Disclaimer: I own barely any of this story, practically all of the credit must go to Eoin Colfer, who is the genius behind Artemis Fowl.
Summary:…Okay I fibbed a little…I don't really have a summary for this story…but I got you inside didn't I? Doesn't that count for something? At least stay and read it now that you're here...nudges arm…please...
Authoresses Note: Hey…at my lack of patience I have decided to post a little early, in what I like to call a trail run. Though those of you who read this the first time it was posted, I have made a few slight adjustments to the story, but don't worry it that doesn't overly affect the plot. And I have split the chapter as you may have also noticed. I had to replace the whole story because I couldn't edit my chapter at all, and the fact that it wasn't posted properly on the site bugged me to no end. I am still a bit annoyed at the way its turning out, the site wont allow me to use non language relevant keyboard characters to seperate my paragraphs and switch between characters. But i hope you all will bare with me...
All types of reviews are welcome including flames, so in accordance to FanFiction's Writers Etiquette, I will take it all as constructive criticism, but if I really, really don't like what you have to say, be sure of verbal retaliation (just not at this site). For I'm still unsure how well I can take said criticism. My head has become a little swelled with all the compliments I've gotten from the peopled I've allowed to read this before hand.
So please be nice, and leave your email address at the end of your review so I can send a more personal reply back. But enough of my ramblings, read!
-,-
Artemis Fowl: And The Raven's Prophecies
Chapter 1: In Which Beginnings End and Begin Again
Raven sat in the back row of her physics class, bored almost to the point of falling asleep. 'Why doesn't mum give this school any advanced classes? I finished this book before I was eleven. And this teacher is so incompetent, I bet he got his degree at Community College, I highly doubt he even knows what he's teaching, let alone understand it enough to do so. I could do a better job, but what's the point when she wont to pay me?' she huffed as she thought and scrutinised Oliver Rogers' big thick two dollar glasses and patched tweed blazer. 'I wonder if he speaks like that so we won't notice that he isn't teaching us anything? Maybe I can get her to hire someone else to teach instead,' she tilted her head to one side and watched him so intently that he became uncomfortable enough to turned away. Raven smirked. He was such an easy target and she wasn't the only one to think so.
Just as soon as he turned away, her friend Nick Whitman put up his hand and asked him to explain string theory, a question he so obviously didn't know the answer to. She watched him stutter trying feverishly to figure it out, she could even see Nick smirking from where she was sitting. But her gloating was cut short. She suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck spike up and got the cold clammy feeling that always associated with a vision. 'What!' She thoughtwildly, 'Why is one coming now! Oh…I don't feel so good,' she started to shiver and knew subconsciously bad news was coming.
As if on cue, the door to their lecture room opened slowly and in came a very depressed looking Miss Adelaide Honey. Raven didn't think it was even physically possible because of all the plastic surgery that made it seem impossible to frown, plastic surgery that her family mostly paid for.
Family? Why did that word feel so odd?
Added to her always sunny disposition, this made a very odd picture. She saw two policemen stand in the doorway as Miss Honey made her way towards Mr Rogers, causing Ravens feelings of dread and dizziness to increase.
Mr. Rogers began stuttering for no reason; he always got like this, when within close proximities to Miss Honey. He even managed to knock off his little atomic structure on his desk, causing blue and red balls to scatter across the floor. The class broke into quiet sniggers, which Miss Honey chose to ignore, "I need to speak to Patricia Grayson please," she asked.
The whispers of her name, reached Raven before the shaky point of Mr Rogers finger. Her shivering had increase to shaking and she stood up from her seat, her eyes changed colour and went black as they always did when she was either having a vision or feeling a strong emotion, usually anger. They slipped in and out of focus and she managed to stubble down the stairs, missing the last two steps completely, to Miss Honey who was waiting for her back in the doorway. She closed the door behind them and Raven stood in front of the three adults waiting, for more then the reason they pulled her out of class.
"Miss Grayson, we have some bad news for you," started one of the policemen.
"It's about your parents," said the other and Raven could almost feel the world slow down.
"Oh Patricia, they've been in a terrible plane crash!" Miss Honey wailed emphasizing the word terrible, as if the sentence wasn't bad enough without it. But as soon as the words were out of her mouth the world stopped completely for Raven and the sounds of Miss Honey's wailing distorted till they couldn't be heard. The news managed to sink in just before her vision came, breaking her heart neatly into three, making a sound like tinkling china that only she could hear.
The images came more quickly than usual, making them extremely hard to follow, but the ones she saw haunted her. Fire. Fire was first and foremost, everything she saw was covered in flames. People, furniture and things burnt beyond recognition. She eventually convinced herself that she felt the flames on her and swatted at herself as she tried to put out the flames around her. She then stumbled upon one of her parents and the images slowed down enough to let her see them mouth, "We love you Patricia!" It was the last straw, her brain couldn't take it anymore, her visions were a stretch before and they were not that big. Ravens eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed.
--,--
In the shadows of an alleyway, in a bustling market place, hundreds of miles away, a mans eyes opened, lips cracking into a feral smile. "The wheels of time are turning. Things are finally in motion." He stood up slowly, his form shifting slightly under his baggy robe, making him appear much taller then he was before. "It is time."
--,--
Raven awoke what felt like seconds later, in a blindingly white room, that yet seemed to glow a very soft gold, still dressed in her school uniform. She rose to her feet and found that she felt great, no massive headache from her vision, no bumps from hitting the ground, nothing.
Once her eyes had adjusted Raven saw that she wasn't in a room, but in a tunnel. As she walked a few feet ahead she noticed that her feet sunk slightly into the ground she was walking on. Raven bent down and scooped up a handful of what she was walking on and nearly screamed when she realised it was cloud. 'I'm dead!' She thought and felt a fainting fit coming on.
"Oh, Patricia darling there's no need for that," This snapped her back faster than a gunshot.
"Mum?" She said slowly as if not daring to believe it.
"Who else would it be darling?" Her mother said and laughed. Ignoring completely the unstable cloud she was on, she sprinted towards her mother and saw her father come and stand there too, which only increased her speed. She saw her mother with her honey blonde hair falling freely, instead of the usual bun it was in making her pale icy blue eyes stand out. She was dressed in her favourite pin stripe suit and smiled encouragingly at her. Her father on the other hand was dressed in the way he liked best, ¾ shorts and a baggy t-shirt, his black hair tousled and his vivid green eyes smiling at her.
