When Raven woke, she felt calm and collected. She didn’t remember if she had a nightmare or not, but she didn’t care. For the first time ever since she woke from her deep slumber, she felt relaxed and well-rested…
How could it have been possible that she felt so warm… but yet so calm?
That’s when she noticed something cushioned, but warm support the curve of her waist… and her head was cradled in something silky and soft.
She opened her eyes slightly to find herself resting sideways in the arm chair in the mysterious room she fell asleep in.
When did she get here? She thought she fell asleep in a bed…
She turned her face into the fabric of the armchair…
This was… unusually warm…
So, she looked up… to see the color of the seat… or maybe to see if her vision was still tilted or blurry…
But she saw a figure above her… staring down at her…
And in that moment... she knew she was in Malachi’s lap...
A bolt of fear rushed through her and she shot off the chair, but Malachi caught her waist.
“Don’t get up,” his soft voice whispered.
It was a calm whisper… no hint of malice in his tone.
“Don’t get up,” he pleaded quietly. “You looked so comfy.”
Raven started writhing in his hold, trying to break free, but Malachi wrapped his arm tighter around her waist and pulled her to him, gently caressing her hair to calm her down.
After a couple seconds passed, she realized that she couldn’t get out of his hold if she tried… and she let herself relax in his grip to hopefully get him to ease his grasp…
So, she could escape…
“You okay?” Malachi wondered.
Raven’s cheeks heated, but her heart beat slowed from his gentle caresses, and she couldn’t stop it from calming…
And for the first time in ages… her blood was calm and warm… not frost and racing through her at light speed…
“Mal,” Raven whispered in exhaustion, “what are you doing?”
“Calming you.” He didn’t hesitate responding. “You stayed asleep all night.”
“What are you planning, Mal?” Raven wondered, a little bit of fear in her tone.
“That, my Princess, is a story for another time.”
He moved his arm off her waist to get something from the side table… and she found the strength to push him back against the chair and shoved herself off him, narrowing her eyes as she stood at a distance.
He seemed surprised for a moment, but then tilted his head to the side curiously. “What’s wrong? You were comfy, weren’t you?”
Yes, she was, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.
As if he had a tunnel to her thoughts, the corner of his lips tilted.
“Why did you take me?” she questioned, backing away a couple steps despite him not moving an inch.
She had to back away before the side of her that let him hold her all night came back…
Why were her thoughts scattered into pieces? One piece wanted to let him cradle her… the other wanted her to scream at him… the third wanted her to run away and never come back… and the last wanted her to play his game, wondering where it would lead…
Which one should she listen to?
Should she call the police? No… she had to wait and see what his motive was… because whenever she asked him, he always dodged the question.
“Malachi,” she said, seeing him tilt his head to the side, as if he were studying her from a different angle.
He still didn’t respond.
“Why did you take me?” she said again, waiting for an answer.
No response.
She threw her hands up in annoyance and walked out of the bedroom, eyes widening when she saw the beauty of his house…
Chandeliers… glass tables… silver walls… ocean paintings…
Jesus…
But she shook her head, hearing his footsteps follow behind her, so she turned left from a memory she had the night before…
When he carried her out of the bedroom last night, she remembered—even though she was half-conscious—that the staircase was on his right… so she turned down that hall, making her way to the bedroom she woke up in first…
When she entered it, she passed the bookshelf full of potion-like bottles and shuffled through the bed sheets.
And she found her jacket, shrugged it on, and slid her feet into her lace-free sneakers, throwing her pack that was placed next to the bed over her shoulder.
“Where are you going?” Malachi questioned, and Raven turned to find him leaning on the side of the door.
“Out of here,” she responded.
“But…” he sounded surprised, “I thought you liked it here.”
She gave him a curious look at his defeated tone but pulled her phone out of her purse. “It’s not that I don’t like it here,” she responded, opening to the Home Screen, “it’s just that I don’t trust you yet, okay? So don’t take it personally.”
“The way you worded that makes me take it personally,” he responded, brows raised.
She shook her head, searching through her phone. “I know what you’re doing.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re guilt tripping me,” she answered. “Stop it. That’s not nice.”
“What’s not nice is you stabbing me with a steak knife.” He raised his wrist that had a white, cloth bandage wrapped around his skin, stained a hideous red. “It still hurts, you know.”
