A Clones Worth
by Phoenix Rising
The shadow moved with silent efficiency, finding its way through the maze of halls, work spaces, and large, bright rooms filled with evening sunlight. It made its way over broken glass, and brown stains that looked like dried blood close up. The shadow stopped for a minute, and brushed a strand of shadowy hair out of its eyes, before moving on. It passed a flickering candle, the white wax dripping and drying on the floor. The shadow’s foot came down on something that crunched. The shadow looked down at the empty beaker, shattered on the ground.
Now, the shadow was looking at an ancient security system, one that flickered on and off, and if the shadow was feeling brave, it could have walked through the beams of red light, but it wasn’t, so, with high steps, bends of the head, waist and arms, the shadow made its way to another room, one with a scent, one that smelled of rotting flesh. The shadow’s nose wrinkled, as it made its way between the large computers lining the walls. Bullet holes littered everything. A sudden shot behind the shadow caused it to jump, and duck down behind the nearest computer. The shadow was now face to face with what looked like a decaying man, but it couldn’t be certain. Holding back its gorge, the shadow looked out from behind the computer, and saw nothing to fear. Good hearing came with a price.
The shadow slunk near the computers now, seeing more and more bodies, most of them with a weapon of some sort. The shadow’s nose was permanently wrinkled now, as it moved farther into the stench of rotting flesh, dust, and blood long since dried. The shadow came to a ladder, stained with rust and patches of soot, and more dried blood. Grimacing, the shadow placed one hand on the nearest rung, and pulled with all its might. When the rung held, the shadow deemed it safe; although it felt climbing up the wall to the trap door set there was safer.
The shadow started to climb the ladder, stopping every now and then to look around. When the shadow had reached the height of the computer tops, it shifted its weight to the nearest computer top, only a few inches away from the ladder. On the computer top was a lot of dust, much of which, the shadow felt, went into its lungs. As the dust settled again, the lights in the room flickered off. The shadow tensed, its eyes glowing gold-yellow in the gleam from the blood red sun outside. With an ear listening for noises, the shadow, now a part of the dark, got back on the ladder, and started up again. ‘A few more feet...’ the shadow thought, as it reached up for the next rung, and closed its hand on empty air.
With a light growl, the shadow contemplated the problem. The rest of the rungs were gone. The shadow ‘could’ stand on the top rung, and hang onto the sides of the ladder, thus reaching the door just out of reach. But, that would leave the shadow open to sight, for the shattered window was now letting light from the sun fall on just that spot. Another gunshot caused the shadow to jump, and look around. So far, nothing was a danger, but, the shadow felt it was time to move. Holding onto the sides of the ladder, the shadow moved up the last rungs with its feet, until its head, neck, and torso were in the patch of sun.
Risking a look out the window, the shadow saw the setting sun. The beauty did nothing for the shadow, which saw the blood red color as something more to mourn, along with all the lives that had been lost here. With a barely audible sigh, the shadow started to move upward again, reaching for the trap door. A crunch of glass sounded through the area, and the shadow froze, chancing a look down. Muscles were tense, waiting for the brain to send the command, fight, or flight, at a moments notice. The gold-yellow eyes swept the area, nothing. Still, the shadow was tense, as it moved just a little higher, stretching now, fingers scraping against wood, as another crunch of glass resounded through the air.
The shadow froze, and cursed under its breath. ‘By the stars, who, or what, followed me?’ the shadow thought, as its eyes once more swept the area, before resting on its ratty shoes. Lifting one foot, clinging tightly, the shadow looked at the bottom of the shoe. Glass. That had been the crunching noise. The shadow tapped its foot against the wall, and glass cascaded down, falling with a slight tinkle on the ground. The shadow winced, and did the same with the other sneaker. The same tinkle of glass met the shadow’s ears, and it waited for someone to jump out of nowhere, and shoot at it. No one did, and the shadow waited for a few minutes, just in case.
The shadow reached up, and found the door handle. The handle turned with a creak, and swung down, nearly catching the shadow in the head. The shadow growled again, and grasped the edge of the wood, splinters digging into its skin. As the shadow prepared to jump up, it heard something. A small, almost silent beeping. A working computer. How nice, for someone else. With a leap, the shadow pulled at the wood, scrambling at the wall. It didn’t make it; it started to fall, feeling for one second an overwhelming terror, before reaching out, and grabbing the rung of the ladder in a tight death grip. The shadow felt its arm seem to snap, and hung, suspended by one arm that hurt like fire, breathing heavy.
‘Oh, that can’t be good,’ the shadow thought wryly. It swung, and grasped the next rung up. Getting its feet on the ladder was easy, and the shadow started to climb, hooking its injured hand over the rungs, instead of grasping them. Soon, the shadow was at the door, which had stayed open. This time, the shadow clung tighter, ignoring the pain from the current splinters, and the injured hand and arm, and readied itself for the jump. ‘Three, two one...’ the shadow jumped, letting go with its good hand, and reaching up, up, up for the rim of the door frame. The shadow’s feet scrambled against the wall, finding slight purchase. The shadow felt itself start to fall, and grabbed at something angrily. The fall was stopped, and the shadow hung there, surprised.