Raven was there within seconds and was about to close the gap between them but then took a step back instead and her eyes flashed black angrily. "What's wrong sweetie?" Her father asked suddenly concerned. Looking at them again, Ravens' eyes switched back to their original colours and welled up with tears,
"How could you die?" She managed to blurt out, "How could you?!"
"It wasn't something we could help darling, you must realise that," her mother said sighing.
"Just remember we love you very much, we have soo much to tell you and not much time to say it in you don't have much time left up here," It took her a little more time to process this,
"But daddy I'm dead, I'm here with you and mum forever…aren't I?" She added the last bit in when she saw the looks on their faces.
"Oh no darling, you have a job to do down there," her mother replied, smiling secretly.
"You have much more time before you come back...but I'm sorry to say our time is up here now,"
"Up? How can time be up? I haven't been here for very long." With that she flung herself at her parents and hugged them, "Daddy I don't wanna go! Mummy I wanna stay here with you! What job? I don't have a job! I don't wanna work!"
That was all Raven could say before she felt strong arms wrap around her waist and start pulling her back. Raven fought tooth and nail against the arms that grabbed her and when she finally gave up she stretched her hand out hoping her parents would grab it and pull her back to them but they only stood there waving at her until they became mere dots to her. Then her pulley switched from first gear to sixth in no time flat and she took a big breath in as she began to fall into the blinding whiteness.
-,-
As with all near death experiences and experiences of death, you can never remember what truly happened, as was the case with Raven. Her back arched, throwing her chest into the air with what felt like her first new breath in hours and the first immediate feeling she felt was pain, which instantly destroyed any chance of remembering the meeting she had with her parents.
Raven coughed from her breath and a few flecks of blood dropped onto the sterile white bed she was on. Her head felt like it was slowly being pulled apart and even her chest ached from her sudden coughing fit. It alerted everyone in the room to her return to consciousness, though she didn't notice them. She lay back down and wriggled around a bit, blinking furiously trying to get her eyes back into focus and trying frantically to figure out where she was and what was going on. Raven got her memory back soon enough, up to when she collapsed, in a blast of images and she was shocked into silence.
Her parents were dead, need she say more?
"Hello Miss Grayson, you gave us all quite a scare there," she relaxed instantly at the soothing voice of the school nurse and private doctor to her Mrs. Shirley Bitters, who was the exact polar opposite of her name. Her eyesight returned and she saw a small group of people gathered around the bed she was on.
Mr Rickman stared at her pointedly as if just being here was a waste of his time. He was widely known for being extremely cheap, rude, mean, nasty, highly unkind and very untrustworthy, if you get my drift, which made you wonder about the sanity of Ravens mother who kept him staffed as her Vice Principal and their History teacher. It was also said that her kind heart for things like that would be her downfall but now that Danielle Grayson was no longer Headmistress and Mr Rickman was, it would now be the school's downfall.
Next to him stood Miss Honey who had calmed down considerably from the last time Raven saw her, but huddled close to who she saw were three of her four best friends, Eden McPherson, who they loving called Ed had unusual amethyst coloured eyes and straight black hair, she had tanned skin and was the same height as Raven and the same age, both 16 and both the youngest. Appearance wise, she had a great body, but was blind to realise it. She could only be described as most likely to succeed. The girl was naturally great at anything intellectual she, well put her mind to, meaning she could go anywhere do anything and pretty much live anyway she wanted to.
Azlyn St James was 17 and had dirty blonde hair that naturally made open ringlets and baby blue eyes, had creamy white skin and the body of a supermodel and was only just taller then Raven an Ed. She was the drama queen in their little group of friends. Well considering she wanted to get into acting as soon as she finished high school, it was kind of like her job to practise and boy did she have the ego down already.
Aidan was the lovable jock; he was the tallest of them all and the oldest at 18. He was quite stocky, built for football and he did play…occasionally. Occasionally because at a school of intellectuals being knocked around isn't high on their things to do list.
Aidan had brown hair, plain but pretty brown eyes and "the body of a god!" quoted by a less then pleasant person; he tragically had a rendezvous with.
And Conner Holloway who was also 17, had special leave to return on Wednesday, was the class clown. No matter where he went he would light up a room and when he was at work he never failed. He had beautiful intense stormy grey eyes, had spiked up black hair and lucky had no encounters with the class shank to his name. He was quite lithe compared to Aidan and was just a little shorter but looks are usually always deceiving because he could pack quite a punch given half the chance.
He also like Ed could do anything he wanted, but chose to squander his talents, preferring to suspend his time as a teenager and live vicariously. Something he was succeeding in very well…why do you think he had special leave…coughs ...Suspension.
Miss Honey though, still looked as if she was about to breakdown any second, that or throw the group of them at the wall. Her female friends gave each other frightened looks, worried about what the emotionally unbalanced receptionist was about to do to them. Aidan managed to keep his face even. Being hugged by Miss Honey was something that he would, in any other situation, be joyous about, but even he knew that now was inappropriate; their friend had just been told traumatic news and had collapsed unexpectedly for no medically explainable reason. It wasn't the time to be swooning over the very pretty, no beautiful, gorgeous even, delicate, graceful…clears throat… Miss Honey.
The last of the gathered was Mrs Bitters, who began checking her over. "Sorry," Raven eventually said without feeling and Mrs Bitters carried on,
"Hmm…well we were going to take you to the hospital after you collapsed, but Mr Rickman, who doesn't have a medical degree," she emphasized staring at him, who still managed looked unperturbed, "thought that you would be fine after some rest and luckily for him he was right," She smiled and stepped away, effectively telling the others of her clean bill of health and they gave out a long collective breath and Miss Honey let go of Azlyn, Ed and Aidan, who for the most part looked beyond relieved.
But Aidan who was enjoying being held frowned and got a swift kick from Ed to show for it. He then stopped and smiled at Raven and the three students ran and hugged her to which they received less than enthusiastic hugs back. Worried they stepped back as Mr Rickman cleared his throat, obvious, to the people that knew him he was about to make a less then pleasant statement.