“I thought you were going to kill me,” she answered, still searching on her phone.
“And I thought you were comfy,” he stated. “And you were, weren’t you?”
She shot him a look. “You’re lucky I’m not calling the police right now,” she stated, “alright? You basically kidnapped me.”
“I saved you,” he said. “Remember? You were sick, I patched you up, healed your wounds, fed you, and helped you sleep all night. Why is that a crime?”
She shook her head, thinking, I don’t know, but you’re making me feel insane. I need time to think without you here.
She also didn’t really know how she got sick but didn’t feel like asking him right now.
“I don’t know your motive,” she stated. “I’m not saying you want to kill me, but knowing that you just knew those guys who were planning on killing me, and that you threatened them, saying that I’m yours, when we haven’t met before yesterday, kind of makes me question it, okay?”
He was silent for a moment. “Are you afraid of me, Raven?”
“No,” she said, giving him an annoyed look.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not,” she answered. “I can take care of myself, Malachi. I’m going home.”
She started out the door, and he caught her arm, shoving her back into the room.
She stumbled backwards but glared. “Now I’m questioning why I’m not calling the police, Mal. You either let me leave, or I’ll force you to let me go, capeesh?”
“You can’t be alone, Ray,” he answered. “You’re not safe alone.”
“I can take care of myself, thanks.”
“I’m serious,” he said, his stern expression telling her he wasn’t lying. “I won’t let you leave unless you have somewhere to go. A safe place.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “I’ll stay at Jaelyn’s house, alright?”
She typed on her phone again, tapping her shoe while they waited in silence for a couple minutes.
“And Jae’s going to be here in five minutes,” she said, “so I’m leaving.”
She passed him by the door, but he caught her arm, making her glare. “Mal,” she warned.
“Raven,” he responded, voice softer than she ever heard, “I know what’s going on… I know who’s after you, I can protect you… if you’ll stay.”
She shook her head. “And how would you know this?”
“Because… I know him, Raven… I know what he wants.”
“What does he want, then?” she questioned, narrowing her eyes.
“I know how scared you are, okay?” he said. “But I promise I won’t hurt you, Raven. If I wanted to, then I would’ve hurt you already.”
“Or you’re just gaining my trust so you ca—”
“No,” he said, shaking his head, “this guy wants you dead, alright? If I was working for him, I would’ve killed you already.”
“That’s… assuring…” she answered, brows drawing together. “Look… I don’t know you yet, okay?”
I can tell you’re planning something, she thought, and I don’t know what, but it scares me.
They were both silent, just staring in each other’s gaze.
Raven broke eye-contact first, looking down to the floor. “She’ll be here soon… I have to go.”
“Raven,” he said, catching her arm again before she could leave, “be careful, Princess.”
And she left his side without responding, heart throbbing against her chest.
When she made it downstairs, she opened the front door, stepping down the porch steps to Jae’s car that was sitting in his driveway.
She shut the passenger door, and Jae was in the driver’s seat, staring at the living room window with narrowed eyes.
Raven knew without looking that Mal was watching them through the glass.
“Is that him?” she questioned, something dark in her tone.
“Yeah,” Raven responded.
“He’s a creep,” she said, looking back down to her gear shift and pushed it into reverse.
“Yep,” Raven responded.
“You know,” she said while backing out, though Raven was focused on his figure staring through the window, “we should call the police. He kidnapped you, Ray.”
“Maybe,” Raven responded, “I don’t know yet.”
And Jae drove off, the car rumbling with the rocks on the roads.
“Hey, Jae?” Raven said then.
“Yep?”
“How did you know where he lived?” she questioned.
A sigh. “It’s hard to explain… But I’ve had to confront him before… so I followed his car to this house to talk to him.”
“About what?”
Jae looked over to Raven. “He’s been stalking you for a while, you know.”
She went cold.
“He has severe serial killer vibes,” Jae continued, “but it seems like there’s another internal conflict inside him that prevents him from lashing out.”
“What kind of conflict?” Raven questioned, breath shuttering.
“I don’t know,” Jae responded. “But whatever it is, it’s a strong one.”
They were both silent for a couple minutes.