‘I got the door frame, now what?’ the shadow thought, as it tried to get up, failing. The shadow stopped, when it felt its fingers start to slip. The shadow let go of the door, fresh splinters pulling free of the rotting wood, and placed the hand on the floor above. Fresh lances of pain speared through the hand and arm, but the shadow couldn’t care less. What was pain of the body, compared with pain of the mind? With a low grunt, the shadow started to pull itself up, pausing to get a different grip, now with one arm hooked over the upper floor, the other pushing on the higher ground. The shadow’s head cleared the rotting door frame, and felt safe to start kicking its feet. The shadow pulled itself higher, and kicked against the doorknob, and felt itself rise high enough to get on the floor. With a slight roll, the shadow found itself lying on the floor, the legs below the knee still dangling. The upper floor was worse then the lower one, and the shadow felt like gasping for breath.
After catching its breath, the shadow sat up, and pulled its legs up onto the floor, sitting cross legged. Looking around, the shadow saw many windows, most in a better shape then those downstairs, but more grimy too. Getting to its feet, the shadow stood up, and started to walk down the isle. Doors were on every side, and the shadow took care to look in every one. The ones on the left were offices, apparently, and the ones on the right were offices too. The shadow felt frustrated, having come this far, was all it had to show being one hurt arm and hand, and tens of thousands of splinters?
A door at the end of the hall caught the shadows attention, not because it stood out, although it did stand out quite well, it being made of old metal and with a faded warning sign, but because ‘that’ was what the shadow remembered it had to find. With quickening steps, the shadow started to move faster, hearing only the pounding of its own heart in its ears, the feeling of the solid ground under its feet. The door. The door was nearer. The shadow started to walk again, and finally reached the large metal door. Reaching out with a trembling hand, the shadow placed the splinter ridden, fire feeling hand on the door, just as a large beeping filled the air.
~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~
A lazy hand reached out from under a large, heavy quilt, and slapped the off button on the alarm clock. ‘Stupid thing, I was just going to find out what the dream meant, and then off it goes.’ the occupant of the bed started to stir, and the same hand that had stopped the beeping alarm fumbled around for slippers. It came up with two unmatched slippers, one a blazing, fuzzy pink one, the other a dark, blue one with green stars and a moon sewn on the toe. The person under the quilt stuck its feet down into both, and threw the quilt off. Yawning, the girl looked at the alarm. ‘It should be illegal to have to get up earlier then ten in the morning.’ The girl stood up, and yawned again. Sweeping the mass of tangles off her face, she started to make her way to the bathroom.
The girl squinted at the mirror, and grabbed her tooth brush. Putting on some toothpaste, on the wrong side, she stuck the pink brush in her mouth, and started to brush her teeth. After doing that for several minutes, she finished, and stuck her head under the tap, sucking water into her mouth, then swishing it around, gargling, and then spitting into the sink. She waited a minute, before splashing some of the cold water on her face. Looking up at her image, she stuck out her tongue. ‘Well, ready for another day of torture?’ She thought, before grabbing a brush. Yanking the brush through her hair, she stared moodily around the room. Pink flowers blazed from the floor, from the background of pale, almost white pink. The shower curtains were first a lacy, light mauve, with the actual curtains a darker mauve. The walls were a light pink, and the toilet even had a fuzzy pink cover for the toilet lid!
“Pink. My mom just had to like pink.” The girl mumbled, yanking the hairbrush through another tangle. Once her hair was neat, and tangle free, she set the brush back, grimacing at the pinkness of everything. Heck, even the hairbrush, toothbrushes, and countertops were pink! The girl sincerely hoped she was adopted.
As she made her way back to her room, she chanced a look down the stairs. The sight of the deep blue carpet, and the light blue chair, made her start to feel a little sick. She turned away, and went into her room, where chaos ruled. The light green chair clashed with the bright yellow bookcases, and the Aztec looking sheets definitely clashed with the green, white, and purple quilt, with its black squiggle lines, and bits of black, white, green, and purple fabric sewn on in random spots.
And the wood floor with its odd colored mats, most of which shared the color of the quilt, was losing the battle of its once rich, smooth looking texture. Now, it looked like someone had taken a knife to it, and carved words such as, ‘my brother is a dork’, or ‘Raven Rising forever’, or ‘When the phoenix was born, the world paused, and evil trembled as the phoenix flew like living flame, which it was.’ the knife part, was indeed true. Drawings had gone along with the words, a picture of a boy wearing a dunce cap, a girl with fire instead of hair, with flames for clothes, and a picture of a phoenix flying, and shadows quivering.
The girl opened the closet door, and riffled through it, looking for clothes, any clothes that were clean. Seeing a relatively clean pair of jeans, she grabbed that, and the shirt that was beside the jeans. Throwing the garments on the bed, she started to ruffle through the drawers, and grabbed a pair of socks, and underwear. Throwing those on the bed as well, the girl paused, and listened, hoping for the hearing she always had in her dream. Nothing. With a sense of disappointment, the girl got dressed, leaving her pajamas in a heap on the floor. Running out to the hall, she clattered down the stairs.
“Raven! What are you doing dressed like that!?” A young adult, looking perhaps twenty, turned around. Raven was nonplused, she knew the woman was at lease twelve years older then she looked, maybe the woman was fifty, Raven thought. Raven herself was going into high school, and the woman was her mom. Plastic surgery was wonderful these days.
“I’m dressed.” Raven looked down at herself, and saw that she had grabbed her painting shirt. The once green shirt was flecked with blues, greens, yellows, and every color of the rainbow. The jeans had a threadbare spot over one knee, and grass stains on the other knee. Raven shrugged, and grabbed a bowl, helping herself to some fruit loops. She filled the bowl with milk, and started to eat, drowning out her mothers arguments the entire time. When there were no more fruit loops in the bowl, she lifted the green bowl to her lips and drank the entire bunch of milk.