"Enough dilly-dallying! There is no need to fawn over her; she isn't the Queen or any queen for that matter. I am a very busy man now, no, even more so then I was before, her mother has now left me with an impossible amount of work to do and I cannot stand around all day worrying whether her child, and I use that term loosely, is alright, which now there is no doubt, for she alone is fully rested." And after the said unpleasant statement, all in the room looked ready to protest but his next statement silenced them,
"I'm thinking cut backs," he changed tactics quickly, "we have far too many staff here doing nothing," he gained an odd glint in his eyes, "but that alas is a decision to be made later, a staff meeting soon perhaps. But for now I must give a message to Miss Grayson, then I can begin to clean up the mess that has been left to me," he sighed dramatically before continuing,
"While you were causing a scene about your parents death, some people, mainly me were actually doing work, for your benefit I might add, 'not to mention my own,' he thought,
"I spoke to your aunt and uncle, that live in England who seem willing enough to take you in, it is obvious they do not know what they are getting themselves into. They said they would be here on Friday to come pick you up, in their private jet, they just happened to mention," hardly able to keep his bitter contempt out of his voice, "So the school will house you, feed you and educate you until said time, when we will say our fond farewells to you forever! A small memorial will be held in our new auditorium on Wednesday and your possessions will be cleared out of your dormitory and sent to you, though I cannot guarantee the condition they will arrive in, so anything precious I suggest you carry with you." Menacingly he said, "Good day to you." And Mr Rickman exited the infirmary wearing a grin that would scare small children, leaving behind a wake of silence.
"May I leave now?" Raven asked in a dead voice.
"I don't see why not," Mrs Bitters started, a little startled by her calm voice, "But don't strain yourself too much, we wouldn't like a repeat of today now would we?" She didn't receive an answer. Raven got out of the bed and walked to the door, flanked by her friends and Miss Honey who stared nervously at her. They all walked silently for a while and eventually rounded a corner leading them unexpectedly to the Student Common Room.
"I'll leave you here then children, if Mr Rickman really is planning to have a staff meeting, and I shudder to think he is, he'll need my help to make sure the staff all actually arrive, its more then their jobs worth not to…actually it may just be their jobs worth,"
Giving a miniscule squeak she sped of down the hall and Azlyn, Ed and Aidan watched as she finally disappeared down the long corridor. When they turned around Raven had disappeared, but it wasn't hard to find where she went, the open common room door was clue number one, the silence in the otherwise noisy room was one and another was the fact that there was a huge parting down the centre allowing Raven access to one of the many long couches.
They saw her sitting down and Azlyn, Ed and Aidan pushed the people aside, who rushed to fill in the gap, as they made their way to Raven who stared blankly out the opposite window. The people they had passed were beginning to loose interest and began to carry on playing their games of pool and chess and even the T.V. that had been muted up till then, was turned onto full blast and music began to blear out everywhere, though they did keep their distance. Once they reached her they all sat down, Azlyn on her right and Aidan and Ed on her left. They sat awkwardly for minutes. Raven thinking sad depressing thoughts while the others wondered how to act around her. In the time Raven had thought, she had decided on something and it was that she was not going to kill herself, though the thought still nagged her, she had decided long ago that she would never meet her end that way, but Raven also decided that for now at least she wouldn't live either, which was very different from killing herself, she would be alive for the sake of being alive until her life found meaning again.
As if sensing her thoughts weren't miserable enough, the music on the T.V. suddenly stopped and a dull voice replaced the musically trained ones, someone had obviously sat on the remote and changed the channel. And the culprit which happened to be their friend Nick was about to change it back, but they realised it was the news and the people who wanted to watch it far out weighed the people who still wanted to listen to music.
"And in a tragic turn of events, there has been a terrible plane crash," he too emphasizing the word, but then he couldn't be blamed, he was just reading what other people had written. "The time and cause cannot still be confirmed but we know that a 747 has crashed into the Atlantic Ocean and that the causalities are severe. Among the 350 presumed dead were its two pilots: "James Frank and Bobby "bob" Murphy."
The anchorman bowed his head slightly and two pictures, one of a man and woman, replaced the screen. It was captioned with their age, date of birth and city of origin. James Frank had come from Georgia and was 45 years old, born on March 1st.
"While Bob Murphy was considerably younger at 26 years of age she came from the big apple itself New York City and was going to have a birthday in exactly two months, on October the 25th.
"And also among the list of Dead or Missing, two people very well known to us have also been added. The bodies of Christopher and Danielle Grayson are yet to be found but the state of the vessel clearly shows no way to survive such a crash," the anchorman bowed his head again and continued to talk, the voice a little louder but more muffled came through the speakers, but everyone in the room was too transfixed with the news to even notice the daughter of said couple still sitting feet away.
Two pictures appeared on the screen, "Mrs Danielle Grayson, esteemed Headmistress to the coveted Grayson Academy - " But the rest of his words were cut out, Aidan held the remote control in his hands and the T.V sizzled from being recently turned off. The students seemed to snap out of their stupor and after a few side longed glances at Raven quietly continue their activity everyone pointedly ignored the T.V.
As soon as Aidan sat down he slipped his arm around Ravens shoulders a let her lean on him, her friends too acted at once. Azlyn and Ed each grabbed a hand and clamped it carefully but forcefully in their own, Azlyn's tears dripping softly on to it. Ravens eyes were wide and blank, her mind still filled her eyes with the pictures of her parents, but the words the anchorman spoke may as well have been Martian for all she understood of them. She was taking gently back to earth when Aidan slowly whispered in her ear:
"Just remember Raven we'll always be hear for you, even Conner who isn't here for you right now and doesn't exactly know what's going on because we all know he doesn't watch the news, but he will be here for you all the same…starting Wednesday," Aidan whispered ruining the perfect moment he had ironically created with his ramblings, which were loud enough to be heard by the girls who sniggered as little, but agreed with the sentiment nonetheless.
Raven snuggled into Aidan's shoulder and managed the smallest of smiles that could easily have been mistaken as a muscle spasm, despite her situation. Though she was miserable only moments ago, the image of her parents and the kind and loving words of her friends made her minutely happier, not enough so to let her live to the extent she did before, but enough to give her the strength to be alive with a little more encouragement. Sighing with the weight that had settled in her chest, she closed her eyes and drifted into peaceful dreamless sleep…well at least that's how it started.