Jae was the first to break the silence. “Why don’t you stay at my house for a couple nights, you seem a little shaken. I’m sure my parents will agree.”
A small nod.
“You can borrow my car tomorrow if you want to go anywhere,” she said then.
“Thanks, Jae.”
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*****
“What do you want to do?” Jaelyn said while Raven lay belly-down onto her bed, kicking up her legs as an attempt to get her energy out.
Jae was lying on the bed next to her, doing the same, though Raven was resting her head on her hands like a pillow, staring off into space.
“We could have a makeover,” Jae suggested. “Or maybe paint each other’s nails.”
Raven looked to her then. “This isn’t elementary school, Jae. And you know very well I’m not good at painting nails.”
She faked a shutter. “I looked like I was bleeding from my fingers for a month.”
Raven laughed. “Yeah, it was a mistake to use red nail polish when I suck at painting in general.”
They both giggled.
“What about brushing each other’s hair?”
“I wouldn’t even try,” Raven said. “I even go to war with my hair daily.”
“Who wins?” Jae asked.
Raven gave her a look. “Who do you think? My hair’s like Medusa’s. It has a mind of its own.”
“Will it bite me if I brush it?” Jae joked.
“Maybe,” Raven said back, “but I wouldn’t risk it.”
They both laughed again… but when the joking mood wore off… silence drew along them…
“Jae…” Raven said then, seeing her best friend glance at her from the corner of her eye, “you took psychology, right?”
“Yeah,” she responded, “last semester, why?”
Raven tried to catch the words flying by her mind, forming a sentence. “So… you learned about serial killers, right?”
“Yep,” she said, “Serial Killer Fridays.”
“Do you think that… Malachi is actually a killer?”
Her mouth gaped. “No… I was joking… Why are you asking me this?”
“You know how my parents were attacked?” Raven said.
A nod.
“And how I was attacked?”
Another nod.
“Well… I don’t remember the place where I was attacked… and I don’t remember when, really… I just remembered that the boy… had blonde hair.”
“Like… dirty blonde? White?”
“I don’t know…” she responded. “I just remember it being really light… and… Malachi has….”
“Blonde hair,” Jaelyn finished. “Babe, lemme tell you this, okay? Like… ninety percent of the US population has blonde hair, whether natural or died.”
“Do you think he’d actually do something like that?” Raven questioned, shuttering when she spoke the words, “Kill me?”
“I don’t know him that well, Ray,” she responded. “So, I can’t really answer.”
Silence.
“Buuuut,” Jae said, “if you can describe his personality a little from yesterday… I might get an idea? But it most probably won’t be a valid one.”
Raven thought for a moment. “He changes.”
“Uh-huh.”
“So… he’d like scare me with stuff he knows about me… like my favorite things and stuff… and when we did that assignment in biology, he had a whole paragraph, but I wasn’t completely sure if it was about me or not… because he hid it… And I seriously think he has a one-way ticket to my brain because he knows how to push my buttons very well.”
“Ahhhhh…” Jaelyn said. “He’s one of those.”
“One of what?”
She waved the question off. “Continue.”
Raven shook her head. “Well… when I went home that day… I called him.”
“How did you know his number?”
“He gave it to me.”
“Okay… continue.”
“So… I called him and of course he said, ‘who is this?’ But I started to act childish and didn’t tell him it was me.”
“Sounds like you,” Jae commented, “keep going.”
Raven shot her a look before speaking, “I told him to stop stalking me, and he asked me of course, ‘shouldn’t I know who I’m stalking?’ And I started to question if he was stalking multiple girls… but he told me he had sights for another girl… singular.”
“Why was he telling a supposed stranger this?” Jae questioned.
“I’m getting there,” Raven said, “I asked him ‘which girl?’ and he said, ‘I think you know the answer to that.’ But I got concerned… He knew it was me… He said something like ‘does this person happen to be Raven Magicae?’ or something.”
“That’s creepy,” Jae commented.
“So, I finally gave up the act… and he said at the end of the call, ‘I’ll see you soon.’”
“At school… right?” Jae said.
“That’s what I asked… he hung up.”
“Odd.”