Raven got up, and took the bowl over to the sink, rinsing the bowl out. As the last of the milk-water drained down the drain, she placed the bowl in the dish washer.
“And have you been listening to a word I’ve been saying young lady?” Her mother’s voice, getting shriller as she spoke, cut through the last of Raven’s mental defenses. With a growl that sounded more like a cough, Raven clenched her jaw together.
“No, not really.” Raven spoke lightly, seething inside. The dream was slipping away, Raven could hardly remember the pain from the fall. And the smells, noises, gone. Just as the terror of discovery.
“What has she done now?” Raven looked over at the young boy, who looked a lot like Raven’s mom. Fair haired, with sapphire blue eyes, and a model look about the way he carried himself often got him the attention. He was his mother's double in other ways too. Like the fact that everything had to be ordered, and neat. Nathan scowled at Raven, who sneered back. The relationship between the two wasn’t very close, ever since Raven had started carving words and pictures in the wood floor in her room.
“I’ve only gotten dressed. I don’t see a problem.” Raven said, with the air of someone who has better things to do. ‘I do have better things to do, shop for a knick-knack.’ Raven thought, looking down at her watch, seeing that she was already late to get the little baubles.
Raven started to walk, only half hearing her mother and brother, until she was out the door, and unable to hear them. ‘I’m so going to get that when I get back.’ Raven thought sadly, looking down at her feet. One black sock, and one tie-dye sock came into view, and disappeared, and came back into view. The battered runners looked the same as Raven felt. Beaten. Already she felt depressed, and the day had just started.
As Raven made her way down the street, she found herself making her way to her favorite store, Baubles and Jangles. At the door, she paused, and pushed the glass open, the tiny bell jingling. The owner bustled around a corner, and beamed at the sight of Raven.
“Raven dear! How you’ve grown! Last time, we were the same height! Now you’re so much taller! This is wonderful to see you dear, come in, come in.” The older woman smiled at Raven, having to crane her neck in order to look the younger girl in the eye. “Oh, but you must have a cup of tea with me!” She cried, and started to tug Raven’s arm to the back. Raven allowed the old woman to take her to the back of the shop, and sank down on an overstuffed chair.
“Thanks Mrs. Maguire. I don’t think I could have stayed at home another minute.” Raven accepted the cup of herbal tea, and took a sip.
“Is it that bad?” Mrs. Maguire asked. Raven nodded, not trusting herself to speak. The old woman was to Raven, a God send. To Mrs. Maguire, Raven was the daughter she could never have. They got along very well.
“They just hate me! Oh Mrs. Maguire, could you adopt me?!” Raven cried, feeling like her world was turning upside down. But if Mrs. Maguire took her in, perhaps things would get better. Mrs. Maguire sighed, and looked Raven in the eye.
“Raven, you’re like my daughter. However, you know I can’t take you in, it would be kidnapping. Plus, there are other reasons.” A hint of mystery entered Mrs. Maguire’s eyes, and Raven looked at Mrs. Maguire curiously.
“You mean I can’t stay here?”
“Oh, during the day, all day. Stop by early and we can have breakfast together. But not after dark, no.” Mrs. Maguire said, sadly. She too, wished that Raven could stay with her. However, she knew why Raven couldn’t, but was forbidden to say why. She suddenly spoke up. “Raven, dear, could you tell me something?”
“Oh? What?” Raven looked up from her empty tea cup, wondering if she had drunk the tea or if it had vanished. She supposed she had drunk it, but still...
“Well, I was wondering. Can you remember any of your dreams?” Mrs. Maguire looked at Raven, feeling better now that she could help.
‘Sort of. I mean, just as I wake up, till when mom and Nathan start talking. But it’s like they can take my dreams away from me, I can’t remember much after dealing with them.” Mrs. Maguire nodded, and looked thoughtfully at Raven. She got up, and nodded.
“Follow me dear, you’ll like the surprise.” Raven got up, and set the tea cup down on the table, following her old friend. Confused as to why Mrs. Maguire was leading her into her house, Raven quickened her pace in order to catch up with Mrs. Maguire.
Mrs. Maguire led the way into the kitchen, and picked up a photograph, of the late Mr. Maguire. “It was his idea.” She said proudly. Raven looked at the picture, and nodded.
“What idea?”
“You’ll see dear. Just come over here.” Mrs. Maguire walked over to the kitchen table, and lifted a notebook, a beautiful, sparkly red notebook. Mrs. Maguire handed the book over to Raven, who took it from her hesitantly, and opened the cover. On the first page, a no-line page, was script in a flowing calligraphy.
‘Raven, I have watched you whenever you came to my store. I feel that you are destined for great things. I know I’m a stranger now, but I hope I have time to meet you soon, before I leave to a different world. My wife and I both agree that you will have trials of hope and love, and your whole world will be shaken, but remember that people care about you. I hope you get this Dream Recorder, to keep your dreams in, to wonder what they mean, to find out things that you never knew about yourself. Keep it close to your heart, for I feel that you will need it in the time to come. Trust in your heart and yourself, and you will do great things.
Sincerely,
Edward Maguire’
Raven looked at the next page, and the clear, crisp lines and the white paper let off a sent of freshly cut flowers, and old ink. Raven smiled as she inhaled the sent, before she couldn’t smell it any more. Confused, she looked up at the old woman, who merely smiled.
“Ed felt that you would have troubles in your life. It seems he was right, am I correct?” The old woman knew, however, that her late husband had indeed been right.
