Chapter Three: Shiva

They followed her through the front door. Just passing the doorpost, they already saw the beauty of the home. Carl was a bit curious about Raven's statement. "I thought you lived alone."

Raven put a finger to her lips. She said in a hushed voice, "Some people consider it alone. I don't. Stay here." She said to the group. She ran up the carpeted stairs. Just to pass time, they looked at the picture frames in the living room. Raven looked much younger and had long hair in many pictures. Carl noticed that she was the only kid in the family photos. Just like me. He thought. He tore his eyes from the frame and plopped himself onto the leather couch.

Meanwhile, Rick and Daryl were putting all the food cans onto the kitchen table. Daryl seemed distant and Rick stared him down until he noticed. "It seems a little wrong, now that I think about it. Seeing all these pictures and…stuff. This is her home. We're strangers to her. Takin' away the only place she can remember life before this hell, it's just…" He shook his head, unable to find the words.

Rick assured him with serious eyes. "We're not taking it away. I will respect her rules. If she wants us to sleep in the basement, fine. If she wants us to hunt every day, fine. We'll treat her just as we did with the people at the prison. We need each other."

Daryl still seemed unconvinced, but he continued unpacking.

Raven had overheard their conversation from the stairs and was happy to hear their words. She hadn't met such civilized people in forever. She thought about letting them stay for as long as they need, but it was only a thought. She still teetered on the edge of acceptance.

"Guys!" Raven's voice echoed with excitement. Immediately, they regrouped by the bottom of the stairs. She raced down the stairs and something was with her, making them step back a little.

It was a dog. A huge one. Its bark shook the earth. Raven rubbed the dog all over and it enjoyed the treatment. "Meet Lyra." It was almost three feet tall and over four feet in length. Carl and Beth stared with excited shock, while the adults were looking a bit uneasy. When Raven stopped rubbing her, she barked again, sending sonic booms across the room. Usually people jumped a little, but then again, these guys were used to hearing gunshots. "Lyra," She said with a warning tone, "these people are one of us now. Be nice to them, okay?" She turned to the group. "She's a crossbreed of Great Pyrenees and Alaskan Malamute. She's one of the smartest dogs around, so just give it a day for her to get to know you. But you'll be fine. If she senses dangerous people, she barks way more."

Beth asked hesitantly. "Is it okay if we pet her?"

Raven was used to people standing far away from Lyra as possible. "You're not afraid of being bitten?"

Carl knelt by them. "We're not exactly afraid of being bitten by animals anymore." Raven agreed with him.

"Just messin' with you. I filled her up with food upstairs so she won't be eating any humans today. Go ahead then." Carl put out his hand first. Just as Lyra was about to let out another roar, Raven shouted her name. She settled down and bent towards Carl. He laughed a bit as Lyra bumped her head into his chest. He rubbed her white fur, which was unbelievably soft. Raven was glad to see him laughing again. Beth also scratched her back gently, seeming amazed by the texture.

Raven noticed Rick, Daryl and Michonne staring at them. Michonne asked her. "How long have you had her?"

Raven pushed back the memory of when she adopted Lyra with her parents. She wasn't ready to show her emotional side. "Four years, maybe five. She's obedient, so it's easy to teach her commands." She whistled a certain note, which made Lyra's head pop up. "Scoot up, girl." The dog followed her head motion and put its paws on Daryl's shirt. Even Daryl was almost pushed backwards by her. He and Michonne were playing with her now and she seemed to like them. That makes life a lot easier. Rick seemed fascinated, but hesitant to touch her. "Go on, it's okay." Raven encouraged. It was necessary for everyone here to get along. Rick knelt on one knee and smoothed back the white fur from the top of its head to its back.

He laughed lowly as Lyra turned, as if hinting where she wanted to be petted. When they were done playing with her, Raven finished the tour of the house. She had a total of four bathrooms, nine bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room and all the other kinds of rooms one could think of. It seemed like they had walked a mile just to cover the whole house. It was a few hours past noon when they were finally done.

