Chapter 7

Gullible

Hey guys! Deepest apologies for such a short chapter, but I hope it was effective!

Warning: A whole lot of swearing.

Huge thanks to princess mh, who actually motivated me to write this chapter with her reviews. You are such a sweetie, princess mh! Thank you sooooooo much for following and favouriting also! You go, gurl! This chap is for you! Here's a hug —(＾∇＾)— and another chapter!

-Reade :D

Cerise couldn't even speak. She just stared, her mouth in a wide O, nonstop tears flowing down her cheeks like a rapid stream. She was frozen. Everything she cherised was gone. The world disappeared around her. The only thing she could see was Raven's body, lying in a ruined condition. Her blood pooled around her, and on her, like a crimson shroud. A shard of glass was lodged in her forehead. Various bones were stuck out, bloody and milky white in contrast to the blood.

"No. No, no, no, no, no," she whispered, over and over again. "No. This can't be happening!" She screamed again as a cargo truck slammed into Raven. She bit her lip so hard it drew blood. It was all happening so fast…one minute she was celebrating with her friends and now, Raven was…was…

She kept muttering to herself as she rushed down the skybridge. Tears were continuously falling. Raven was gone. Her best friend, her comforter, her nurse, the light of her life. Now that Daring and her were over, Raven was the only one she had left.

Well, not anymore.

She ignored all the screeching of brakes and curses from drivers as she ran across the speeding cars on the highway. All she thought about was Raven. Raven, Raven, Raven.

She collasped on her knees in front of her friend's body. Her body shook. Tears fell on crimson blood. Raven's lily-white face so calm and peaceful. She blocked out every noise. It was only her and Raven. Raven, Raven, Raven.

"Oh, Raven…" Cerise sobbed. She grabbed her lifeless, cold hand. Anything she would say right now to feel Raven's hand tighten over her's. Anything she would give to see Raven's eyes open. Anything she would do to hear her laugh again. Relive those beautiful moments when it was just them.

She was crying so much she couldn't think straight. Her tears blurred the world out. She only remembered loud, intrusive sirens, Raven being lifted onto a stretcher, Reece holding her close, and her crying and crying and crying until she had no tears left.

"Don't go, don't go, don't go," she wailed to herself. "I need you, Raven. Please don't leave me. Please please please…"

"She's gone now," Reece whispered. "Okay? She's gone."

"No! I don't believe that! I don't, I don't, I don't!"

"Then don't believe it. Now let's get you inside."

She stayed at Reece's house that night. She stayed up all night thinking about Raven. "I remember the way she used to laugh when I told a really bad joke," she whispered in the dark. "The way she smiled when she saw me, the way she cocked her head when she was confused." She even smiled a little. "And the time I bashed into a pole and she was so busy laughing she bashed into the same pole."

If only Cerise could remember every single detail about Raven. Beautiful, generous, funny, good-humored Raven.

"I don't believe it," she whispered defiantly as tears dropped on her hands.

But it was true.

—

Cerise sat on the hospital chair worriedly. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying. Her breaths were deep and shaky. The world seemed to spin. Nothing seemed right. She felt sick. So sick. Nothing was okay anymore. Not without Raven…

"Is anyone here?" a voice asked. Dexter poked his head through the door.

Immediately, Cerise's mind clicked to Raven. Her heartbreak.

"This is all your fault, you dickhead!" Cerise shouted, jumping onto her feet. She was full of fury. Dexter did this. He made Raven suicide. She was even more surprised when Cupid came through the door.

"What the actual fuck?! You brought along that bitch?! So you could show Cupid that she could go fuck you now, because Raven was gone?! You're a lying, manupulative bastard, you know that?!" Cerise flared.

"How dare you talk to him like that!" Cupid scolded as she led Dexter to a chair. "Dexie is horribly depressed."

"DEPRESSED MY ASS! You killed her! You killed her, you killed her, you killed her!" Cerise shouted. "And you, Cupid! You killed her too, you sex-craved slut! ALL YOU WANTED IS TO FUCK YOUR DARLING DEXIE! WELL, AT LEAST YOU CAN NOW!" she screamed. Cerise wasn't even paying attention to what she was saying. The tears just came again.

