The moment the Shroud touched the hard stone floor of H.I.V.E.'s hangar, Raven was out the door of the cockpit, practically sprinting to get out of the machine she had been confined to for the silent two hour ride back to the school. Passing through the holding bay, the irate Russian made sure not to look at the girl with long, dark hair, to try and keep her thoughts and emotions from rampaging through her head. Raven struggled to keep her level-headed facade as she headed down the ramp, leaving the pilot to take care of the still bleary-eyed Alphas.
The hallways of H.I.V.E. were almost eerily quite as she walked down them. Normally, she would go directly to Nero's office, report on the extractions, and then go and situate herself in a her hiding place to watch Nero welcome the new students. Not this time, though. When she came to the hall that led to Nero's office, she walked right passed it. Raven didn't trust herself or her emotions to stay in check long enough to stay calm and civil while talking to Nero, so instead she chose to avoid him entirely.
Raven kept walking until she came to the doors of the sparring gym. Smiling to herself as she opened the doors, Raven knew that this was exactly what she needed. She briskly crossed the room and retrieved one of Professor Pike's latest model of sparing dummies. Raven then took out her own katanas. After setting the forcefield so that the twin swords were completely dull, Raven approached the dummy.
As the first of many lightning fast blows hit the dummy, the thoughts Raven had been trying so hard to keep buried were unleashed, attacking her mind like the attacks of the sparring dummy before her. Unlike the sparring dummy's attacks, which Raven could block and avoid, there was no evading the thoughts charging through her mind. With every blow or block she made while fighting the dummy, another thought broke free.
Slice. I have a sister?
Block. Did Nero know?
Jab. Of course he did.
Dodge. Why didn't he tell me?
Feint. He KNEW! He knew and he didn't tell me!
Soon what she was doing with her swords faded into the background as she became immersed in her thoughts.
He couldn't have given me a bit of notice, could he? No, he had to just let me go and get her off of the streets, and then find out she was my sister.
Why was she on the streets? Why wasn't she with our parents?
Did something happen to them? What happened after I left? Did they even care?
There was a reason I never talked about my life before the Glasshouse. Nero should've known that. He should've known that he shouldn't go digging in my past, but what does he do? He goes and finds my sister! My sister that I didn't even know I had, and he brings her here! He would've done better leaving her where he found her. She's crafty enough, she wouldn't starve. Nero should've left her alone.
With every thought, Raven's attacks grew quicker and harsher. Soon, memories infiltrated her mind, and joined the thoughts on their attack.
Little Natalya, sitting on the floor playing with her dolls. Through the closed door she can hear her parents yelling at each other, screaming at each other in Russian about something that the young girl didn't understand. As the screams grow louder, the girl slowly sets down the dolls. Something breaks in the room beneath her. The sound of shattering glass reaches the girl's ears as she slowly slides towards one of the corners, seeking refuge in the small space. Natalya hated it when her parents yelled like this. As the volume of her mother's shrieks increase, a small tear drifts down the little girl's face.
Raven shook her head slightly, trying to rid herself of the memory and concentrate on the fight. Her mind had different plans and as soon as she had dealt the next blow to the dummy, the next memory ensnared her.
Natalya was nine. There was a dinner party going on around her with people from her father's work and possible new clients. Her father was a successful business man, and was playing the part. Conversing, laughing, and entertaining his guests, Natalya was beginning to wonder who this strange, happy man was, and what he had done with the hard, bitter, cruel man that was her father. Natalya turned to her mother next. Gone was her constant scowl, and her normally cold blue eyes were replaced a light that the girl had never seen, as her mother stood, chatting with the other wives, and playing the good housewife with a phony smile plastered on her face. They were pretending that they were the perfect family, and only Natalya, who was supposed to be the dutiful daughter and be seen but not heard, could see the cracks in their charade. In fact, she was one of them. The nine-year-old girl was not even supposed to be down there, but she had gotten hungry and bored. She had ventured downstairs, looking for a snack, trying not to be caught by her parents. Suddenly, she felt a pair of eyes upon her, and she turned to see that the happy man had been replaced once again by her father, glaring at her quickly before turning back to his company and putting back on his happy mask, his glare unnoticed by his guests. Natalya, on the other hand, knew that there would be hell to pay later.
Raven jumped back, narrowly avoiding the dummy's attack. Get a grip, she thought to herself. She righted herself before attacking the dummy, but she was wearing down. Her attacks were becoming slightly less powerful and less precise as the battle continued. She was also wearing down mentally, and the next memory was able to push itself into her mind, forcing her to relive one of her least favorite recollections from her childhood.
The frigid winter wind nipped at 10-year-old Natalya's cheeks as she stumbled down an abandoned street. Behind her were streets lined with happy houses, lit up with the lights of Christmas trees as families sat around smiling, laughing and exchanging presents. It was Christmas Eve, a day most people spend with their families at home, yet Natalya wandered down the cold streets, alone. She no longer had a home or a family to go home to. She had finally done it, she had finally run away. She was done, fed up, and she wanted nothing more than to put as much distance between her and that wrenched place as possible. The air grew colder as she continued to walk. Soon, she was so cold she could hardly walk. She spotted a small alleyway where she could hide from the wind for the night. It was big enough for her to squeeze into, but small enough so that no one else, except perhaps someone her age, could. She crawled into the small crevice and curled into a small ball. A normal girl would then break down and cry, but Natalya was not a normal girl. She could no longer be weak, and to her, allowing herself to cry would be doing just that. So she sat there and listened to the wind blow until she fell asleep.
Someone touched Raven's shoulder, pulling her out of her dark memories, but before she could turn to see who it was, one last thought drifted through her mind. Did Nadia have to go through anything like that? She forced that thought back into the box in the back of her mind, joining all of the unpleasant memories as she whirled around to face the assailant, katanas poised to attack.
So it didn't take forever to update this time! Thank you to Tamarisk Gold (my beta) for actually getting it back to me! And a super thank you to Vordax0110 and Shnizel for reviewing the last chapter! I love any and all feedback that I get.
Fly On,
~Snailz