Chapter 12: A mad move

Jason was fairly sure he was mad at this point. But he was doing it for Raven. Jason stepped out of the dark forest, before him stood a tall strange looking house where four siblings lived. Jason was aware that they would try to kill him, but he needed their help.

He stepped out. It was day, but he was lucky that it: One, rained. Two: he wore a cloak to cover him.

He made his way through the mud covered ground, animals that he hadn't noticed before turned their heads towards him. He didn't even glance at them as he stepped up to the wooden door.

Lifting his fist to knock, he hesitated. Sure, there was no way they could even hurt him, they'd have to be at least a little, and that's a little, weaker than Raven.

Knock, knock…

He did it. Jason didn't bother to cover his face, if he did, he'd just look like a threat.

"Coming!" The female of the house called, he believed her name was Kori. The redhead opened the door for a mere second before slamming it shut. Jason was lucky enough to stick his foot between the frame.

He cursed to himself at the force. That woman was way stronger than she looked.

"I'm not here to hurt you." Jason said quickly.

"You have hurt us enough!" Kori screamed as she tried to slam the door again.

"Kori? Who's at the door?" From the shadow, Jason could tell it was the bulky big brother. Victor, he believed.

"It is that stupid vampire that took Raven!" She slammed the door against his foot again.

"I'm not here to take more from you!" Jason yelled. His foot had gone numb by now, so he didn't even feel the fifth slam.

Victor slammed the door this time, just at the wall instead of his foot. The bulky man pushed Jason out to the mud. He fell into it with a grunt. "You have done enough!" The man yelled. The three smaller members stood behind, and Jason swore he saw death in the gray eyes of Victor.

"I need your help!" Jason yelled as he got to his feet, he didn't bother to shake off the mud. "I can't tell until we're in peace, they might be watching." He looked back at the forest, swearing he saw a pair of red eyes.

"Hint us!" Richard yelled.

"Black bird and trouble!" He yelled back, referring to Raven. He was begging that they'd help. He alone couldn't save her, the five members of Trigon's court was dangerous, and they knew each other too well.

Garfield's eyes widened slightly, he elbowed the rest and pointed up the stairs, Raven's room. He got the hint.

Victor, who still stood in the front, looked back at Jason. Jason was silently begging them to help, also to get him out of daylight and the rain.

"Get in, and don't try anything." Jason took a step forward and noticed that Garfield had gone somewhere and just returned with a dagger. Raven's dagger. Raven's silver dagger.

Jason swallowed before entering the house. He wasn't about to cause trouble anyhow. He took the hood of his cloak off, the family glared at him before leading him into the living room. Meanwhile Garfield was handing out other weapons, all of silver, all Raven's.

Kori ended up holding another dagger, just like Garfield. Richard was holding onto a pair of dual swords. While Victor was holding a silver axe right next to him. Again, Jason swallowed.

"Talk." Richard commanded.

"Raven's in trouble." He started, getting to the point. "Trigon's court found out about our blood bound, he has her… And I can't get her back alone."

"Who is Trigon?" Kori asked.

"The king of magic basicly. He's said to be vampire, werewolf, banshee, windigo, name a mythical being and it's part of him! But he's mostly known for being straight a demon." The look of horror in the family's eyes almost made Jason smile. Not now, not now. "Trigon is all-seeing, if he found out about the blood bond, then he also know she's a hunter. And That's even worse."

The family looked at each other, "Why do you need our help? You're basicly the same being, your're a vampire lord."

"A lesser lord. The system work like this: There's Trigon on the top. Then there's his four pets in the court. Then there's the lesser lords, where I am. Then there's the peasants, where most vampires are." He paused, "To Trigon, hunters are an actual threat. He'd gladly wipe them all out." Please, he begged. "If you want your sister back, then help me! She won't survive for long!"

Garfield stepped up, "But Raven always denied to teach us how to fight." It was a good point. Raven had actually never considered them in danger since she was there. The family had asked her to train them, but she refused, saying that she didn't like seeing them holding a weapon either.

"I fought Raven many times, I could teach you her basic moves." He suggested. Seeing their hesitation and fear made him re-think. "Does Raven have a training room or any notes of her job?"

"Her room if filled with weapons and notes-!" Garfield covered his mouth like he said too much. The others looked at him, a tiny bit of anger and a tiny bit of fear.

"Training room?" Jason asked.

"Behind the stable." Victor said, the blade of his axe was laying on the ground while the shaft was still firmly in his hand. The man was strong enough to lift it with one hand.

"I'll show you some things, I know that I shouldn't teach you this… Especially if Raven denied it, but she need help she can't deny."

The five made their way behind Garfield's stables. It was a small roofed area with a small choice of silver weapons and a dummy. The air around them was moist and the smell from the stable didn't make things easier.

"Okay, ignoring the smell…" Garfield glared at him, "I need you to be swift and sharp with the weapons you're holding. Do your worst at the dummy. I want to see what you got."

One by one they went. Kori went first and used that unnatural strength to almost cut the straw dummy in half.

"Are you sure you haven't done this before?" Jason asked. Kori blushed at the compliment, it was true though. The small family had gone out to the dummy to hit on it when their sorrow of losing Raven had become too much for them, it wasn't a question if the dummy had been replaced a few times.

Garfield tried next, he was weaker than Kori, but he was a jumper and was swift enough to be behind the enemy before they knew.

Richard was pretty sharp with the dual swords, he too almost broke the dummy. It lost a big enough trunk.

Then came Victor, who actually cut the dummy in two with a single swipe.