“And when I got home,” Raven said, “he showed up in my house, scaring the crap out of me and somehow knew my favorite food and went in, knowing where everything was and started cooking and—”
“Whoa—whoa—whoa—whoa,” Jae interjected. “He showed up at your house? I thought he picked you up at the street.”
“It was both.”
A blink.
“Anyway,” Raven continued, “I went upstairs to pull my hair up… but this wound I have on my side started burning… right? And of course, I’m not particularly comfortable with him roaming around my house freely… but I decided to patch it up again.”
She decided to leave out the whole “I was bleeding heavily” part, and the fact that he healed her so quickly… which seemed a little inhuman, but she pushed the thought away.
“And when I took the gauze off… he walked in.”
Jae’s eyes widened. “We’re you naked?”
“NO!” Raven almost screamed.
Jae threw her hands up innocently at her startled tone.
Raven took a deep breath before continuing, “He actually forced me to lay down and he… No,” she added at Jae’s startled expression, “he didn’t rape me, he actually… healed me… Like he had some medical knowledge.”
“Huh.”
“I keep on asking him if he wants to kill me and he always answers vaguely like: ‘Not really,’ or… ‘why would I try to kill you?’ But… one weird thing… he constantly says… ‘I’m not going to hurt you’ like I’m a terrified child.”
“Well…” Jae butted in, “you did seem kind of… startled all day yesterday… and really shaken today… I think he could tell you were scared.”
“Oh… am I that easy to read?”
A nod.
Raven sighed. “But after the whole… ‘patch up’ incident… I got really confused.”
“How so?”
“I thought originally that he was going to kill me… but then he did something nice like that… and I didn’t really understand… why.”
“Huh… so… how did he kidnap you?”
“Well…” Raven gave her an innocent smile, “I kind of pulled a knife on him.”
“What?”
“Yeah… I pulled a steak knife on him and told him to get out of my house.”
“So….”
“He did… and I got a pack together quickly,” she patted her backpack on the side of her bed, “and ran out.”
“And that’s when you called me.”
“Yeah.”
“After?”
“I was running down the streets… and I kind of ran into him.”
“That’s a hell of a coincidence.”
“I know right? But… I was being attacked by muggers at some point.”
Jae’s eyes widened.
They weren’t really muggers, though… they were a part of that cult that wanted to murder her… though Raven hadn’t told anyone about that yet…
She wanted to keep them safe…
But she had to think… was staying here keeping her safe? If Malachi was a part of them… would they hunt her down and maybe hurt Jaelyn’s family?
“I know… it’s all scrambled…” Raven responded after a moment, “but Malachi seemed scary at first. He grabbed me when I tried to run and I stabbed him… and for a moment, he acted like he was one of the muggers and scared the crap out of me again… but the next thing I knew… he beat them all up.”
He actually shot them.
“And threatened them to leave me alone.”
To put it lightly, and he threatened one because the other two were dead.
“And they ran off.”
The one alive did…
“And I fainted at some point… and I woke up in his house.”
“Okaaaay…” Jae said with raised brows, “I’m guessing you’re not going to answer any of my questions about the muggers or the running away… but… I guess I can kind of profile him?”
Raven nodded, eager to know.
“I’m not a psychologist,” Jae cautioned, “okay?”
A fast nod.
“So… one: he seems like one of those boys who like to mess with girls. Tease them, scare them, confuse them... Two: he’s been stalking you for so long that he knows that much about you… and he probably has been in your house before if he knew where everything was… but he might’ve been watching through a window or something.”
Raven’s heart started throbbing.
“Three: He’s clearly hiding something… but I’m not sure what.”
“Does he give you serial killer vibes still?”
She tipped her head to the side. “I’m not really sure… but it seems as if—as I said before—he’s conflicted… though I don’t know why.”
“Hmmmm.”
“Are you completely sure we shouldn’t call the police?” Jaelyn said.
Raven nodded. “I need to know more.”
“Just don’t get lost, alright?”
Raven nodded, knowing that she meant…
Getting so curious that she’d dig herself deep in a hole… unable to escape…
A hole she could possibly die in…
Raven knew very well that not calling the police was a horrible idea… but that weird instinct was screaming at her not to… and she knew she needed answers… not to lock him away in a jail…
And the instinct was always right.
“Anyway,” Jaelyn yawned at their silence, stretching her arms up, “I’m hitten’ the sack. It’s almost midnight.”