-,-
Nightmares woke Raven with a start into pure darkness, her forehead damp with sweat. She hadn't suffered from them since the debacle in Hamburg when she was on a trip with her parents (but then again, that month was a little hazy, her parents never really wanted to talked about it). She didn't want to blink for fear she would see the images again. She patted the bed around her and even herself and found herself in pyjamas, looking for something to distract her. For many minutes she seriously considered screaming, fire had now become her enemy. It was all she could see when she closed her eyes for more then ten seconds, the vision of her parents death haunted her. She distracted herself with her surroundings, which she now realised was the dormitory she shared with Azlyn and Ed. One of them had probably changed her, but even thinking about that couldn't save her for long. Her eyes became heavy and soon her eyes were closed for more then just a second and the images came back.
Her nightmare started out so innocent, pleasantly so. She was hugging her parents, oddly dressed in her school uniform and they were smiling, eyes so full of love. But then flames erupted around them, yet they didn't seem worried. Raven could feel the flames lick at her and she could smell things burning, so clung to her parents even more. Than all of a sudden powerful arms wrapped around her, pulling her away from her family, bringing her through the flames that had now devoured them. And as she got pulled further back, the scene changed, bringing back actual images from her vision.
Snapping her eyes open, she let a single tear slip, before hurriedly wiping it away and brushing the curtains aside silently, she got out of her four poster bed. She felt then like she hadn't seen the room in a century, but knew just as well, that she would miss it immensely when she was gone, especially the carpet she was standing on that kept her feet from freezing on the cold wooden floorboards.
Raven stared about her pentagonal room, thinking packing would save as an excellent distraction. She then noticed that she actually possessed very few of the things in the room. All she had to herself was a chest of drawers, a desk and a bed, that really belonged to the school, and the contents of the aforementioned and desk and drawers, plus a few odds and ends that had found their way to her friends area of the room, like her hair brush or a pair of shoes.
She shuffled around the room for a while, looking through her drawers and desk, looking for things for her to pack but found none. Her clothes were something she would need for the rest of the week so she couldn't pack them. Her school books and laptop were also things she would need for God knows Rickman wouldn't ever let her off class just to hang around the school, so she resolved to go back to bed, even if it was just to sit and wait for her alarm, because she knew she didn't want to risk sleeping again.
The clock read 11:43pm as she silently climbed back into bed, she could hear very faint sobbing from Azlyn's bed, but decided against seeing her. Raven had her own problems. Other then that the room was deathly silent, which didn't exactly help Raven's 'don't go to sleep' policy. She sat herself rigidly in the corner of her bed, leaving a crack in her curtains large enough to view her clock. She was still counting down by the time the alarm rang at quarter to seven.
-,-
Breakfast was a quiet affair, for more then one reasons. One: Raven looked horrible, you could always tell when she didn't sleep well and now was obviously one of those times, so not wanting to draw too much attention they decidedly kept quiet about it, but she had an oddly scared look about her that made them worry all that much more. Reason two was that Azlyn was crying, more like sobbing, but enough so to know that you couldn't get a decent conversation out of her no matter how hard you tried, that and the fact that she had practically buried herself in Aidan made it difficult for him to talk as well, he was constantly trying to calm her down. Something he wasn't succeeding in very well. The third and final reason was because no one else was talking. Raven, Ed, Azlyn and Aidan sat down on the end of the very last long table, while everyone else in the school squashed on to the other three, but a few daring people, more like people who were there to late to acquire a seat on one of other tables, sat down on the furthest end to them, as if just sitting near her could make them orphans too. "Just ignore them," her friends repeated to Raven on occasional mouthfuls. Getting sick of it she replied loudly enough for all the people at the nearby table to hear:
"What's there to ignore though, hmm…?! I don't notice anything but the fact that no one in this school has a life, so they all decide to watch me eat! Ignore them, I should feel flattered! I bet I look fabulous!" she angrily shoved food in her mouth so forcefully she nearly started chocking.
"Ah excuse me?!" Ellie, i.e. the class shank, exaggerated as she stood up.
"You heard her," someone on the far side of the room said, but she seemed to zero in on the voice and bit out:
"Was I talking to you Whitman?"
"Shank!" Ed said distinctly before faking a cough, which after a slight pause to gauge Ellie's reaction, made to the whole hall burst into laughter. "I thank you," Ed bowed mockingly and everyone began to eat again, the tension lifting. Ellie continued to stand though and growled loudly in frustration and anger. "Err…someone get her a chew toy!" sending the school into more peals of laughter.
"Grrr!" She practically screamed, "I maybe a shank and a bitch-" she started, but was interrupted by more sniggers, "-but-!" she screamed until everyone had stopped and was looking at her, "At least…" she paused and looked around the room, loving the attention, "…at least, I'm not an orphan!" she ended in a dangerously low voice.
The gasp the followed could have sucked in all the oxygen in the room, had it not been a cavernous hall that had open windows. Raven bowed her head and she actually started shaking soft, which made it seem like she was crying, but she was far from that, she had bowed her head to hide the flush of pure rage and she was literally shaking with angry. 'How dare she!' Aidan quickly jumped up protectively and hid Raven from their views and the girls were speaking in low voices trying to calm her down.
But after the collective breath came the ever popular "Ohhhh……" that was so loud it seemed to call in the teachers. But what the students hadn't realised was that they had come in just after the first lot of laughter, the walls weren't as thick as everyone believed they were.
The words her friends were saying were lost to her, Raven was seeing red at that moment and all she wanted to do was destroy every part of Ellie she could get her hands on. But Mrs Bitter's statement snapped her out of her thoughts: "Miss Ellison, that was uncalled for!" She shrieked her usually soothing voice ragged with anger. Ellie paled at the site of the adults. Raven looked up also to see the entire faculty standing against the wall by the door that led directly to their private dinning area. All thoughts of pounding Ellie into miniscule pieces magically disappeared and for the first time she felt as if she was about to cry, but Raven would be damned if she did it, let alone in front of the whole school and because of something Ellie said.
"Well everybody's entitled to their opinion," Mr Rickman said nonchalantly gaining incredulous looks from all present. "And Miss Honey…I think I'll have that staff meeting, we're all already gathered hear and there's nothing going on here that we need to get involved with, the children can sort it out amongst themselves…so…hop to it!" While the staff silently trooped back into their dinning room, most with looks of impending doom, but all the students clearly saw Mr Rickman slip a wink to Ellie, who smiled smugly in reply.
