldn't see this, since you're not an Elite, but the countries of the world are growing tired of the World Parliament as well."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
Raul sighed and shook his head, trying to think of a good way to explain his point.
"In a way it is. However, they're getting tired of them for all the wrong reasons. We want to provide a government that gives everyone equal power and keeps the world stable and peaceful. People in the various countries don't want that, though. They want war. You can see it in how they act toward each other, especially in the World Parliament meetings. The only thing keeping World War Four from breaking out is the Parliament's strict run of everything. If it weren't for that, the entire world would be consumed in blood and gunfire." he said bitterly.
"How exactly are we supposed to stop that from happening?" Raven was almost in a panic now; world war was certainly not something she wanted to be responsible for causing.
"We are hoping that if we go in and establish a stable government as fast as we can, they won't see any reason to fight anymore. Then we can be at peace, real peace." Raul replied soothingly, hearing the panicked note in his subordinate's voice.
Raul watched Raven carefully as she nodded slowly and started to leave the room. She didn't look convinced, but he wasn't sure what else he could say to her to make her stop worrying. Of course, he was just as worried as she was. Things were getting harder, and it was clear that The Pride was going to make its final move very soon. When that happened, they would have to watch with bated breath to see what would ensue. If The Pride went in and set up their government quickly enough, then things would probably work themselves out, and peace would hopefully reign supreme. If not...
"Raven, everything is going to be okay. We're doing the right thing, okay?" he said suddenly.
Raven, who was waiting for the elevator, turned back to look at him. The look on her face sent a shudder of uneasiness down the man's spine; it was a blank, yet somehow terrifying look of contemplative disquiet. She allowed the smallest int of a smile to curl her lips as a loud ding alerted her to the elevator's doors sliding open. She stepped into the elevator and massed one of the buttons before looking up and speaking.
"Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?"
The elevator doors closed on her, and she sighed and leaned against the metal walls as it carried her down to the first floor. She had known that there was tension between the different areas of the world; hell, being a Battlefield Clearer had shown her that much. She didn't know that they were on the brink of war. Yet, she wasn't sure that The Pride was actually helping. She had spent weeks reading files that detailed trade exchanges gone wrong, mysterious assassinations, vanishing legal documents, and the like. It seemed like The Pride was causing more trouble than it was fixing.
Thoughts consumed Raven as she hopped into Zane's car, and she sat in complete silence as he drove her home. He seemed just as worried about something as she was, and it wouldn't surprise her if it had been the same issue. When they pulled up in front of her house, she thanked him quietly and walked to the gate. Snowmelt was more than happy to see her, but he backed away as she pushed the gate open, seeming to sense her low spirits. Raven smiled softly and patted him on the head, the sound of Zane's car fading away as he drove off.
"It's okay, boy. I'm just starting to wonder if joining The Pride was the right decision after all." she muttered to him, walking to her door and going inside.
Raven sighed as she walked into her house and stretched, popping her back loudly. She walked into the kitchen and pulled her fridge open, scanning the contents for something easy to cook, or leftovers. She was happy to find a container of leftover shrimp pasta from the night before, and she tossed the container unceremoniously into the microwave. Once the microwave started heating the container up, she went into the living room and turned on the television, searching for something to watch to help her relax. The news was definitely out, and she eventually settled on an old rerun from a comedy she liked.
Within a few minutes she was laying on the couch, the container of pasta sitting on her coffee table and a forced smile on her face. She tried to erase the nagging thoughts from her mind and enjoy the show, but she couldn't do it. Every joke and gag fell flat under the crushing weight of the thoughts rushing through her mind, and she eventually gave up and turned off the television. She sat slumped over, her head in her hands, as Raul's words played over and over in her head. She couldn't seem to shake the feeling of fear that was slowly creeping upon her.
When Snowmelt began barking she looked up curiously. The ringing of the doorbell confirmed her suspicion; she had a surprise guest, and she wasn't in the mood for surprises. She groaned and walked over to the door, pulling it open and scowling at whoever was at the other side. The look on her face did an about-face as she saw who it was.
"Daniel? What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise, standing aside to let him in.
Daniel looked at her with anxiety across his face, and she immediately knew that something was terribly wrong. He sighed and ran one of his hands through his already messy hair, glancing around as if looking for a place to start. He finally sighed and looked back at her.
"There's something wrong, Raven. I think The Pride is trying to start World War Four."