“I will, too,” Raven responded, slipping off the bed and stepping over to the twin mattress that Jae’s parents put on the floor. “See you in the morning.”
“See ya.” She flipped off the switch when Raven slid under the covers.
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*****
Raven hadn’t slept a wink that night… all thoughts focused on Malachi… his motives… his game plans…
What was going through his head? She always sensed emotions, but she never knew what he was thinking when it seemed like he had a tunnel to her thoughts.
Her head was spinning… trying to find a valid reason of what he was planning…
Why did she feel so weak last night? Why did she wake up in his lap? Why did he seem scary but warm at the same time?
Was someone like him possible?
He was stalking her… How long?
Jae said he’d been stalking her for a while, but didn’t mention the timespan… And she said she confronted him… clearly he didn’t listen to whatever she told him, but Raven questioned what he told… her…
What was his response?
Clearly, she was still alive… so he couldn’t have lashed out and killed her… And it didn’t seem like he physically assaulted her either… because Jae seemed a little alarmed, not terrified…
But still… alarmed seemed concerning… because usually Jaelyn liked gossip and stuff…
Did she know something about him that Raven didn’t?
“Hey…” a voice muttered from across the room, and Raven turned to see Jae staring at her alarm clock with narrowed eyes, “what time is it?”
Raven glanced down at her phone that was charging on the floor next to her. “Around seven.”
“How long have you been up?” Jae responded.
“I woke up a couple minutes ago,” Raven lied.
“Well… what do you want for breakfast?” Jae said. “It’s Sunday… and my parents aren’t home today.”
“I actually was thinking…” Raven said cautiously, “if we could go to the library today… and maybe that chai place. Wanna come with?”
Jaelyn sat up, stretching her arms out while yawning. “Okay.”
After Jaelyn took a shower, Raven took a semi-long one, mainly because she was staring at the wall for twenty minutes, lost in thought.
After she got out, she stared at all the concealer and such Jae left on the counter.
Raven wasn’t much of a fan of makeup… mainly because concealer clogged her pores, so she always just wore a light eye shadow and some lip gloss…
After shuffling on her tights, skirt, and T-shirt she shoved in her bag a couple nights ago, she ran a comb through her tangled locks, pulling her hair into a messy bun seconds later.
She stepped out of the bathroom then, seeing Jae at her vanity, skillfully putting on eyeliner.
“Jae?” Raven said.
“Huh?”
She lost her train of thought. “Never mind.”
“Okay.” She clearly was too focused to care.
Raven sat on Jae’s bed, picking up her phone and staring down at the Home Screen which had her parent’s picture set as the wallpaper…
They looked so happy… smiling while the sides of their forehead’s pressed together… her mom sticking out her tongue while her father laughed…
Tears sprung in her eyes… and she wiped them away before Jae saw them…
But when she looked back to her friend, she was still occupied at her vanity…
But Raven’s phone buzzed.
She looked down to it, seeing a green message icon with an unknown phone number…
Who texted her?
She opened her phone and looked at her messages.
It said: Hi.
She blinked, then responded: Who is this?
Look in your pocket, it said.
Her heart pounded, and she shuffled through her skirt pocket, pulling out a small paper slip…
It had Malachi’s phone number on it… the one he gave her…
And sure enough—when she checked the unknown caller’s number—it was the same.
What do you want? she demanded in text.
I want to know how you’re doing.
She blinked, heart racing before responding: Why?
Am I not allowed to be curious?
No, you’re not. What do you want? You always want something.
There was no response for a moment, until he said: You told your friend that I always dodge the question when you ask if I’m going to kill you. I told you multiple times that I’m not going to hurt you, and you decide not to believe me.
Her breathing became strained. Mal, she typed, have you been stalking me all night?
Maybe.
She shook her head. You need to stop that, seriously.
Why?
It’s creepy, and it’s what serial killers do.
I’m not a serial killer, he said.
I never said you were.
You implied it.
She shook her head. Please, stop stalking me.
You didn’t sleep at all last night,he responded, dodging the question. You slept well at my house.
I don’t like where this is going.
Then come back.
No.
He was silent for a moment, and she was about to put her phone down before he said: Why?
You know why.