"Cerise! How dare you say such a thing! That is rude!" Cupid shouted back pathetically. Cerise stormed up to her.

"You wanna feel how much I hurt?" she whispered. Without waiting for an answer, she striked Cupid hard in the face. Then she walked up to Dexter.

"You break her heart, I break your neck," she said seriously. Dexter went pale. Cerise grabbed at Dexter's throat. He cried out in pain.

"Cerise!"

Cerise yelped as Reece grabbed her and pulled away as she scrabbled helplessly for Dexter's neck. "I'LL KILL HIM, I'LL KILL HIM!" she screeched. "BASTARD! SON OF A BITCH! YOU FUCKING DICKHEAD! DOUCHEBAG! ASSHOLE!"

The next thing Cerise knew, she was crying again. Her heart actually hurt. So bad. It ached for Raven. For her laugh. Her smile. And the way she cocked her head.

And then minutes later, Briar came in. She was looking so pale, it felt fake.

"Is she…?" she breathed.

"Yes," Cupid answered.

"SHUT UP, YOU CUNT!"

"CERISE!"

Briar's entire body started shaking like she was freezing. It was her own odd way of crying. She sat down and stared at the wall for what seemed like ages. Finally, she said something.

"I am so ashamed of my family," she said, her voice hollow. "Of Daring and Dexter. But at least Daring didn't kill Cerise." She stared stonily at Dexter, who tried to avoid her steady, angry gaze.

"Don't glare at him like that," Cupid said.

Briar slowly reached into her bag and took out her fold-up fire poker. She slowly unfolded it and held it warningly in her hand.

"Get out."

"Pardon?"

"Get you and your Dexie-Wexie out of here."

Cupid slowly stood up, holding Dexter's hand tightly. Briar walked up to Dexter and grabbed the front of his shirt.

"From now on," she said quietly. "I am not your cousin anymore."

She released him, sending him crashing against the wall. She sat back down again and resumed staring at the wall.

Seconds later, Maddie stumbled in. Maddie had never cried in her entire life. She couldn't even frown for two seconds straight. But today, she wasn't Maddie anymore. She was Madeline Hatter, Raven Queen's good friend.

"I saw her," she gasped as she slammed the door behind her. "She wasn't Raven. She wasn't."

"No one is themselves anymore," Briar answered plainly, and then suddenly burst into tears. Briar, who laughed when she broke both her legs when she attempted to skydive. Briar, who stayed dry-eyed at her father's funeral.

"Is every alright between you and Hopper?" Cerise asked gently.

Briar only cried harder at this.

"I think I'm going to get a divorce."

—

A doctor emerged from the operation room, looking upset. Immediately, three teens crowded him.

"Is she okay?"

"Will she make it?"

"What are her chief injuries?"

He took a deep breath. "So far, Mrs Charming—"

"Miss Queen," Cerise corrected hardly.

"—Miss Queen has a heavily damaged lung, multiple spine injuries, a dislocated shoulder and leg, twenty broken bones, thirteen split veins, and a bruised kidney," the doctor listed. "Our surgeons are trying our best, but I'm afraid that may not be enough."

"N-Not enough?" Cerise repeated. She felt faint. Her legs buckled underneath her. It was one thing to know that your friend might die. Another thing to hear a serious doctor confirm it.

"There has to be something! I'll do anything, just please save her!" she pleaded. Her entire body felt weak. This wasn't happening. Please, please please.

Briar and Madeline each put an arm around her. "Cerise," Briar whispered. "She's gone, okay? Nothing can change that now."

"No…"

"But she is still with us," Madeline added. "In our hearts."

Cerise nodded. She couldn't talk. She couldn't walk. She couldn't think. All she could was cry and cry and cry so hard. She closed her eyes and remembered Raven's face, smiling down at her.

Please don't cry and please don't be mad…

"It's never too late to say goodbye," Cerise sang under her breath.

Oh, she was so gullible to think that Dexter and Daring were good guys, that everything would be okay, that Raven - lovely, beautiful, kind hearted Raven - would come back to her.

She was so, so, gullible.