Chapter 2: Company for the Lonely Ones
Blazing sun filtered through a crack in the curtains, stirring Raven from a deep sleep. She flipped herself onto her back to escape the offending light as a long drawled out yawn escaped her lips.
"Good Morning, sleepyhead!" came brightly from the rooms other occupant who was sorting through her travel case on the bedroom floor, already dressed as though she'd been up for quite some time.
"Morning" Raven fiddled with the alarm on the bedside table until it showed her the hour - 10:00 AM. "Geez, Chels. How did I manage to sleep that long with Cousin Vicky in the house? She's usually here at 6 am sharp! What, did you lock her out or something?" she joked, still comfy in her fort of blankets. Chelsea momentarily looked towards the bedroom door, still untouched since her trip to the kitchen.
"Must have thought we needed the rest. We should go see if they need a hand with the milking again today, I think Betty Jane could use some friendly faces. She looked really worried about something last night" Chelsea located her brush in the depths of her travel case and zipped it up again, walking over towards Raven's bed and sitting herself down at the bottom. "Did she say anything to you?" Raven watched as Chelsea brushed her long red locks, reveling in the way her hair fell gracefully down her back. She looked almost like a Disney princess. "Rae?"
It was just then that Raven noticed she had completely ignored Chelsea's question. "Snap," she thought to herself "was I staring?". "No she never said anything to me, she was probably just having a bad day, Chels. We'll go see her and I promise I'll wear something normal this time"
Chelsea smiled to herself, remembering the last time they were at the country house. Raven, in her standard Raven style, dressed like a cow in order to milk one. "You know, Rae, I think that's a good idea" she chuckled softly as she turned to look at her best friend who was still cocooned in blankets. Standing up, Chelsea pulled the offending layers from atop Raven signaling that she needed to get out of bed. "Come on, or I'll have to go all mom on you again and start banging pans and cutlery until you scoot". The taller woman authenticated her statement with a discerning raise of an eyebrow.
Experiencing a new sense of bravado, Raven raised a challenging eyebrow of her own. "You know actually Chels, I think I'll stay here all day" she announced, starting to pull back up the blanket which she had just been stripped of. Trying eyes met stern ones and Raven suddenly felt a twang of uncertainty but continued in her ministrations.
"Raven Lydia Baxter if you do not get out of that bed in the next 10 seconds, I won't be held accountable for my actions!" Chelsea warned, locking eyes with Raven and noticing a darkening glint that she'd never seen before, it was something she couldn't quite place. The olive skinned girl shot her a quick smirk before resting her head back on the pillow beneath. Shifting on her feet, Chelsea grabbed the purple tumbler from the nightstand she'd gotten only last night, still half full of water. Raven's demeanor changed to one of worry as she eyed the cup before looking at Chelsea who was riled and ready for a battle.
"You wouldn't"
"I would" Chelsea warned, waving the tumbler closer to Raven's head.
Quicker than Chelsea had ever witnessed, Raven shot up and out of bed like a cheetah. The fair skinned girl snickered as she returned the tumbler to the night stand, effectively completing her mission. Chelsea ventured over to the bedroom window, peering out into the sunrise to give Raven some privacy as she got dressed. Outside, the world seemed still. The leaves on the trees weren't waving, there weren't any sounds of Betty Jane or any of the other family members going about their day, there was just nothing. Chelsea noted that apart from her and Raven, the house was completely silent too. In fact, she hadn't heard a single thing since they all retired to their rooms last night. It was a little unnerving, but it wasn't concerning. Raven's cousins lived life very differently to the two girls and they continued to surprise her.
"Chels, you want breakfast? My treat!" Chelsea jumped slightly at the unexpected noise in the silence and turned around to face a now very close, very much dressed Raven. She was wearing a simple black shirt and jeans with a matching denim jacket. Raven, not realizing how close she actually was to the other girl, stepped back instinctively. The move was small but didn't go unnoticed by Chelsea, who would be lying if she said it didn't hurt her feelings. Noticing the small furrow in her friend's brow, Raven asked softly "you alright, Chels?". She raised a hand to Chelsea's shoulder, subconsciously rubbing her thumb against the cotton fabric. Chelsea quickly covered herself, ignoring the strange sensation she felt in her stomach due to Raven's hand consoling her.