This zinged Ravens mood-o-meter back to furious except that instead of seeing red she saw black, her eyes had changed colour and she was beyond livid. Her hand slid stealthily out of Ed's and she stood up, pushing past her bodyguard, Raven stalked towards Ellie. Her friends had rushed up to her by the time Raven reached Ellie, who hadn't even noticed that she had left her seat, too busy gloating to her two friends, her only two friends Trixy Night and Amber Willows, the two people she hadn't managed to alienate...yet.
Azlyn clung onto Aidan as Raven placed a hand delicately on Ellie's shoulder and the girl spun around. Oh how Raven would have loved to hit that smirking face, but on the walk over her anger had somehow quelled enough to allow her to see that destroying her face wouldn't be such a good idea, if she wanted food and shelter for the rest of the week, so decided on the next best thing.
"Oh- " Ellie started when she saw Raven, but her eyes shifted and she caught sight of Aidan. Pushing Raven aside roughly she stepped into the gap that she use to fill and was now face to face with Aidan. A position he hoped he would never have to be in again. "- Aidan," she practically purred, "how about, you and I meet up in my room tonight say -"
But she didn't get to finish her sentence. It was disgusting to say the least to watch Ellie throw herself at a guy whose body language said nothing short of 'you repulse me, get away'. Azlyn even managed a glare, albeit a watery one, smirking a bit as well to the fact that he had his arm around her and not Ellie. She noticed it and glared twice as hard in return, she even opened her mouth to comment.
"Don't finish that sentence or even begin it!" Raven finally cut in, sick of being ignored, this was her rampage! " Never speak to me or my friends ever again!" Raven said in a very low and dangerous voice.
"Or I'll- " Raven allowed herself a smirk, "make sure you never speak again!" Her now black eyes bored into Ellie's emphasizing the message…Ellie certainly was thick; she didn't seem to get it.
"I'll be happy when you leave," she said with a wave of her hand, dismissing the threat.
"Yeah, well I'll be happy when you die!" Raven stated clearly and the message finally sunk in. Raven turned with a flourish and exited the hall with her friends, leaving Ellie behind gawping like a guppy.
-,-
The rest if the day sped by in a flurry of whispers. Everyone in the school was still talking about the incident at breakfast and anyone who wasn't there, knew everything that had transpired in great detail by the end of the day. It took a while for Ravens' eyes to return to their normal colour. She was still seething by the time she reached her second period class. But by lunch her anger had subsided and she was enjoying the effect she had on Ellie with just a simple glance.
Some of their other friends had joined them for dinner and they all seemed to enjoy reliving the morning, which had frankly begun to bore Raven, but nonetheless she smirked at all the right moments, faking brilliantly to all that didn't really know her that she was enjoying the discussion. But her friends knew better, no one said anything out loud but they cast her worried glances, sharing a few themselves. Azlyn had been dry eyed since their History class, Mr Rickman sent her out of class more then once for disrupting, with her "loud" sobs. Eventually getting so aggravated that he sent her to the councillor.
"She'll think twice before speaking to you lot again!" Nick finished with a laugh. They had all finished dinner and desert and were waiting for the energy to go back to their dorm rooms.
"We'…ll," Aidan yawned, "I think I'm gonna go hit the sack, night guys," He yawned again and made his way out the door. Raven didn't bother speaking, she was too tired, she just got up and left. Her two friends shared a look before they followed her out. They all got into their pyjamas and went to bed without a word to each other. But as Raven started drifting to sleep, she again heard sobs from Azlyns bed, but she was too far-gone to really care.
-,-
Wednesday dawned black. Raven was hiding in the corner of her bed with her eyes wide open. Night terrors were stalking her, burning everything in their path. She slept for only a few hours before them came for her, her nightmare the same, as it was the night before. She again watched the clock, waiting for everyone else to awake. Her usually pretty face had dark bags and her eyes had lost their exuberant gleam. She seemed so hollow, so empty and that's exactly how she felt.
Storm clouds haunted the skies, but no rain fell. Even the weather seemed to be mirroring how Raven felt. Thunder and lighting stuck occasionally but still no rain fell.
Today was the day of the Memorial, so instead of donning the usual school uniform, they all dressed in black for the depressing occasion. Leaving their bags packed for afternoon classes, Azlyn, Ed and Raven walked sadly out of their dorm room to meet up with Aidan at his room. Aidan was dressed in a black tux and when they arrived, they quickly turned and headed towards the auditorium situated downstairs on the other side of school. No one commenting on Ravens appearance, she obviously hadn't slept…again.
Every student was going in their direction, each dressed in black. But when they saw her coming, they gave as wide a berth as they could; leaving a direct path to someone she had forgotten to expect.
Conner stood looking slightly lost in the sea of black, but when he saw Raven, Ed, Azlyn and Aidan, his expression changed. He smiled as he dropped his bag.
Raven had stopped thinking the second she saw him and within a spilt second of Conner dropping his bag she shot to him. Conner opened his arms to embrace Raven as she clasped him firmly around the middle, eyes streaming.
He was shocked for a few seconds before he wrapped his arms around her and said, "Shhh…shhh…baby, I knew you'd be happy to see me but not that happy, I'd have taken a shower, or at least have put some cologne on," This earned a muffled noise, somewhere between a laugh and a sob, followed by a sniff. Raven unburied her face from Conner T-Shirt and looked up at him, eyes still leaking and his happy face evaporated, as he looked into her face all he could see was an immense sadness and an emptiness, he knew was definitely not there when he left. "Don't cry baby," he whispered, wiping away tears, that continued to fall, "what's wrong? You know I was only joking,"
"I'm not crying!" she stated rubbing angrily at her face, trying to stem the flow of tears, though her voice did beg to differ. Azlyn, Ed and Aidan had joined Conner and Raven, looking grim yet happy to see him.
"I ask you to look after my Raven for less then a week and this is what I come back to…?" Even his friendly jibe earned nothing from his stone friends, except for Azlyn who wailed a bit before breaking down into tears.
"Who died?" Conner asked casually. Making everyone in the vicinity stop and stare at him. Even Raven and Azlyn stopped sniffling and Conner made the connection quicker then it would have been thought possible, though it was guess, he hoped for once he wasn't right. "Oh Raven, I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed, hugging her to him once again, to which she gratefully responded. He was right…damn!