“Yes, but...how did he know?” Raven looked back at the first page, with its inscription. She closed the book, and ran her fingers lightly over the shiny surface. Mrs. Maguire merely shook her head.
“I can’t say. Perhaps it was because he was always in tune with the world around him. But, he was right about one thing. One day, just before he past on, he told me, ‘take care of that special girl, she’ll matter a lot to you.’ He was right, too.”
Raven felt tears battling against her eyelids, so she shut her eyes, keeping from crying. Special. No one had ever called her special before, and Mr. and Mrs. Maguire thought she was special.
Mrs. Maguire watched Raven struggle against her tears, before they overwhelmed her completely. The old woman gave the poor dear a tissue, and patted her on the back.
“Come on dear, I think you came here for something. How about a piece of pumpkin pie? Your favorite.” Mrs. Maguire smiled as Raven stopped crying and smiled back.
“Sounds nice, thanks.” Raven giggled as Mrs. Maguire got her an extra big slice, and started to eat. “I’m always having pumpkin pie here, it’s silly.”
Mrs. Maguire nodded, and watched with pride as Raven inhaled the pie slice, pleased that she had done good.
~~~***~~~***~~~***
Raven stopped outside her door, and looked down at the package. ‘Well, now or never, although I wish it was never.’ Raven thought, as she opened the door. Looking around the beige hallway, she almost sighed with relief that no one was around. ‘I forgot, mom had to take Nathan to his doctor’s appointment.’ Raven smiled, and ran up the stairs, down the hallway, and to her room, slamming the door shut. ‘Paradise.’ Raven set the bag down on her green armchair, and pulled out her Dream Book, running her fingers over the cover lovingly. Setting it down beside her bed, Raven pulled out the matching pen. A sparkling red pen, with a black refillable ink, was placed just as lovingly down with the notebook. Then, Raven pulled out her new knick-knacks. A beautiful quill, ink, and parchment set, a gift from Mr. Maguire before he died, and a beautiful silver and gold necklace.
Raven placed the set on her desk, and then looked down at the amulet. ‘Beautiful.’ A silver half moon and silver stars glinted in the circle formed by a raised gold band, with the background of the picture gold too. A crystal case covered the entire thing, and she cradled the piece lovingly. Raven unclasped the chain, and clasped it around her neck. Raven tucked the entire thing under her shirt, in order to keep anyone from seeing it.
Raven walked over to her closet, and started to pick up the dirty clothes from the floor. She took the entire mess into the laundry room, and dumped them on the floor. She clattered back up the stairs, and started to look for...there! ‘Can’t hide from Raven Rising, can you?’ Raven grinned, as she pulled a rather large box out of the closet. She opened the box, after fetching a knife and slitting the tape. She pulled out a smaller box, and opened that, not having to use the knife. Nails and a hammer lay in the cardboard box. Taking out a nail and the hammer, she moved to a spot on the wall, and started to tap the nail in.
~~~***~~~***~~~***
Raven looked around, and nodded. A see-through bead curtain hung in front of her window, giving the room a rainbow light look, and a picture of a waterfall hung near the book cases. Three posters hung from the room as well, one a swirl of color, an other one a picture of two eyes, with the words ‘see what you can, while you can’, with the last one reflecting colors depending on where you stood. Glass jars of see-through beads rested where ever they could, some on the desk, five on top of each book case, and one by her bedside table. The mats were now even more random about the room, and the entire place was odder then before.
“Perfect.” Raven said, pleased with herself. The sound of the door opening downstairs caused her to jump, as well as the voices. Her mother and brother were back. Then, just as suddenly as she could, she couldn’t hear them anymore. Raven frowned, and left her room. She clattered down the stairs, feeling her amulet bump against her chest, a reassuring weight.
“Where have you been! I could be dieing, and you wouldn’t care.” Nathan accused, and Raven shrugged.
“Your right, I wouldn’t care. Do we have any milk?”
~~~***~~~***~~~***
Much later, the shadow arrived at the trap door. ‘By the stars, who, or what, followed me?’ the shadow thought again, as its eyes once more swept the area, before resting on its ratty shoes. Lifting one foot, clinging tightly, the shadow looked at the bottom of the shoe. Glass. That had been the crunching noise. The shadow tapped its foot against the wall, and glass cascaded down, falling with a slight tinkle on the ground. The shadow winced, and did the same with the other sneaker. The same tinkle of glass met the shadow’s ears, and it waited for someone to jump out of nowhere, and shoot at it. No one did, and the shadow waited for a few minutes, just in case.
The shadow reached up, and found the door handle. The handle turned with a creak, and swung down, nearly catching the shadow in the head. The shadow growled again, and grasped the edge of the wood, splinters digging into its skin. As the shadow prepared to jump up, it heard something. A small, almost silent beeping. A working computer. How nice, for someone else. With a leap, the shadow pulled at the wood, scrambling at the wall. It didn’t make it, it started to fall, feeling for one second an overwhelming terror, before reaching out, and grabbing the rung of the ladder in a tight death grip. The shadow felt its arm seem to snap, and hung, suspended by one arm that hurt like fire, breathing heavy.