I don’t.
She took a deep breath. I’m being honest here… I’m scared of you.
No response.
She wiped her eyes when another batch of tears warmed them, but when she looked down to her phone, the little thinking icon popped up when he was typing… and two seconds later, he said back:
You don’t have to be.
How can I trust you? she responded.
I’m trying to help you.
You used me as a human SHEILD.
I wasn’t trying to hurt you.
Yet, you knew they had a gun.
Silence for a moment.
Look…he texted, I know you’re scared, but I’m not going to hurt you, is that so hard to believe?
I don’t trust you.
I know, he responded honestly.
So, leave me alone.
The thinking icon came back for a couple seconds, then vanished for a moment as he retyped his sentence.
I can’t do that, he said.
Why?
I can’t do that, he repeated.
What do you want from me? she said then. Why do you like doing this?
Doing what?
Confusing me? Hurting me? Scaring me? Why are you doing this?
I’m not trying to hurt you, he said.
And yet you keep on eyeing sharp objects, responding to my questions vaguely, and then going onto kidnapping me and not letting me leave.
You’re not safe.
From you, she responded, I know.
That’s not what I was going to say, and you know it.
She shook her head. Just leave me alone.
I’m not going to leave you alone, Raven.
Then I’m calling the police.
You can’t call them.
Watch me.
Raven, he said before she could put her phone down, if you call them, I’ll have no choice but to kill them.
She went cold.
Leave me alone, Malachi. I’m not talking to you anymore.
Before he could respond, she put her phone on Do Not Disturb and shut it off, heart pounding.
“Raven,” Jae said, clearly just finishing putting on her makeup, “what do you think?”
She turned to Raven who was staring off into space in horror.
“Ray? You okay?”
She opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again, remembering his words, I’ll have no choice but to kill them.
“Yeah,” she lied, erasing her expression.
“You look… a little pale, you sure?”
A nod.
A shrug. “Alright, let’s go.” She got up from her desk chair that she used at her vanity and grabbed her purse from her nightstand. Raven tucked her phone into her skirt pocket, grabbing her wallet and shoved it in, as well when Jae gave her a look.
“What?” she said, partly stunned despite her entire body freezing over with panic.
“Don’t think for a second that you’re buying anything, okay?” Jae said. “Horrible things have happened to you, I’m taking care of you today, Raven.”
She forced a smile and a small nod.
Jae grabbed her friend’s hand and dragged her out the door.
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*****
It was around noon when Jaelyn and Raven sat in a booth at Mario’s Diner.
There was a huge chain of these across the entire nation, though it was odd because some were expensive, gourmet restaurants, whereas others were fast-casual and such…
This was a fast-casual.
“So…” Jaelyn said, breaking the silence, “what’s going on in life?”
“You know what’s going on, Jae,” Raven said.
She threw her hands up. “Excuse me for trying to make conversation.”
“Sorry…” Raven pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a deep breath, “just on edge.”
“I know, Ray,” she responded. “Don’t apologize.”
“Hello,” a male voice said, “may I take your orders, Girls?”
Raven looked up at his familiar voice, seeing Malachi standing above them with a black apron and tussled blonde locks, holding a pad of paper and a pen in his hand.
Her breathing became strained.
“Mal?” Jae said in disbelief. “You work here?”
“I do.”
She was silent for a moment, looking to Raven who was staring down at the table, eyes wide while she breathed shallowly.
“Can we get another waiter?” Jae said then, looking to Malachi who was also staring at Raven with dark eyes.
He gazed back at her. “Nope, you’re stuck with me. Now would you like to order?”
“Raven,” Jae said, “what do you want?”
“Excuse me,” she said suddenly, scooting out of the booth and rushing out of the restaurant.
Malachi looked after her, then back at Jae. “You gonna go get her? Or….”
“Isn’t that your job, stalker boy?”
He rolled his eyes. “Look, I know what you both are thinking.”
“Then tell me why you’re doing this,” she responded. “Because Raven seems genuinely terrified of you and she’s never like that with boys. What did you do to her yesterday, Mal? Did you hurt her?”
His eyes widened. “God, no.”
Jaelyn narrowed her eyes. “Tell me why I shouldn’t slap you right now, Malachi.”