They hugged for quite sometime, Conner whispering things in her ear that made more silent tears roll down her cheek, before Ed coughed quietly. The students' still coming to the Auditorium had thinned considerably.
"I'm really sorry to have to break up the moment, but we really have to get to the auditorium," Raven unburied her face and looked at her friends, before quickly wiping away the last of her tears and walking somewhat resolutely into the auditorium. Conner followed abandoning his bag altogether. Azlyn even had the gall to ask:
"Do I look alright?" but that was only to be expected, it was in her nature to be like that, empathic as she is.
"You look lovely," Aidan replied barely glancing at her, well he really didn't have to; she was always beautiful, even after she'd been crying. He turned his back to the hall and held out his hand, she didn't seem to be following.
Azlyn's mouth opened slightly in shock and her checks blushed a pretty pick. Aidan was turned towards her and from behind lights blared giving him an unearthly glow and Azlyn had never seen anything more beautiful, excluding herself of course.
New inexplicable feelings rushed at her and she seemed frozen. She was seeing Aidan in a whole new light that wasn't only the blinding ones that were coming from the auditorium, it was the kind that shines down on people, when you finally realise something about someone, that you seem to have magically missed, in all the years you've known them. And Azlyn really liked what she saw. Bowing her head to cover her blush, see took his hand and he gave her a reassuring squeeze and Azlyn felt her knees go weak.
-,-
The blinding white light that met her almost bought new tears to her eyes. Clasping Conner's hand firmly in her own, she walked into the light that seemed to follow her every move and emerged seconds later to find the whole school already seated.
Mr. Rickman was at the podium and what seemed like the press from all over the entire country behind them. "It seems that that the guest of honour and her friends have finally decided to grace us with their presence," he said his voice dripping with sarcasm, but he spoke into the microphone and he voice boomed out across the hall. He looked surprised for an instant before regaining his composure and saying, "I mean, your seats are in the front row,"
Eyes followed her as Raven, Conner, Aidan, Ed and Azlyn made their way to the front row. Conner looked around the stage and on Mr Rickman's right saw a picture of Ravens mother and father and squeezed Ravens hand a little more. He turned and looked at the others and caught Aidans' eyes, and mouthed, "Both her parents!" clearing sending the message that he should have been told. Aidan nodded grimly and Conner directed his gaze at Raven whose eyes had changed from her usual blue-green to black and she just stared angrily at Mr Rickman who seemed oblivious to her deadly glare.
After taking their seats in the front, Mr Rickman began his long-winded and extremely boastful speech, "We are gathered here today, in the Christopher Grayson Auditorium, to commemorate the lives of two very special people"…. Speaking to no one but the press and their cameras'. All Raven could do was bite her lip and ball up her fists to stop herself lashing out at the Headmaster. The morning seemed to drag on for Raven, her ears ringing from the falsities spilling out of Mr Rickman's mouth.
-,-
'That's it!' Raven's sanity was lost. Mr. Rickman's words were poison and much as Raven had agreed against it, taking her own life seemed better then sitting there a second more, listening to the foul lies he told the nation. But even she knew that that wouldn't solve anything, she was never one for hurting herself, she had seen the effects it had on people, people close to her.
Though even so before she knew what she had done she found one of the many safety pins she had taken to hiding in the folds of her clothing, was in her hand slowly dripping droplets of blood, her mind numbing the pain that should obviously be there. Looking down she saw that there was more the one cut, 'how did I managed to do this to myself?' She questioned herself wildly. 'I didn't really mean any of the stuff I said'. But she couldn't stop herself now, quick as lightning there where three new lines, each seeping blood from the wound. But none were fatal she was sure of that, as long as she stopped the flow of blood soon, she had managed to miss the main artery, slicing instead a little way above the artery shallowly, though a couple got dangerously close. 'Shit!'
-,-
Mr. Rickman's Memorial was over. And the there were a few things that made the situation odd. Well one in particular and that was that Raven hadn't gotten up yet. Half the school must have left already but Raven was still sitting in the same place she had been, her grip on Conner hand much looser then it had been when they all walked in together. "Raven we can go now," he said slowly, guiding her up. She seemed to snap out of a daze, her eyes their normal colour if a little paler.
And that was another thing that should have instantly alerted him that something was wrong with his dearest friend. They all took steps toward the exit, Azlyn and Ed walking quickly almost reaching it. But Raven was the only one to stumble, her face nearly making contact with the hard floor, had it not been for Conner and Aidan who were waiting for her to catch up. "Argh," Aidan stated in disgust as Ravens wrist slid out of his grip, leaving behind a trail of a wet, sticky substance. "Is that blood?" he asked staring intensely between his hands and Raven's.
"Babe what have you done to yourself?" Conner asked softly. Gingerly picking up her wrist, making Raven wince. He looked somewhat angrily at her before scooping her up off the floor.
"Conner what are you doing?!" She protested, "Put me down! I can …" but her words trailed off. She had used a little too much energy and now she became dizzy. At her lack of words he looked down at her, concern evident, though anger not far behind. The look shattered Raven's already broken heart. She hated making him worry, Conner cared so much about her, Raven never wanted to hurt him. Slinging her good arm around his neck, Raven lifted her bleeding wrist and placed her palm on his cheek, causing blood to roll down her arm, pooling slightly at her elbow, making him turn his head towards her. "Please believe me," said softly, "I didn't mean to, it just happened. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry, I…I just…" tears sprang to her eyes, for once in her life, she just couldn't find the words. "I'm just so sorry…I'm sorry…so sorry…so…" she kept repeating them, leaning her head against his shoulder.
"I know babe…" Conner whispered once her words had died away and she was in sweet unconsciousness "…so am I."
-,-
Raven awoke groggily to a lot of yelling, most of which she couldn't make out, mainly due to the thumping in her head, but she had, had worse before, she vaguely wondered what had caused it. The events of the Memorial came back to her slowly, her face contorting, not believing how impossibly stupid her actions were.