‘Oh, that can’t be good.’ the shadow thought wryly. It swung, and grasped the next rung up. Getting its feet on the ladder was easy, and the shadow started to climb, hooking its injured hand over the rungs, instead of grasping them. Soon, the shadow was at the door, which had stayed open. This time, the shadow clung tighter, ignoring the pain from the current splinters, and the injured hand and arm, and readied itself for the jump. ‘Three, two one...’ The shadow jumped, letting go with its good hand, and reaching up, up, up for the rim of the door frame. The shadow’s feet scrambled against the wall, finding slight purchase. The shadow felt itself start to fall, and grabbed at something angrily. The fall was stopped, and the shadow hung there, surprised.
‘I got the door frame, now what?’ the shadow thought, as it tried to get up, failing. The shadow stopped, when it felt its fingers start to slip. The shadow let go of the door, fresh splinters pulling free of the rotting wood, and placed the hand on the floor above. Fresh lances of pain speared through the hand and arm, but the shadow couldn’t care less. What was pain of the body, compared with pain of the mind? With a low grunt, the shadow started to pull itself up, pausing to get a different grip, now with one arm hooked over the upper floor, the other pushing on the higher ground. The shadow’s head cleared the rotting door frame, and felt safe to start kicking its feet. The shadow pulled itself higher, and kicked against the doorknob, and felt itself rise high enough to get on the floor. With a slight roll, the shadow found itself lying on the floor, the legs below the knee still dangling. The upper floor was worse then the lower one, and the shadow felt like gasping for breath.
After catching its breath, the shadow sat up, and pulled its legs up onto the floor, sitting cross legged. Looking around, the shadow saw many windows, most in a better shape then those downstairs, but more grimy too. Getting to its feet, the shadow stood up, and started to walk down the isle. Doors were on every side, and the shadow took care to look in every one. The ones on the left were offices, apparently, and the ones on the right were offices too. The shadow felt frustrated, having come this far, was all it had to show being one hurt arm and hand, and tens of thousands of splinters?
A door at the end of the hall caught the shadows attention, not because it stood out, although it did stand out quite well, it being made of old metal and with a faded warning sign, but because ‘that’ was what the shadow remembered it had to find. With quickening steps, the shadow started to move faster, hearing only the pounding of its own heart in its ears, the feeling of the solid ground under its feet. The door. The door was nearer. The shadow started to walk again, and finally reached the large metal door. Reaching out with a trembling hand, the shadow placed the splinter ridden, fire feeling hand on the door, just as a large beeping filled the air. The shadow looked up, and grasped the door knob, pulling the heavy metal toward it. As the door opened, another gun shot echoed threw the corridor. The shadow ducked inside the door, and pulled it closed. Just in time too, for a thud of metal on metal clanged loudly through the air...
~~~***~~~***~~~***
‘I had the dream again. I made it inside the door, but woke up, because what I dreamed was a bullet hitting the door turned out to be my door slamming open. I don’t think my mom was too happy, she was yelling about my room. I just tuned her out, and started to write down the dream again. It’s great, I can remember everything, even though she’s screeching at me.’ Raven stopped her writing, and paused to think. ‘I’ve never felt so free before. But soon school will be back, and I won’t be free any more, will I? I wonder if I’ll ever see the end of the dream. It’d be nice, I mean, I want to find out who the shadow is, why I can feel its pain, and what it’s running from and trying to get. It’s weird. I want to know, but I don’t. I’ll have to think about it. I’ll have all week, mom grounded me. Don’t know why.’
Raven closed the book, and capped her pen. Setting both book and pen on her table, she moved to the window, and shifted some of the beads. A car left a driveway, and Raven followed it with her eyes down the road, to a bend, and lost sight of the car. She wasn’t allowed to make any phone calls ‘Like I can, what phone do I have in here?’, wasn’t allowed to open a window ‘Why, would I be that dumb, it would hurt to fall to the ground.’ and was not allowed to open the door. ‘Why not, it’s not like I can do anything from my door way. Only thing I’m allowed down for is meals. And those aren’t that great either. I’m sure this is child abuse.’
Raven turned away from the window, and walked over to her book shelves, but as she looked at the titles of the books to see which one to read, she stopped, her eyes unfocused.
‘A winter walk. Snow falling. Two girls, glaring at each other. One, tall and wearing nothing but a coat, the other, dressed for the season. A winter walk...falling...glaring at each other...wearing nothing but...other, dressed for...season...winter...falling...glaring...other...wearing...but...dressed...season...winter...falling... glaring...wearing...dressed...season...winter...’
Raven shook her head, and blinked the vision from her mind. But the words still danced in her mind, and she ran to her Dream book, and wrote them down.
‘I don’t know, what was that? Just all of a sudden, I saw from the eyes of one of the girls, the other was my sworn enemy. But I don’t know anyone, really. I’m a loner.’ Raven looked at the words, and felt confusion. ‘Winter...season...winter...season...winter season.’
~~~***~~~***~~~***
Raven ran down the hall, and skidded. She almost slammed into the closed door, but stopped just in time. Opening the door slowly, she peaked in. People looked at her, and the teacher was no where to be seen. Raven tip toed to her seat, and sat down, pulling out a book. ‘Search for Avalon’ was one of her favorites.
“Ms. Rising, good you decided to join us.” Her teacher said. He stepped from behind the filling cabinet, where his phone was kept. “That was your mother speaking. She wanted to know why you took off like, in her own words, ‘A bat out of hell’. That was, from what she told me, two hours ago. And now you’re late. Care to explain, how you can leave early, and still be late for school?” Several kids laughed, and Raven felt her throat grow tight.
“I’m sorry sir, it won’t happen again.” She mumbled. Suddenly, her book was whisked away from her desk. She looked up quickly.