“Why would you want to slap me?” he questioned. “What did I do?”
“Kidnapping her is one thing,” Jaelyn said. “Another is that you said something to her that terrified her, what did you tell her?”
His eyes darkened. “I wasn’t trying to scare her.”
“What did you say to her?”
He looked back outside where Raven vanished to. “I’ll go look for her.”
Jaelyn caught his arm and stood, crossing her arms over her chest. “Malachi, what do you want from Raven?”
“Nothing.” He shook his head.
“That’s clearly a lie,” she said, “you’ve been stalking her for almost a year now. When I confronted you a couple months ago, you told me that her parents wanted you to watch over her. I tried to believe you, but I could tell you were lying. And now her parents are currently out of the equation, and you’re making pretty sketchy moves. Why are you doing this to her?”
“I didn’t hurt her parents, Jaelyn,” he said, narrowing his eyes.
“She said she was attacked by a man with blonde hair, and you have blonde hair, Malachi.”
“So does ninety percent of the population,” he responded.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Jae said. “Did you or did you not attack my best friend a couple weeks ago?”
“I did not,” he answered sharply.
“How are you connected in all this?” she questioned.
He didn’t respond.
“And apparently,” Jae said, “she coincidently gets attacked quite frequently, and she told me it was muggers.”
He almost choked. “She lied, they’re very much not muggers.”
“Is it you, then?”
“No.”
“She said you knew them.”
“I did.”
She was silent for a moment. “You said that in past tense.”
“I killed them,” he responded, “which she also failed to mention, hmm?”
Jaelyn narrowed her eyes. “Malachi, what do you want from her?”
He responded then, eyes softening. “I… want to protect her.”
“From who?”
“Those people?” he said. “Who keep on attacking her? They’re assassins.”
Her eyes widened, blood turning cold. “WHAT?”
“Someone wants her dead… and I’m trying to protect her.”
“Who wants her dead, Mal?”
“If I tell you,” he said, “you’ll be on the list, too.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Malachi,” she said, “I feel like you’re hiding something from me.”
He shook his head. “I’m not.”
“You’re lying. And I know when I ask you this question again, you’re going to lie, as well.”
He looked to her with his dark eyes.
“You’re battling yourself inside,” she said. “I know your conflicted.”
“Oh, really?” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“So, here comes the question,” she said, “how do you fit into this equation?”
He glared. “None of your business.”
“It is my business, because I think I know the answer, Mal.”
He was silent.
“You’re one the assassins, aren’t you?”
He didn’t respond, but his eyes grew cold.
“That’s what I thought,” she said. “You’re a really good manipulator, Mal. And I know part of you still wants to kill her, so stay away from her, or I’ll have no choice but to call the police.”
She walked away then, stepping out of the restaurant.
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*****
Raven was sitting on the bench in the Zen Garden outside the restaurant when Jae came up to her, settling down next to her.
“It’s fine if you don’t want to go back in there,” Jae said, watching her stiff stance. “We can get food somewhere else, you know.”
“I know.”
Silence.
Raven took a deep breath, letting it out and hoping it wouldn’t cause a shutter. “Jae.”
She looked to her. “Yeah?”
“You were in there for a while…” Raven said. “And I saw you talking to him through the window… what were you talking about?”
“I was questioning him,” she said, “per usual.”
“What was his answer?”
She rolled her eyes. “Bluff, bluff, vague, vague, annoying.”
Raven chuckled. “Sounds like him.”
“Yep....”
Jae watched her friend’s stance for a moment.
“Raven,” she said after a couple seconds, “you were fine last night… and this morning… After the shower… you seemed kind of tense.”
She sighed, shuffling her phone out of her pocket and unlocking it before handing it to Jae. “Read the most recent text.”
“From the unknown number?”
A nod.
“Alright.”
Her eyes darted around the screen for a minute as she scrolled.
They darkened in fear when she read the last text he sent. “Okaaay… that got dark fast.”
“I know… do you think he’d actually be able to kill the police?”
Jaelyn thought for a moment. “No… not if there’s a lot, but… that was a threat, you know.”
A nod. “I know. That’s why I was afraid to tell you this morning.”
“You’re afraid to call the police now, huh?”
“I don’t want anymore people to die, Jae. And I don’t know how well he’s trained.”
