Chapter 3

Friday October 12

8:00 PM

Dick and Kori are out on a date. Raven and Malcolm are now dating and have been since September 7th. They went out to dinner at 6:30. Logan and Victor are sitting on the couch playing video games and eating junk food. Raven and Malcolm walk in five minutes later.

"Hey guys. We're back," Raven says when she walks in holding Malcolm's hand. Vic pauses the game and turns toward Raven and Malcolm.

"How was dinner?" Vic asks.

Raven replies, "It was good. We went to Olive Garden. That's Malcolm's favorite restaurant.

"Why didn't you go to your favorite restaurant?" Logan asks.

"Because Malcolm chose Olive Garden," Raven answers.

"We'll leave you guys alone now so you can get back to your game," Malcolm says.

"We're going to watch a movie in my room," Raven says as she grabs a movie from their collection. She and Malcolm then go to Raven's room. Logan and Victor continue their game. After Vic beats Logan, Logan turns toward Vic.

"What do you think of Malcolm?" Logan asks.

Vic shrugs. "He's okay. He's kinda different though."

"Do you think he's good for Raven?"

"He makes her happy. She actually laughs sometimes. Why are you asking me this?"

"I just don't like Malcolm. I don't have a good feeling about him."

"Well he doesn't do anything strange and he hasn't done anything to Raven."

"I still don't have a good feeling about him."

"You sure you're not just jealous?" Vic smirks at Logan.

"What? No. There's nothing between me and Raven. We're just friends. I just don't want her to get hurt."

"Sure. Just friends."

"Yeah, just friends." The two stop talking and watch TV.

(With Raven and Malcolm)

Malcolm is sitting on Raven's bed leaning back against the headboard. Raven is sitting next to Malcolm leaning against him with her head on his shoulder. Malcolm has his arm around her shoulders. They are watching Charlie St. Cloud. Once the movie ends, Raven turns it off but doesn't get up to take it out. She looks up at Malcolm.

"What did you think of it?" Raven asks.

"It was good. I think I liked it more because you were here watching it with me," Malcolm replies, smiling. Raven slightly blushes and smiles back. Malcolm kisses her then pulls back. She smiles then kisses him. As they are kissing, Malcolm pulls Raven onto his lap so she has one leg on either side of him. His hands are on her waist while hers are on his shoulders. As their kissing becomes more intense, Malcolm slides his hands under her shirt and moves them along her back. Raven shivers slightly and pulls back a few inches. Malcolm leans forward and recaptures her lips with his. He moves one hand around to her ribs just below her bra while his other hand moves up her back and finds the clasp of her bra. When she feels him trying to unhook it, she pushes away from him, though his hands are still on her.

"What are you doing?" Raven asks.

"Whatever I want," Malcolm replies darkly. Before Raven can register his words, she finds herself on her back pinned under Malcolm. She struggles to get free and opens her mouth to scream but he covers her mouth with his hand. "Don't even think about screaming for help. It will not save you from what I am going to do." He then grabs a folded pair of socks near her bed and shoves them in her mouth so she cannot speak. He takes off his belt and uses it to tie her hands to the headboard. He pulls a pocket knife out of his jeans. Raven's eyes widen in fear. Malcolm smiles darkly at her then starts cutting off her shirt. Once her shirt is off, he cuts through the front of her bra and the straps then removes it from her. He then gets off of her and pulls off her jeans and underwear, leaving her naked. She tries to move to cover herself up but he holds her still. He moves onto the bed between her legs so she can't close them. He puts his hands on her breasts and squeezes them hard. Raven winces in pain. He lowers his jeans and boxers to his knees and positions himself to enter her. He grabs onto her legs so she can't move them and spreads them wider. "By the way, I'm breaking up with you." He smirks at her before thrusting into her hard. She screams but it is muffled greatly by the socks gagging her. He keeps thrusting into her causing her a lot of pain. Tears form in her eyes. Malcolm notices this and pauses for a moment. "Oh dear. You're not going to cry now are you? I know it hurts, but you'll just have to accept the truth: it's over. I got what I wanted, and I don't need you anymore." With that he continues to thrust into her. Tears are now streaming down her face. With one final thrust, he releases himself inside her then pulls out. He cleans himself off then pulls his jeans up. He removes his belt from her hands and puts it on then takes the socks out of Raven's mouth. Raven is curled into the fetal position on her bed, crying. "Don't worry. I'll see myself out." Malcolm walks out of Raven's room smiling. He walks through the living room where Logan and Victor are watching TV. Logan notices Raven isn't with him.

"Doesn't Raven usually walk you out?" Logan asks Malcolm.

Malcolm stops walking and looks at Logan. "Usually but she's not feeling too well so I'm letting myself out."

"Is she okay?"

"She's just in some pain and tired. Now if you'd excuse me, I'll be leaving now." Malcolm then walks out the door and leaves the Tower.

Logan turns toward Victor and asks, "Do you think she's okay?"