One of her arms felt like lead…but she still didn't want to believe it. Lifting her good arm, which wasn't much lighter, she felt around her numb arm and soon came across a tightly wrapped bandage. Tentatively she pushed down on it and the first few prods achieved nothing but she came a little closer to her wrist and Raven felt pain in seconds. The shock to the system, one: sobered her up quickly and two made it painfully clear that she really had damaged herself. But the use of her name distracted Raven from her own thoughts; she craned her head as much as she could to listen better.
Even through a wavy glass sliding door, Raven could make out Conner's angry voice and this was a situation in itself, because Conner was ever the voice of reason, he was always the rational one. Even though he could knock anyone, one, Raven had only heard him raise his voice like this a few times in all the years she'd known him, he didn't really seem to believe in yelling, unless he was telling a particularly funny joke to a large group of people. Shouting in anger, he didn't agree with.
"Patricia's parents died!" Conner was the only person in history her age that had special permission to call her by her real name, but she didn't have to like it. But wow! Did what he say really bring it home.
Yet she didn't want to think about that now, she wanted to know why her friend was soo upset, but she was beginning to get a fair idea. "How could you not tell me?! No phone call, no text message, not even a fucking email!" Oh boy was he mad; Raven didn't know Conner to ever swear, or at least never in front of her. This was bad and guilt seemed to settle in her heart, she was causing him so much pain...
"And now I come back and look at her! Look at what she did to herself! I should have been there for her, I should have been here for her and you fucking know it! You fucking know it!" His voice was softer now, dangerously quiet, though still held all it's original anger, if not more so.
"I can admit we should have told you," Came Aidan's resigned voice and she could tell she was hurting him too…all her friends most likely. These depressing thoughts distracted her from her original goal, but it bought fresh tears to her eyes, Raven would have thought she was all out by now.
"I can't stand to hear you guys arguing!" Came Eden's voice, though Raven could barely hear it, "I'm going to go check on her, Azlyn you coming?" Ed didn't need to ask, Azlyn was on her feet in seconds. She was completely dry-eyed and hadn't said a word since Conner came back, she most certainly wasn't herself and everyone could tell that.
Raven lowered her head as the door slid open quietly. Ed and Azlyn came in and found to wooden chairs to sit in. Ed sat with her head in her hands, elbows propped on her knees, one foot softly tapping on the floor, barely audible while Azlyn sat stock-still. The boys in the other room stopped speaking, it was a tense silence, Raven could sense it from were she was.
Ed abruptly got up and started pacing, small soft strides back and forth after a few steps. Raven could sense where she was at all times, her shoe made a squeaking noise when she turned to walk in the opposite direction, Raven wondered what she was thinking about.
The thought made her head turn, open eyed, she found herself looking straight into Azlyn's eyes. "She's awake," She stated flatly. Conveying only to her that she was more hurt then she let on, hurt beyond tears…and angry. More guilt ripped at her heart as the others stormed in. But they were pushed aside as Mrs Bitters came striding in, taking the place Conner had intended for himself.
"Look at me," she said and shinned a small light in her eyes, her tone was strict, harsh and professional, which was never how she operated. Every student in the school was like her child, some would even say she liked them better then her own daughter. She knew more about most of them then any of the councillors ever would.
"Do you hate me?" Raven asked abruptly. It was a broad question, intended for all, though after the initial silence only Mrs Bitters answered, her voice smooth and soft again.
"Of course not doll. We're only worried. You could have done some serious damage; you've been extremely lucky. Any more blood loss and you'd have been in an ambulance right now," Mrs Bitters flashed a weak smile; she was really getting too old for this. Teenagers and their hormones.
"You can't speak for all of us," Azlyn stated, her voice was barely above a whisper and it shock more then a little, "Because I for one hate you!" A single tear sliding down her cheek, which she hastily wiped away. "With all my heart and soul Patricia Grayson! How could you do it? How could you?" Her voice was quaking as she ran out of the room and everyone was too stunned to do go after her.
And Raven was defenceless against the looks they gave her; she had barely enough energy to move her arms, let alone anything else. There was a hole in her torso where her heart should have been. She broke down crying shamefully, the tears seemed to burn as they rolled down her cheeks. The guilt overwhelmed her, it gripped at her, making her suffocate under the pressure and she had nothing to hide her...to protect her.
"Why would Azlyn say something like that?" Aidan asked quietly to Conner. To which he took his time answering.
"Because…" he really didn't know how to put it, "…Because this is how her older sister died," Aidan made a soundless gasp, eyes widening. Azlyn never spoke of a sister, he never knew…but he made no further attempt to pry. Raven moaned softly, using all her energy to turn on to her good side, just as Ed moved round to the guys' side. Raven's legs felt oddly strong and after a few minutes bought her knees up, hugging them to her.
"Okay boys and girls, I think it's time you all went to class," Mrs Bitters stated firmly. She knew Raven well enough to know that the girl hated it when people saw her cry. It was something she had avoided doing in so many years.
After a few murmurs of protest Aidan and Ed left together, leaving Conner behind. They didn't bother waiting for him, because they knew that he wouldn't leave her, no matter what he was told. Ed felt a slight pang of jealousy, but drowned it in reason...Raven needed him.
"Mr Holloway I thought I told you to go to class," she said when she turned to get Raven a blanket.
"You did, but I've decided not to leave her alone," his tone final. And Mrs Bitters was shocked, never in her years, had anyone spoken to her like that. She was too stunned to threaten detention, but even if she wasn't, she wouldn't have done it. She knew Conner almost as long as she did Raven. He loved her with as much of his heart as it was sane to give and when he got an idea in his head, he stuck to it, especially when it concerned her.
"Then I guess there's no stopping you," she was surrendering, "just don't be too harsh, she's hurting a lot…more so then any of us. And she feels guilty, I can almost see it strangling her," she looked sadly at the girl huddled on the sterile white bed, "take care of her wont you?" It was a rhetorical question, the answer was clear for anyone to read. "I'll just go get her a blanket,"
Conner took quick quiet steps towards the seat that Azlyn had once occupied. Had Raven's eyes been open and not completely drenched with tears, she would have seen him watching her, his mixed emotions storming in the grey depths of his eyes.
Mrs Bitters returned moments later, a thin pale blue blanket in her hands. She unfolded it and placed it carefully on top of the shaking girl. Looking between them she noticed that they had a little…unfinished business, if the argument not long ago was any indication. So Mrs Bitters decided to leave the teenagers in peace, retreating into her office. If they needed her, for whatever reason, they'd know where she was. And as she walked, she vaguely wondered why they never worked out together…
-,-
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked softly, as her tears began to slowly subside. She had even managed to open her eyes. Her emotional anguish reflected there and Conner's great concern for her rose to the surface quick as anything.