"I was just thinking about your cousins, they're not outside as far as I can see and it doesn't sound like they're home. Where do you think they are?" she asked, trying to veer the conversation to something other than herself. Raven felt like there was more to the story, but didn't try to press the issue.
"I'm sure it's nothing, Chels. Let's go downstairs and I'll make us some breakfast. Vicky's probably in the shed now, but we'll find them once we've eaten, so come on 'cause I don't offer to make breakfast for just anyone!" she joked, lightening the mood once more. It made it worth it when she saw the smile break out on her best friend's face. "Ah, now there's that beautiful smile, girl!
In the kitchen, Chelsea sat perched on one of the wooden stools near the benchtop watching Raven prepare breakfast. With Victor Baxter being a gourmet chef, Chelsea had always wondered if any of his cooking talents were passed down to Raven. She watched as Raven maneuvered easily around the kitchen. Raven may not have visited her cousins that much since she was a little girl, but Chelsea could tell Raven didn't forget an inch of the place.
"Breakfast is served!" Raven exclaimed proudly, setting two small plates atop the counter between them with two plastic flasks of coffee. Chelsea smiled at what was placed before her - two pieces of buttered toast each. It wasn't exactly gourmet but it was perfect.
"Gourmet at it's finest, your dad would be proud" she joked, taking a bite of her warm toast. Raven laughed, batting the toast away from Chelsea.
"Wait, I can make it better"
Chelsea watched as her proud friend sauntered to the fridge and picked out a packet of grated mozzarella.
"Here we go," Raven sprinkled the cheese over each of their plates. "I think that's what the French would call très bon!"
"Ooooh, perfect. Toast à la queso! Gourmet at last" Chelsea exclaimed.
"Fromage"
"How is it from Marge if you just made it? Who's Marge?"
"No Chels, queso is Spanish. Fromage is French" Raven chuckled, but Chelsea's expression remained blank. "Just eat your cheesy toast"
Opening the front door to the house, Raven ventured outside onto the porch. Chelsea had just gone upstairs to fetch her jacket, so for the moment, Raven was alone. For the first time, she really appreciated the fresh country air. This morning being just her and Chelsea had been an unexpected blessing. She had felt free. Back home there was always someone there to judge her every move, tell her what to do and what not to do and she hadn't realized the cage she was in until today when she was finally released. She inhaled the morning air deep into her lungs and felt a new sense of independence. One which was sure to dissipate whenever her cousins returned. For now though, she was adamant to enjoy her alone time with her best friend. Chelsea appeared at the door, just in time to see Raven getting pulled into a vision.
Raven's house. Victor, Tanya and Cory Baxter were sitting on their family couch watching TV, but something was different. Tanya was crying, being consoled by Victor.
"Stay inside, lock the doors, we don't know how far this will spread. For now, I will be signing off but this channel will remain actively controlled by a radio frequency." came blistering out of the television.
"I wish Raven was here. I hope she's okay" Cory sniffed. He had clearly been crying too.
Taken aback, Raven wobbled slightly, being caught by Chelsea who was standing behind her. Raven's face looked as though all of the life had been wrestled out of it.
"Rae, what did you see?" Chelsea, who was now on high alert, walked them both to the porch steps and sat down, her arm remaining around Raven's shoulders. When no response came, Chelsea brought Raven's face up to look at her, but she wasn't really sure she wanted to know what Raven had envisioned as the look in her eyes told her it wasn't good. Raven found what courage she needed in the softness of her friend's eyes.
"I.. I'm not sure. It was weird" her brow furrowed and she looked at Chelsea, knowing that her answer wasn't enough. Chelsea just sat patiently, knowing Raven needed time to process her vision. "Something's wrong, Chels" Raven didn't know what to say or how to say it, she didn't even know what she'd seen herself.
"It's okay, Rae. You can tell me. Remember, you see the future. So whatever it is, it hasn't happened yet. You're okay" Chelsea smiled and brought her hand down from Raven's face to rest on the worried girl's knee, trying her best to console her friend. Chelsea's touch set ablaze something inside of Raven that she didn't quite understand and her head snapped to look down at the hand that was rubbing soothing patterns over her knee. Chelsea mistook it as a bad sign. Feeling hurt, she retracted both of her hands and placed them back into her own lap. "If you don't want to tell me that's fine, I just want to help" she said, looking down to her feet, suddenly feeling as though she'd had the confidence knocked out of her. This brought Raven back to life, worried she'd offended her friend.