Victor shrugs. "I don't know. She seemed fine earlier. Maybe she just ate some bad food."

"I'm gonna go check on her," Logan says getting up from the couch. He walks to Raven's room and sees that the door is open, which isn't normal. He walks into her dark room and barely makes her out curled up on her bed under her blankets.

"Raven?" He says softly walking toward her.

Raven replies softly, "He lied to me. He lied. And I gave him what he wanted." At the end of her sentence, a small sob escapes her mouth.

Logan is worried; he has never heard her cry before. He is now standing by her bed. "Raven, are you—"

"Please, just get out of my room." Logan puts his hand on her shoulder and feels her flinch. He crouches down so he can clearly see her face. He can tell that she has been crying a lot and sees fear in her eyes. He takes hold of her hand that is outside the blankets. She tries to pull it back but he keeps holding it. He uses his other hand to gently rub the back of her hand. His fingers move over her wrist and she flinches. Logan looks down at her wrist and sees that it is bruised. Raven pulls her hand from his grasp and back under the blankets.

"Please leave me alone, Logan. Please," Raven whispers. Logan is shocked that she is practically begging him as she never begs. He knows something is wrong but lets it go for now. He stands up and walks toward the door. He sees a pile of her clothes that looks like they were just tossed randomly. He walks over to them and inspects them because it is not like Raven to have clothes lying out. He picks up the shirt and notices that it has been torn. He looks down at the pile and sees a bra that is also torn. He puts the clothes back down and walks to the door. He looks back at Raven and whispers, "I'm so sorry Raven." He then leaves and closes her door. He walks back out to the living room and sits on the couch with his head in his hands. Victor is still watching TV.

Vic looks over at Logan. "What's wrong?" He asks turning off the TV.

"I knew he was no good," Logan mumbles into his hands.

"What? I can't understand you when you talk into your hands."

Logan lifts his head. "I was right when I said I didn't have a good feeling about Malcolm."

"Why's that? Is Raven okay?"

"Not even close to okay."

"What happened?"

"I went to her room and her door was open, which never happens. Raven was curled on her bed under the blankets. She said that he lied to her and she gave him what he wanted then I heard a sob. I put my hand on her shoulder and she flinched at the touch. I looked at her face. She had been crying a lot and there was fear in her eyes."

"Raven is never scared."

"I know but it was in her eyes. I touched her hand and saw her wrist was bruised. She practically begged me to leave her alone. As I was leaving, I saw some clothes on the floor which is also uncharacteristic of Raven. I looked at the clothes and they were her clothes she was wearing today. Her shirt and bra were both ripped. It looked like they might've been cut with a knife. Vic, I think she was raped by Malcolm."

Victor sits there in stunned silence. After a few minutes, he finds his voice. "That bastard."

"My thoughts exactly."

"So what should we do?"

"I don't know. I'm not telling her I saw her clothes though. She'll probably yell at me for going through her stuff."

"But she needs help."

"She'll come to us when she needs us. Right now she wants to be alone and I think we should give her some space for now. Hopefully she won't stop going to school or eating. If she does that then we get her professional help ASAP. We can try to get her to talk but don't push her too much. We don't want her to isolate herself."

"Since when are you the one with the plan?"

"I care about my friends and don't like to see them hurt. And you weren't coming up with anything."

"Do we tell anyone about this?"

Logan thinks for a little bit. "We can tell Dick and Kori, but we have to make sure that they won't tell anyone else first."

"What about Bee?"

"You can tell her but make sure she doesn't tell anyone else or try to get Raven to talk about it before she is ready. As far as Raven knows, I'm the only one who knows about her crying and the bruises on her wrist. I don't want her to hate me for telling you guys."

"So we just have to act as if nothing happened and we don't know anything about it?"

"Yes."

"You like her."

"Of course I do. She's my friend."

"You like her as more than a friend, Logan. Just admit it. I'm the only one here."

"If I ever told you I liked someone, which I don't, you would never let me hear the end of it. I will never tell you anything like that."

"Come on, man. Are you just going to deny your feelings toward Raven?"

"We are just friends. I know she doesn't like me as more than that, and I've told you I don't like her more than that either. Stop bugging me about it." They sit on the couch and wait for Dick and Kori to come back from their date. Victor turns on the TV to pass the time. Thirty minutes later, Dick and Kori walk in holding hands and smiling.

"Hello friends," Kori says, beaming.

"Hey," Vic and Logan reply. Dick notices their serious expressions.

"What's wrong?" Dick asks. Victor looks at Logan and nods. Logan takes a deep breath.

"First you both have to promise you will not mention this to anyone. Not any of your friends at school, not to Raven, not in anyone's presence except for us in this room right now," Logan says looking at both of them.

"I promise," says Dick.

"As do I," says Kori. Logan then tells them what he told Victor. Both Kori and Dick are shocked at the news like Vic was. They discuss it a little more then agree to act as if they know nothing about it. They all go to bed, as it has been a mentally and emotionally exhausting night.