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....”
She 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?” she 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….”
She 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….”
“He DRUGGED you?”
“No!” She 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,” she 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…” she 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.”