“He threatened you because he doesn’t want you to call the police,” she said. “I know you’re scared, but I think we should call them, Raven. Especially knowing the whole incident with your parents.”
“Do you think he was involved?” Raven said, looking to her. “Is that why you were questioning him?”
A nod.
Raven dragged a hand down her face.
“Hey…” Jae said then, “I was wondering.”
Raven looked to her. “Huh?”
“When you were at his house… did he do anything to hurt you?”
Raven looked to the rocks on the ground. “Not really.”
“That was a vague answer,” she commented.
“He… gave me meds.”
She stiffened. “He DRUGGED you?”
“No!” Raven shook her head almost violently. “No… I thought he was trying to… It was some kind of clear liquid. He said it was pain killers, but I didn’t trust him… so he showed me it wasn’t drugged by drinking it first.”
He did it in a more… intimate way, but she didn’t mention it.
“And… I let him give it to me… and after that, it seemed kind of blurry.”
“So he did drug you,” Jae stated.
Raven’s brows drew together. “I… don’t really think so… I felt more… sick.”
“Elaborate?”
“I was dizzy… weak… and I felt like I was going to puke… the wound on my side was burning… and he carried me downstairs to the kitchen.”
“Odd place to carry you.”
“What’s even more odd… is that he fed me smoked salmon and orange juice… He kind of forced me to eat it, though… But I was so hungry that once he ate it himself to show me it wasn’t poisoned… I ate it.” She breathed deeply for a second. “He… seemed kind of… worried… Like I was dying or something and he actually cared.”
“What happened after he gave you the food?”
“I started feeling sleepy… and he carried me upstairs to his bedroom… and tucked me in his bed… I think… he told me that I was safe with him or something… but I wasn’t able to ask what he was protecting me from… and he sat down onto a chair and started reading a book.”
“When you woke?”
“I woke up in the chair he was reading in… in his lap.”
Her eyes widened. “Do we need to take you to the hospital, Raven?”
“No…” she responded, “he didn’t do anything to me… He wasn’t touching me or even kissing me… I had a warm blanket covering me and he was… cradling me.”
Jaelyn looked puzzled for a second, then glanced at the store window where Malachi was waiting a table, then looked back to Raven. “Define cradle.”
“Umm… like… I was sideways in his lap… and he had his arms around me… kind of rocking me.”
“How did you react?”
“I tried to get up at first… but he pulled me back down and seemed kind of sad that I was trying to leave.”
“Why?”
“He said that I looked… comfy and peaceful.”
Jaelyn looked back to the table Malachi was waiting at, but this time he glanced at her… and his lips tilted slightly before focusing back to the table.
“I don’t know what he wants from me…” Raven said.
“He told me,” Jae said, “that he wants to protect you, Raven.”
She looked to her friend then. “I thought you said he was bluffing.”
Jaelyn’s gaze was still locked on him through the window. “He was… and I thought he was lying… but you told me that… he threatened those muggers attacking you?”
Raven nodded. “Yes.”
“I wouldn’t trust him yet, okay?” Jae looked down to her. “But… I think he might have… some good intentions, but you should avoid him for a couple days, alright?”
“Why a couple days?”
“Remember how I said he was conflicted?” Jaelyn said.
A nod.
“You know how he knew the muggers personally?”
Another nod.
“I think… he had bad intentions before… and now is regretting them.”
“Why?”
“I don’t honestly know, Ray. But I’m still scared he has some thoughts passing that he wants to hurt you still… so I want you to stay away from him for now… okay? I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“The police?”
“He might be right…” Jae said, remembering the whole assassin deal, “he could possibly kill them… So just refrain for a little until you’re in immediate danger, okay?”
A nod. “Okay.”
Jaelyn then decided to change the subject, desperate to find a way to calm Raven down because she could see the sweat sliding down her temples. “So, your mom’s getting discharged today, right? I heard they bumped it up.”
Raven looked down to her thumbs. “No… not anymore.”
“Why?”
She hesitated. “There was… a dilemma.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Do you want to stay another night?” Jae said at her dark eyes.
“Yeah.”
Jaelyn stood then, offering hand. “C’mon, let’s go to the library, alright?”
Raven nodded. “Okay.”
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