“`Search for Avalon’ hum? Good book. I want a five page report about this book, on my desk tomorrow morning.” Her teacher said, tossing the book down. Raven nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and gathered her book in her arms. Thankfully, she almost knew it off by heart, she read it so much.
“Alright class, we have two new students in our class. I know they should have been here a week ago, but they’re here now. Please meet Casey and Aria Miller.” Two girls, both looking almost the same, walked in. Raven looked up. She had never met twins before.
“I’m Casey.” The taller, thinner girl said, raising her hand. She also had a shade darker hair color.
“And I’m Aria.” The other girl said. She looked around, and saw two empty seats. Unfortunately, they were right beside Raven, on either side.
“Girls, just take a seat. Those two seats look fine.” The two girls nodded, and Casey, or was it Aria, sat down on Raven’s left, and Aria, or perhaps Casey, sat down on Raven’s right. When the two girls were seated, the teacher turned to the blackboard. Raven tuned him out, and looked down at the desk. Whether she studied or not, paid attention or not, she always got perfect. It just came to her.
“Hey, you alive?” The right hand girl hissed, and Raven looked over at her.
“Yes.” She whispered back. The other girl nodded.
“I’m Casey. Talk during recess. Deal?” Raven nodded, and took the hand offered. The two girls pumped their hands up and down, and let go. Raven turned to her book, and Casey turned to the front.
~~**~~
“Raven!” Raven looked up, a little lost, because, to her, she had just finished traversing an ice wall, with her friends.
“Yes, sir?” She asked meekly. The teacher sighed.
“Were you listening to a word I said?” He ran a hand through his hair, and Raven smiled slightly.
“Yes sir, I was. You started taking attendance, and then moved on to a review of multiplying fractions. Then, you went to reviewing multiple fraction equations, and then you told us that, if we had any questions, to ask you now, or suffer.” Raven blinked twice, and looked up. “Is that correct?”
The teacher stared at her, and nodded. “Yes. Now, solve that problem up on the board.” He pointed at a fraction, and Raven looked at it for a second.
“Certainly sir.” She set the book down, and walked to the board.
4/5~8/20-9/4=
Raven thought, and got the answer.
4/5~8/20-9/4=
16/20~8/20-45/20=
2/20-45/20=
-43/20
Raven looked at the teacher, who was staring at her. Everyone was. She shrugged, and started to walk back to her seat. The teacher shook himself, and went back to the blackboard.
“Hey, cool.” Casey hissed, and offered her hand for a high five. Raven looked at her for a minute, and tapped her hand. Raven then went back to reading her book.
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Raven waited on the school grounds, and saw Casey. Her and Aria were moving towards her. Casey was smiling, Aria looked angry for some reason.
“Wow! You showed up THAT teacher! And the one after that, and after that! Are you like that always?” Casey said, bouncing around like a Mexican jumping bean. Raven rolled her eyes, and nodded.
“Something like.”
“That’s nice. Casey, can we stop hanging around the freak, and just leave?” Aria asked, looking at her nails. Raven made a face at her.
“No. Rave’s my friend. Don’t you dare make fun of her.” Casey said. As Aria turned away, Casey stuck out her tongue.
“That’s alright, I’m OK with her dissing me. I don’t mind. I get it all the time. It’s because I’m smart.” Raven said, tapping her head. Casey grinned, and nodded. Aria huffed, and looked away. “Besides, no one said you HAD to join our little talk. You can leave you know.”
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Raven ran up the stairs to her room, and shut the door. What a day. She had gotten everything done, and now had to do homework. She did it with only half a mind on task, but it was still time consuming. So, of course, she got out a pen and her homework, and started at it. The five page report was easy, and so was the math work. For a minute, Raven wondered why her math teacher wanted English work, then, of course, she remembered that the very same teacher taught English too.
Raven finished her homework in record time, and went to her bed. Sitting down, she thought. Casey was cool, but her twin was a real jerk. How could two people who looked so alike, be so different? Raven thought that twins were supposed to be alike in everything, not just in looks, but in personality too. Didn’t seem to be that way with Casey and Aria. Raven pinched the bridge of her nose, and shook her head.
“Why, am I thinking of the jerk Aria, when I could be doing something better, like writing to my dad?”
Raven moved to her desk, and got her parchment set, and wet the quill with fresh ink. Thinking for a minute, she started.
‘Dear Dad,
I wish you would write back every now and then. I really want to talk to you. Aren’t twins supposed to be identical in every way? Why did you leave? And how did you ever stand Mom? I think, I should start at the beginning. For a while now, I’ve been having odd dreams. They’re about this shadow, who’s trying to find something or someone, I think. I dream I’M the shadow, and that everything that happens, happens to me. Then, after I talked to Mrs. Maguire, you know, the old woman who runs the shop ‘Baubles and Jangles’, well, she gave me a dream book, and then strange things started happening.
For one, I got further in my dream, and another, I had…a vision, I think. It was odd, I was one of the girls, and the other girl I was facing… I hated her Dad, I really did. I hated her with all my heart, soul, being. I remembered it long enough to write it down, and got behind the metal door in my dream. Mom’s upset. I got out the old stuff, and told the truth, and then got grounded for a WEEK!
Dad, what should I do? Mrs. Maguire said I could stay with her during the day, but… I really want to stay with you. Please write back.
Raven’
Raven finished the letter, and got an envelope. Sticking several stamps on, she wrote down the address, and sealed the letter away. She’d mail it tomorrow. She hoped that her dad would write back soon. She missed him.