By the end of it, Jason was fairly sure they could fight, but to be sure he looked out for the sun. It was almost down already, he could be out without dying now. Taking off his cloak he stepped out into the darkening dusk. "Well, I see you can fight an unmoving entity. Now I want you to attack me. Please don't actually hurt me, I'll need my strength to battle the court." He saw the smiles the family gave him, it didn't please him.

One by one, they tested their strength. Kori was swift and strong, almost slashing him with the dagger, an inch from his body at many times. Garfield was swifter than stronger, his small size would definitely come in handy for him. Richard was like Kori, swift, strong, but also strategize. Victor was a little slower, but his raw power would definitely keep him alive.

At the end of it, Jason was exhausted. He bent down to hold his body up with his hands on his knees. "Okay, we'll leave at dawn. Rest up. I'll sleep in the trees."

"No, you'll sleep inside where we can keep an eye on you." Richard said, Jason knew it was supposed to be a threat, but it felt more like a very unpleasant welcome.

xXx

Jason had snuck into Raven's room. The darkness was comforting, it was like she hated daylight with those black curtains. The weapon rack filled with silver weapons was what freaked him out the most. There was also the huge bookcase, filled with mythical books. About vampires, werewolves, banshees, there was even a book for demons and angels. One shelf had only notebooks, it was half filled, but the one over was filled with books titled.

Arella Roth, Vampire journal Volume:

Each book had it's own number, and judging by the number of books, it was around 13 books that had belonged to her mother.

Raven's personal journals were around, 10, but she didn't have much more to go. Jason's finger traced over the thin spine of book 10, before he pulled it out and opened the last page written.

I freaking hate Jason Todd, that scumbag of a vampire got away again! Why do I even bother with him? He's way too cocky for his own good! Oh God how I want him dead, stupid Jason…. Why did you have to be handsome by the way?! If it wasn't a curse that I literally can't kill you, then why must you have such a face?! Such a fucking handsome face!? And that smirk… Wait, what? No, no smirk. I hate the smirk, I hate everything about him, done.

Jason laughed to himself, she wrote like a teenage girl with a crush. It was down right adorable. How she tried to deny her feelings. Wait, feelings. She did have a crush on him, she just hid it behind the hate for vampires. She was a damn good actor he had to give her that.

And she found him handsome.

"You shouldn't be here." Jason turned and threw the book at the table, like it had been laying there from the start. Garfield stood in the door watching him. "This is Raven's room, you should be glad it was me and not Richard or Victor, they would've killed you."

"Please don't tell them." Jason pleaded.

"Only if you answer one question for me," Jason nodded. "Do you love Raven?"

That wasn't even a question, yes. He did. If he didn't then he wouldn't be going after her family to save her. "Yes, with everything I have. If I had to trade my soul to be with her, I would, I wouldn't have hesitated. I promise you, Garfield, I would never harm your sister." Garfield gave a slight nod before asking him to continue, he wanted an answer to why Jason had name the blood bond with her. "I used to be lonely, very lonely. And whenever I wanted to or not, Raven always came to my mind, she was there… Just there. Then I asked myself: What would happen if I lost her? She became a big part of my life." He paused, "So I made the blood bond to keep her safe. I always wanted to keep her safe…"

"Why?"

"I love her." Jason looked into Garfield's eyes and muttered, "I'm sorry for taking her away from you, I was greedy and only thought of myself. I didn't realize that taking her away would cause her family so much pain."

"You were greedy, but at least you wanted to protect her. Something we couldn't do." Jason looked confused. "For years we had to lock her door so she didn't go out in revenge to kill vampires. She always found a way to get out, she came home almost fatally wounded. The night before you took her, she came home with a stab wound to her side. A few minutes later, she could've died from blood loss. We're lucky Victor is a decent doctor, we got used to her fatal wounds." He paused and looked away. "We never liked it, but how much did she bleed when she was with you?"

"None that I can recall, maybe once." Jason said, it was true. He wasn't completely sure if she bled at all through her stay with him. She did try to hang herself, but that wasn't bleeding.

"None or once in the past few months, that's a new record. She would bleed every day when she came home from hunting."

The two stood in silence for a few minutes, staring at the wooden floor.

Garfield spoke, "Do you think we can beat the court and save Raven?" It was a dangerous question, and to be honest, Jason didn't know. Maybe, but the chance was so slim.

"I don't know if we could take them down, the thing I know is that we will save Raven. No matter what, no matter if my life goes with it." Jason closed his eyes and leaned onto the desk. "Garfield… Promise me something."

"What?"

"If things do go wrong… Take Raven and run, don't think about me. And make Raven run, if she stops for me, lie. Lie and say I will come back, whenever it's an empty promise or no, whenever it's a lie or an actual promise. I want her to run, and have her run." Jason looked Garfield in the eyes, the blond boy looked sad, like he knew that the chance of Jason not making it would be bigger than the other's. "Promise me."

It took a few minutes before Garfield said, "I promise."

"Thank you." Jason looked away with sorrow, the pain to actually leave Raven when or if he died got to him. He knew it would break her heart, but at least she'd live.

"And if you make it?"

"Then…" He didn't know. "We'll talk about it when or if that comes, but Raven should decide where she want to be." He rose from the desk and went to go back to the living room couch. "I have no heir to my castle, so if I don't make it, it belongs to Raven." He said, Garfield gave a low nod.

"Goodnight." Garfield called to the vampire.

"Go to bed, we have a long way ahead of us tomorrow." He then vanished into the darkness in the living room. Garfield cast one last look into Raven's room, it had been untouched since Raven left, and they had no thought about changing it. His eyes fell on the book now laying on Raven's desk, he didn't want to move it. So he closed the door and went to bed.

xXx

Well… Let's just say… My muse is coming back.