"No, Chels, it's just, I don't know. I don't even know what I saw. It was back home, my family were watching something on TV. It sounded like the news, but they were talking about something spreading" Chelsea looked back up to Raven, confusion evident on her face.
"It's getting closer to winter, there's probably just a new cold virus or something" Chelsea suggested.
"No, it's something big. They talked about staying inside and locking your doors. My mom was crying, Chels. Cory said he hoped I was okay. Why would I not be okay? What if they're in trouble?" Raven's eyes started glistening with unshed tears, suddenly feeling useless. She breathed heavily and stared down at the ground. "What do I do?"
Once again, Chelsea brought her hand up to cradle Raven's cheek and forced her to look at her, wiping away a tear that had escaped her sorrowful eyes. "Right now, you're fine. Your family is fine. Your visions don't always mean what you think they do, so what do you say we go inside and give them a call?" Chelsea saw Raven's eyes become soft, meeting her own warm gaze. An incredibly short space of time passed before Raven eventually looked away in order to stand up, but it felt like a lifetime. Something in Chelsea's eyes made her feel safe. Raven felt herself ignoring those little butterflies in her stomach that came about whenever Chelsea was close by. It was not something she was ready to face and it's something that she would ignore for as long as she could. She had other things to think about right now.
In the living room, Raven paced over toward the landline and began to dial her home telephone number, holding the phone to her ear. Chelsea hovered closely beside her, wanting to be there for her friend. After a few moments, Raven slammed the phone down in frustration, startling the redhead. She's never seen Raven like this before, she seemed so vulnerable, so haphazard.
"It's engaged" was all she got from the brunette before Raven pulled out her pink cell phone and started dialing numbers. "No signal"
"What?"
"Absolutely nothing. All of the lines are dead"
Chelsea visibly swallowed, sensing an element of danger. Trying to rationalize the situation, she said "maybe there's an error everywhere, maybe that's why your cousins aren't here. They probably went into town to see when it'll be fixed"
"You know them well enough now to know they wouldn't even notice if they phone lines went down. Something's wrong, Chelsea"
"Well maybe-"
Just as Chelsea was about to attempt her rationalizing again, the two girls heard the kitchen back door crashing open. Raven and Chelsea looked into each other's eyes, neither of them certain of their next moves.
"Stay here, Chelsea. That must be them coming home, I'll go see what's up" Raven was trying to normalize whatever was going on, ending her sentence with a forced smile. In the back of her head, her mind kept reverting back to her vision. All she could think about was the voice from the TV saying "Stay inside. Lock the doors". Turning toward the direction of the kitchen, Raven apprehensively ventured off down the hall.
Raven didn't know why she felt so scared, but her instinct told her that she should be. As she drew near to the wooden door to the kitchen, she heard shuffling.
"Auntie Faye?"
No answer. More shuffling and a small crash of pans. Raven creaked the door open ever so slightly and peered through the gap. She could see a person... wearing a purple dress. Auntie Faye. Her auntie was a lot older than her and she was getting a bit tired and weary, sometimes struggling with her sight, so it was possible she simply hadn't heard Raven calling her name. Suddenly feeling more at ease, Raven fully opened the door and stepped into the kitchen.
"It's alright, Chels! It's just Auntie Faye" she shouted to her friend, who was still in the other room. At this sudden noise, Auntie Faye's neck twisted toward Raven, cocking her head once she came into full view. There was something different. Her eyes. Raven was too far away to be sure, but she could have sworn there was something wrong with her eyes. Thoughts had no chance to process as Auntie Faye leapt at Raven, ravenous and animal-like. Flight, fight or freeze. Raven's entire body froze up under the attack of her Auntie Faye, who had accumulated a strength far exceeding her natural ability. She was off her in an instant. Everything was a haze; a moment, a lifetime, an elongated silence that somehow came to be, everything and nothing all at once, Raven could process nothing. She was in a dream. She saw only Chelsea pushing the offender into the kitchen table. Not an offender, her Auntie Faye. But she didn't look like her Auntie Faye anymore, she didn't act like a person. A shot. The commotion came to a halt. The body of her Auntie Faye lay lifeless against the table top, flopping to the ground. Someone entered the room then - the person who had just shot her Auntie Faye.
Betty Jane.