~~**~~**~~**~~
After catching its breath, the shadow sat up, and pulled its legs up onto the floor, sitting cross legged. Looking around, the shadow saw many windows, most in a better shape then those downstairs, but more grimy too. Getting to its feet, the shadow stood up, and started to walk down the isle. Doors were on every side, and the shadow took care to look in every one. The ones on the left were offices, apparently, and the ones on the right were offices too. The shadow felt frustrated, having come this far, was all it had to show being one hurt arm and hand, and tens of thousands of splinters?
A door at the end of the hall caught the shadows attention, not because it stood out, although it did stand out quite well, it being made of old metal and with a faded warning sign, but because ‘that’ was what the shadow remembered it had to find. With quickening steps, the shadow started to move faster, hearing only the pounding of its own heart in its ears, the feeling of the solid ground under its feet. The door. The door was nearer. The shadow started to walk again, and finally reached the large metal door. Reaching out with a trembling hand, the shadow placed the splinter ridden, fire feeling hand on the door, just as a large beeping filled the air. The shadow looked up, and grasped the door knob, pulling the heavy metal toward it. As the door opened, another gun shot echoed threw the corridor. The shadow ducked inside the door, and pulled it closed. Just in time too, for a thud of metal on metal clanged loudly through the air.
The shadow turned around, and locked the door on the inside. A second thud caused the shadow to whip its head over, searching for the source of the noise. A banging started on the other side of the door, and the shadow narrowed its eyes. So, they knew it was here. The shadow had to move, or suffer the consequences. The shadow started to walk, its eyes moving from door to door. A slight crunch caught the shadow’s attention, and it tensed. Nothing, nothing at all.
An open door nearly swung into the shadow, and the shadow growled. ‘Ah yes, when the building starts attacking you, you know your knack is going.’ the shadow thought wryly, catching the door, and chancing a look inside.
A pen, by the looks of it, one that was no longer used. Something had wrenched the lock off the door, and the inside of the door looked like something had taken knives to it, and tried to dig through the door with them. Piles of…stuff floated around the room, gray and wispy, looking almost like snake skin. The shadow raised an eyebrow, and tried to shut the glass door, but failed. As the shadow moved on, the door swung slightly.
As the shadow moved on, signs of disuse and destruction were getting increasingly frequent. Holes in the ground, and the shadow studied the holes, finding what ‘might’ be a pattern. Almost like a three toed sloth went Godzilla and went on a rampage, only worse. Besides, what three toed sloth would go Godzilla?
The shadow moved further down the hall, and stooped to pick something up. A scale that looked like a fish scale, only bigger then the shadows hand. And a faded greenish red. The shadow dropped it back on the ground, and started to walk again. A light click on the floor caused the shadow to stop, and look around. Nothing. The shadow started to walk again, and the clicks started up again. To the time of the shadow’s steps.
Click-click-click-click.
The shadow walked, the clicking sounding as loud as gunshots to the shadow. The shadow tensed at a new sound, one of a deep rumble. The shadow looked around, and saw the one unbroken mirror in the entire building, it seemed. The glint of light on the surface attracted the shadow, who started to move forward. The shadow reached out a hand, and caught sight of it. Large, burnished metal claws were sprouting from the shadow’s fingers. The claws were sharp, and curved. The shadow looked down at its feet, and saw the some kind of claws ripped through the fabric of the shoes. The shadow looked into the mirror, and its eyes widened.
“NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! THIS CAN’T BE!”
Raven sat up, her eyes wide from terror. She didn’t stop to think, merely threw the quilt off of her, and clattered down the stairs, every step an agony. ‘NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!’ the word no flew through her mind every step, every second. She wrenched open the door, and ran down the street. The same click in her dream followed her, and Raven ran faster, her legs burning now, her breath coming in great gasps.
Click-click-click-click-click
The clicks kept time with Raven’s foot falls, and her heels, along with her toes, were burning with pain. Raven slowed down to a walk, just outside of Baubles and Jangles. She sobbed, and opened the door. It was unlocked. Raven moved toward the back of the shop, and fell down. Her eyes closed, and tears squeezed out, falling to the floor.
~~**~~
It was so cold, Raven shivered. It was dark, as well. Raven looked down at herself, and nodded. No claws. Always good. A noise came from behind her, and she whirled around, seeing a creature of myth. It wasn’t that big, perhaps fifteen feet tall if that, but the teeth and the claws...
“So. You’re the child, hum?” Each ‘s’ sound was hissed, and Raven gulped.
“What are you talking about? Where am I?” Raven stammered. The dragon chuckled.
“Hush. For a hatchling, you’re brave. I’m not here to harm, I’m here to help.” The dragon made a motion with its claws, and a chair appeared behind Raven. She sat down, and watched the dragon nervously.
“I...don’t understand.” Raven watched the dragon lay down, like a giant cat. The dragon nodded.
“I know. Look for the answers, you will find them. Trust me.” Raven gulped, and nodded. A second later, Raven was looking at the dark. Not a thing in sight.
~~**~~
The man sat in the large chair, and smirked. Yes. Everything was coming to plan. Nothing, no one, could stop him now. An underling came in, and the man turned his chair around.
“S-sir...we have news that...” The underling paused, and looked up at the man in fear.
“Out with it! I don’t have all day.”
“We have news that...there is a resistance. Led by a...Emily Rising...Sir.” The underling cowered, and the man frowned.
“You may leave.” The underling scuttled away, and the man turned around, facing the window. “Emily. I can stop you. Raven will help me.” The man smirked, and picked up the phone.