"Didn't tell you they'd died?" she slowly spoke. He nodded. "I was soo tired, I must have forgotten," The statement should have stung and it did, but only on a few levels, Raven couldn't really be blamed, she really was a wreck when she didn't sleep properly, that was common knowledge. And the fact that she was grieving made it impossible to blame her.
Her tears had dried, leaving her eyes puffy and red, but she looked better then she had in a while, she really needed the rest. Looking around he spotted a tray with a jug of water and a glass. One of Mrs Bitter's first initial instructions was to make sure she drank a lot of water and with all the crying she had just been doing, she could empty a lake.
Rising, he walked over to the tray and bought it back to the small trolley that was stationed at her bedside.
Helping her prop herself against a few pillows, Conner took a glass a poured.
Bringing her knees up with her, Raven cradling her wrist against them. She grabbed the glass hungrily with her good hand, but couldn't stop her hand shaking, spilling more then a few drops. Conner sat down on the bed next to her and Raven drank three glasses of water before she managed to speak another word. She leaned her head against his chest, calming with his steadily beating heart, Conner wrapping his arms around her.
"I dream about them…" she whispered, "…they're more like nightmares. I can't sleep," Conner looked down at her and their eyes met, "It scares me Conner. I can't close my eyes for more then a few hours. Why do they haunt me?" Turning away she said,
"I wish I'd died now. I'm just causing people so much pain…by just being…alive…" Raven fought a huge urge to start crying again, but she had done enough of that already. Though the tears still stung behind her eyes.
"Never say that again! Never!" He spun her around, his voice frightening, though not very loud. "You can't believe it! I wont let you!" He clutched her to him. "I don't know how I could live without you," A tear rolled down her cheek and Raven knew for a fact, it wasn't hers, "I couldn't live without you…"
Within that instant, Raven's heart felt mended. His love for her broke through her depression and gave her hope. But the feeling, slowly dwindled away, much as she tried to hold on to it. Things like this were never that easy. Her heart was now back to their original pieces and Raven deduced that it was the best it would probably ever be.
Conner released her enough to look at him directly. "I'm glad you're back," she said wiping away his stray tear. "I'm very glad you're here," deciding then and there that she was never going to make him cry again. She could probably live with the hate of her other friends, distressing as that would be. But never without Conner. She was glad she had someone on her side and she made a silent vow that she would never hurt him again.
-,-
They were soon forced to leave the infirmary. Mrs Bitters walked in and found Conner dozing on the bed, cuddled next to Raven who was wide-awake. Waking him up with a jolt she claimed that he was only staying because he wanted to take a nap (jet lags a bitch), when he really should be in class. She sent them both out because Conner still wanted to keep an eye on her and luckily for them History with Mr Rickman had begun only minutes before…the last class of they day with him…she pitted them.
However Mrs Bitters didn't let Raven leave without a hug, "This is the last I'll see of you for a while, I guess," she said, "My Amy's coming from college for a week or two, so I'm going back home. She wouldn't dream of staying here, says it reminds her of school too much," she chuckled affectionately and Raven smiled a little, she could see how that could be. "So good luck doll! I don't need to tell you to get better and never to pull something like this again," they hugged again and Conner watched the scene with slightly hooded eyes…there was something else she wasn't telling him.
He had already figured it out though. It was only to be expected. There really wasn't anything left for her here, besides her friends, but Rickman wouldn't see it like that.
In his words, "She'll make some more,"
But in any case, he wanted her to tell him. It wasn't very often he was found wrong about anything, unless of course he was going up against Raven, that was a lost cause for anyone. But he would gladly like to be proved wrong about this and he wanted the words to come out of her mouth.
Raven felt Conner's gaze on her as they walked towards their class. She was almost certain it was about what Mrs Bitters said. Conner was smart, he would figure it out. So there would be no point in telling him what he already knows right? More to convince herself then anything else. Telling him would mean accepting the fact and she wasn't ready for that, 'deny it for as long as possible', that was her goal.
After climbing two extremely large staircases, Conner and Raven arrived at Mr Rickman's History Class. They hesitated a bit before biting the bullet and walking in. Conner coming in first, slightly shielding Raven from view.
"Take a seat Mr Holloway," he stated clearly from the board, he back to the class and the door. Does he have eyes in the back of his head? Raven wondered idly, "How did he know we -" but the thought stopped dead in her mind.
The whole class was staring at her, or in some cases glaring. As a nervous reaction she accidentally grabbed her bandaged wrist and clamped her fist around it. And the pain that emitted from it almost made her scream. She wasn't breaking any stitches because the cuts were shallow to need them, but even by touching them she was causing them to open again, and it hurt. Raven bit her lip to stop any sound escaping her and clenched her eyes shut until the pain subsided.
We she opened them again; Mr Rickman was inches from her face.
"Miss Grayson, certain people have been called and they were most disappointed to hear about this little…stunt," he sneered, barely loud enough for the people closest to them to hear.
Typical Mr Rickman thought she did this to get attention.
But then he unexpectedly turned on his heel and walked back towards the white board. Which Raven took as a sign to sit down, so made a b line to the empty seat in between Conner and Ed, and in front of a seat that should have been occupied, Azlyn clearly not present and clearly still mad. Her seat was filled by their friend Nick. But before she had even made it there, she heard Mr Rickman callout, so she turned and saw that he had an odd glint in his eyes. This couldn't be good for her.
"Oh. And Miss Grayson, please refrain from bleeding on my tables,"
-,--,--,-
A/N: Okay folks that's it. I know how hypocritical it is of me but I'm sorry for the out of character-ness, I like it better this way...pouts childishly...I'm sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes, I was never very good at that even with Word. So I hope you enjoyed reading it, and hope more that you review. All I ask for in return is 13 measly reviews and you get the next chapter, which I must admit is the only other one fully done. I'm starting to think chapter 3 needs a trim too... But you can only get the next chapter if you review, so get going!
Anyways thanks a bunch for managing to get this far,
- Amanda aka The Obsessive Compulsive Hobbit.