A week or so passed, and they slowly knitted together. They took turns taking care of Lyra. Michonne and Daryl usually went out finding dry wood for burning. Rick and Carl tended to the garden at the back. Beth and Raven cooked the food. Raven used to work around twelve hours a day just completing these tasks. Now that she had company, that time was cut by more than half. She still was busy, though. When she and Beth finished making lunch and dinner, she'd disappear into the woods for a while. Out of respect, no one asked her why she went out every day. Everyone needs their fresh air.

Today, Raven had returned with an apple in hand. She waltzed into the living room and shrugged her jacket off. Carl was munching on a carrot as he came up to her and offered to take her coat. She resisted the urge to sigh with admiration. Even before the outbreak, most men weren't very 'gentleman-like'. She took another bite into the fruit. "You found an apple. Sweet." He smirked and found a hanger in the closet.

Raven smiled. She hadn't tasted an apple in months, and this one certainly didn't taste the greatest, but little things like this were her sanity potions. "Sweet indeed. I took the last one off the tree." She held it out for him. "Better take a bite before it's all gone."

Carl looked at Raven, just to make sure it was okay to just bite from it. She shrugged, as if it didn't matter, but her heart was beating fast from the inside. He crunched down on the juicy fruit and his mark overlapped Raven's by a tiny inch. Still, it was enough to make her stir inside. He chuckled and shook his head. "I don't even like apples." He licked his lips lightly. "But that one was delicious."

Raven's smile crept out of her. This boy seriously knew how to make her pink. She turned away and busied herself setting up the plates for dinner. "Hey…" She heard Carl say with a confused tone, "is this blood?" Raven saw him fiddling with the left sleeve of the jacket. "Is it yours?"

She walked over to him in attempt to seize her jacket before any complications arose. "It's no big deal-"

Carl took her left wrist and rolled up her sleeve. Though Raven tried to cover up her flinch, he saw right through it. A red scratched was uncovered on her forearm. "It isn't? Then how come the cut was deep enough for it to bleed through?"

Raven took her arm back. "Relax. I scratched myself on a branch while I climbed up to get the apple."

He stubbornly grabbed it again and examined the wound carefully, making sure it wasn't dirty to avoid infections. "C'mon, we should treat this." Carl rushed up the stairs, holding her hand until he had to open his doorknob. He went into his bathroom to find a health kit. Raven sat on the side of his bed and listened to the clattering noises in the bathroom. Before the zombies, this room was a guest room for boys. Whenever they'd have a family get-together, the guy cousins would sleep in this room. She must've unconsciously picked out this room for him.

Carl came back with a bandage roll and disinfecting wipes. Raven watched as he opened up a wipe and took her arm. "This is going to sting a bit, so…" He warned. Raven nodded and braced herself.

No matter how gently he did it, the scorching feeling of the alcohol seemed to sizzle in her forearm. "I…fucking hate that." She said and let out a little laugh to relieve some pain.

He offered a sympathetic smile. "Is that what you used to say to your doctor?" He tightly wrapped the bandage on the wound.

"Nope. Back in the old society, cursing at our age would be considered 'barbaric'. It didn't make sense because adults could say curses all they want, but when one kid does, everyone loses their minds." Raven glanced at him and could have sworn his eyes had flickered away from her. "Like, not all kids need someone to hold their hand." She said quietly, almost to herself. "I could take care of myself just fine."

Carl bent down and ripped the bandage from the roll with his teeth. "I know you can. I've seen what you're capable of." He said. That's new. It was rare for anyone to understand how she felt when people shielded her. She found it difficult to keep eye contact with him. Maybe it was because they were inches away from each other, sitting on a bed…alone.

Raven hadn't notice how long she'd been staring at him, but when her mind refocused, he was finished tying the bandage and staring back at her. She prayed that Carl didn't hear the fast pounding of her heart. A tiny voice in her head whispered to her, just lean in and kiss already!

