This is (so far) my favorite chapter… it was fun to write…

Chapter Thirteen: Recall

Raven sighed and crossed her arms. "I hope you know that you're an idiot. That's just stupidity."

Jason turned to face her, spreading his arms and grinning. "I know!"

"Really. You can die from that."

"No, I can't!"

She laughed in sarcasm as he fell backwards again, landing with a splash into the choppy waves of the bay, twenty feet from where she was standing at the water's edge. "Get back here, Jason!"

"Why?" he whined. "We already discussed all possibilities of escape from the Tower! Now let me have my fun!" He sat up, flipping his wet hair back and shaking the sleeve of his black hoodie as if to dry it.

"Going swimming in temperatures below zero is your idea of fun?"

"Yeah! I mean, doesn't everyone do it?"

"You're crazy," she muttered.

"Technically," Jason explained, "the water is warmer than the air, since it takes longer to change temperatures. The water seems warm."

Raven crouched and dipped her hand in the water, surprised that it really was warmer—if only by a little. "You proved your point," she called, standing again. "Now let's go!"

Jason smiled brightly and began racing towards the beach. "You asked for it!" he called, fighting the waves to get to her.

"You're sopping wet!" she yelled, backing up. "Don't you dare!"

He pretended to fall in slow motion when he was halfway back to get even more drenched. He hopped to his feet again within ten seconds and resumed going towards her.

"Jason, slow down! You're going to run into—"

"You?" he panted, grabbing her and spinning around, completely off balance. "I know!"

"You're wet!" she growled, but she couldn't help smiling.

"Always stating the obvious, Rae-Rae!" He fell into the snow-painted sand, landing over Raven. Instantly, he rolled a foot away from her, propping himself up on his elbows. His breath was ragged between his gasping laughter.

"Now I'm wet," she complained, still smiling. "Are you entirely insane?"

"Maybe," he struggled to say.

Raven looked at him for a moment longer, only to burst out laughing.

"What?" he huffed, startled by her sudden explosion.

"You look ridiculous!" She shook with hilarity, still looking at him sprawled out on the sand, sweatshirt dripping wet and clinging to his frame, his jeans already covered with tiny tan specks. "Absolutely ridiculous!"

Jason, finally catching his breath, dropped back into the sand. "So do you! Your hair is all messed up, and now you're wet—"

"Whose fault do you think that is?"

"Certainly not mine!"

"Oh, really?" Her smile subsided into an almost-stern glare.

"Yes, really. Now you look like a pouting nine-year-old… But how many times have you smiled today?"

She groaned and clambered to her feet. "Not that again!"

"Beautiful Raven," he sang, following suit.

"I'll touch you if you don't—"

"Oh, yes, my sweet! Touch me!" Jason reached out a hand to her and grinned like a lovesick fool.

"You have a bad way of misinterpreting—"

"I know that you want to have my baby, Rae-Rae, but I just—"

"Will you shut up already?"

"Maybe you should shut my mouth with—"

Raven spun on him, gritting her teeth. "Jason!"

"Oh, yes! Say my name again!"

"Jas—"

"Say it!" He was stepping closer now, very nearly skipping to her in the process.

"I'm not kidding, Jason." She reached out a hand, but pulled it back when he continued closer.

"See?" he grinned. "You won't do anything!"

"Last warning."

"I don't believe you."

Raven quirked a brow and shot forward, skimming the tips of her fingers over his cheek. It took a minute, but images snapped into her mind, so strong that they replaced her senses.

She was standing—or, rather, sitting—in the middle of an open room with pillars lining it instead of walls. The landscape outside was dark but green, and the inside was white marble, candles flickering, throwing shadows on the delicately carved walls. A voice was speaking in a tongue she didn't understand, although she could tell it was a question of some sort.

Her surroundings switched—the voice changed, but another continued—and her focus turned to a girl with pale skin and golden hair falling past her waist, who seemed to be speaking to her. "I told you," she said, in a tongue that wasn't English, but still seemed familiar. "You can't help them." She seemed almost doll-like as she crossed her arms and tilted her head in obvious pity.

And then it changed again, leaving her staring at a dark-haired boy. He, in turn, was staring down at the woman who had been in the portrait on the apartment's wall. Jason's mother? Raven guessed, stepping closer to see why neither of them were moving.

The woman, staring mindlessly at the ceiling, was lying fully clothed in a bathtub of red water. There was no doubt in Raven's mind on what tinted it when she saw the cuts across the woman's submerged neck.

"Mommy?" the boy asked her quietly, and then spun to face Raven. "Help!" he choked out meekly, his silver eyes staring right through Raven as if she wasn't there—because she wasn't. "Please! Someone! My mommy—!"

He's Jason, she realized, suddenly nauseous. Her eyes moved to the woman in the bathtub; He said his mother committed suicide, but this…

Something jerked Raven backwards. She landed on the cold sand of the beach, back in reality. With a gasp, she flicked her gaze to Jason.

He was absolutely still for a few lengthened seconds, looking about to hit her, when he stumbled a few feet backwards. "What did you see?" he hissed, his eyes menacing slits, though they flickered with worry and fear. "Why did you do that?" he yelled. Catching his balance, he rooted himself to the spot and towered over her. "Are you insane?"

Raven reached out a hand. "Jason, I didn't—"

He smacked it away so hard that she felt her wrist crack. "Don't touch me!" he shouted, and then abruptly vanished.

"What?" Raven wondered. She looked around, wide-eyed, to find nothing but empty stretches of beach. "Where…?" Something hot trailed down her cheek and made her jump. She wiped it away, shocked to realize that it was a tear.

"Where did you go?" she asked, and shakily rose to her feet, tripping over her sand-covered jeans. "Jason, come on. This isn't funny." She couldn't imagine where he went, or how he had disappeared from sight. He hadn't moved at all—he was just there one moment and gone the next.

Her hand throbbed from where he had hit her. The wind bit at her wet skin as she inspected her fingers closer, making sure that there was no serious damage before walking back up to street level. Would he be at his apartment? Or would he be… elsewhere? She almost laughed at her stupidity. Why would he let me inside his apartment if he was there?

She found herself getting into the back of a cab and then getting out again all too soon. The driver asked her if she was all right as she paid him and weakly staggered onto the sidewalk. She was almost too busy hoping that Jason wasn't so mad as to leave her alone far away from any familiar area even to answer with an inaudible, 'Yeah."

Up the elevator and towards the room—luckily, she had glanced the door number earlier—and then stood there, tentative to knock.

"You're a fool, Raven," a low voice murmured from inside the apartment before she knocked, let alone touched the door. It swung open, and she didn't have a chance to see the person before a precisely-aimed backhand to her right temple knocked her unconscious.