An image of Carl lying in a pool of blood flashed in her mind, making her jump to her feet. Carl stood up and reached out to steady her shoulders. She flinched away. "What's wrong?" He asked, completely bewildered by the suddenness. A frightened expression was plastered on her face. It was like she was staring into hell itself.

Her hitched breathing and shivering body concerned him. The image wouldn't leave her mind. She couldn't look at him. Raven barely managed to shake her head. She ran out of the room before he could say another word.

Raven flung her bedroom door open and shut it. Her knees gave way and she slid down against the wooden door. First, she slowed her heart rate down. She glanced at her forearm and saw a red trace already escaping the bandage. The fast thudding of pumping blood in her arm should've hurt, but she didn't exactly feel it. She buried her face into her small hands. Why couldn't she be normal for once? Why is it impossible to let anyone into her life?

Raven felt her eyes watering and immediately she pushed them down, something she trained herself to do. And inside, she asked herself the question that she'd had in her mind ever since she was alone. A question that she was too afraid to face. What does it mean to love? What does it mean to be loved?

The days that followed were silent ones between Raven and Carl. The routines continued on, except that Raven spent more time in the woods. When they all ate dinner together, the conversation revolved around Beth, Daryl, Rick and Michonne. Occasionally, they'd attempt to bring in the two. They'd answer, but left no room to carry the conversation on.

It was early morning yet again. Carl had already tidied himself up for another day of work. He came down the carpet steps and caught a glimpse of Raven as she went out the front door. They were aware that she stepped out every day, but lately she went out earlier. Carl stared at the floor and tried imaging what was going on in her mind. He had absolutely no idea what he did wrong. But it was blatantly obvious that he upset her in some way. He missed her. He missed talking to her, laughing with her, just being a kid with her. If he didn't fix this soon, the gap between them would become unrepairable.

Carl withdrew the curtain of a window and saw Raven closing the gate on the other side. When she was past the trees he silently slipped out the front door to pursue. After reopening and reclosing the gate, he sped into the forest. Now there was no sign of her anywhere. He walked further into the woods, looking for anything he could track. He found himself travelling on unfamiliar ground. After almost half an hour of no luck, second thoughts crept into his mind. Raven allowed them to stay in her home and now he was invading her private time. He shook his head. No, stay focused. You are here to resolve this.

A sudden, faint shout abruptly stopped his thoughts. He crouched and swiftly navigated towards the noise. He hid behind a large, mossy tree trunk. Carl's ears detected walkers, their disturbing growls sounded a fair distance away. He pulled out his special gun with a silencer. He firmly grasped the weapon, the familiar texture lingering on his fingertips. After a deep breath, he crouched down low and spun around the tree. Sure enough, there were three walkers who attacked a poor person all at once. To Carl's surprise, in a split second, all of them dropped into the grass, their heads flying in different directions.

As the corpses fell, Carl found Raven standing in the middle, her two long knives in each hand. She was covered in red blotches everywhere. "Raven?" He called out to her.

Raven, completely caught off-guard, inhaled sharply upon catching sight of Carl. So shocked that she stumbled over a dead walker while she backed up.

Carl felt a pang in his stomach. She had that same fearful look that she gave him when she'd left his bedroom that day. He straightened up and strode over to her. It was when he actually saw the scenery that Raven was in that he stopped in his tracks.

Dozens, maybe a hundred, of dead walkers spread out as far as his eyes could see. And he couldn't help but look back at Raven, who was standing in between piled up rotten bodies.

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Hello my lovelies :) So I called this chapter 'Shiva' obviously because we finally get to see the Shiva household. (Yep, you guessed it. Shiva is a pun for 'shiv'.) This is actually a pretty significant chapter…even though it's kinda short. And for all those worried about the 'vision' Raven had, it'll make sense if you've been reading carefully. Anywho, please keep me company in the reviews :3 I read all of them and they make me super happy. Thanks and love to all that support my story.

~Beanie Wayland

P.S. So wacha guys think about Hana? (Chandler's rumored GF. I think on his ask, he confirmed it) Personally, I ship them :) And I just want him to be happy (don't kill me pls).