“How may I help you?” The mechanical voice came through the line.
“Get the Hunter. Have him bring Raven back, ALIVE.”
“Yes sir.” The man hung up the phone, and leaned back. Things, although being set back, were starting to fall into place. How nice.
~~**~~
Raven clenched her hand along the ground, and opened her eyes. ‘Where...?’ She closed her eyes, as the memories started to flash by. The dream, the run... Raven opened her eyes, and looked at her hands. No claws. Same with her feet, although they hurt... bad. They were bruised, she saw. Raven struggled to her feet, and looked around. Sore. She was very sore. That probably wasn’t good.
A faint, almost non-existent tremor reached her. The crystal glasses ‘pinged’. Raven moved to the door, and looked out. Nothing to her left, and nothing to her right. Another tremor passed. Was there going to be an earthquake?
Raven looked around again, and felt sort of funny. There was an acidy taste in her mouth, and her spine was tingling. The crystal glasses were chiming almost every second now, and the tremors were getting stronger, and closer together. What was this? The air was almost still, save the slight breeze. This...this didn’t feel right.
Raven gripped the door frame, and watched carefully. Every time she felt a tremor, the strange feeling got stronger. Raven gasped, and darted into the road, ducking behind a parked car. This didn’t feel right. Somehow, Raven knew. She knew it was wrong, this wasn’t an earthquake.
Raven gulped, and pressed her hand against the pavement. The tremors had stopped. Was that a good thing, or a bad thing? Raven lifted all but her fingers off the ground, and felt it. So slight, she almost missed it. Something...was headed her way.
~~**~~
Emily watched the small band of people work. The amount of weaponry was large. Soon she could get home, sleep. She was worried about Nathan. The doctor had said that he had the flu, nothing more, and not to worry. But she did. She turned around, looking out at the street, and saw a shadow dart away from a closed store to a parked car nearby. What was going on?
The figure wasn’t looking at the building, it was peering around the car’s front to look around at the street. Emily looked up, hearing a slight tinkle. Just as the crystal chandler fell down, crashing just two feet from her.
~~**~~
Raven’s head snapped around to look at the building, as a stream, or rather, creek of people ran out. They were coughing, and kept looking behind them. The tremors were getting stronger again, and faster. No one looked at Raven, who pressed against the car. One last person walked out, a hand to its chest. As the figure went under the street light, Raven gasped. ‘Mom?’ At that moment, hell broke loose.
A car flew into the building, lodging halfway up and out, hanging over the people standing below, unaware of the danger. Raven’s mom was right under the car as it started to slip and slide, now only the front wheels and past in the building. Raven stood up, and dashed towards her mom. At that moment, there was a loud, animalistic roar, the people moved away, and the car slid out, giving a horrible screech.
~~**~~
Emily looked up, seeing the car falling toward her.
Click-click-click-click-click
The fast paced noise. Emily looked at it, just in time to register black, waist length hair, and orange eyes, along with a slight build, before she was pushed. The car fell down on the figure. ‘Raven! Oh GOD!’ Emily felt herself flung away from the wreckage by a not so gentle push, and felt something tear along her abdomen, just below her rib cage. Her people moved away, and a young girl who looked like Raven gasped when the...thing turned toward her.
~~**~~
Raven felt a great weight pressing down on her, barely heard the screams of people. Something... The world was hot, burning up hot. Raven listened closely, the crackle of flames greeting her senses. ‘Fire. Above me. On me. Not good.’ Raven felt her heart racing, her breath coming in great gasps. She was going to burn alive. ‘NO!’ Claws ripped through steel, upholstery, and lastly, into air. Raven pulled the cool air into her lungs, breathing heavy, standing on the tips of her toes. Power was here, all for the taking.
She stepped off the still burning car, and looked around. Where was it? The thing she had seen for a split second. Her mom... her mom looked bad. Raven stepped toward her, lowering herself to one knee beside Emily Rising. Raven placed two fingers tipped with claws against her mothers neck, feeling for a pulse. There! Emily was still alive.
Raven heard a deep, guttural growl, and turned her head. It had a young girl. It was going to kill the kid! Raven took a step toward the creature, and heard the click from the claws. The creature heard it too. It’s head moved, and it glared at her. Raven kept her feet moving, one in front of the other. The kid was dropped, and the girl scrambled away to the bunch of people in an ally. Raven saw all this, but felt detached somehow.
The creature swished its tail, and flexed its claws. Raven looked at it, no emotion showing. She was sure she was going to die. The creature and her kept the staring contest going, as the creature started to smile. The sight of the half inch long teeth didn’t faze Raven on the outside, one the inside, she was screaming bloody murder. This, wasn’t good.
“So.” The creature said, and looked her up and down. “You’re Raven.”
“Yes. And you?” The pleasantries were only making Raven nervous, but.. she couldn’t move now. Her feet were glued to the floor.
“I am the Hunter. I have orders to bring you back with me.” The Hunter said, smiling again. The pasty white skin stretched, and Raven frowned.
“Who says I’m going to go with you?” The Hunter frowned.
“I’ll bring you by force, if I have to.” Raven smiled slightly, and shook her head.
The Hunter shifted his weight, standing one foot back, the other forward, and his arms opposite. His hands were curled, and the claws glinted in the faint light. Raven narrowed her eyes, and leaned forward slightly, bending her knees to take the weight.
In a flash, The Hunter was in front of her, his hand crashing into the side of her head, sending Raven flying. As her back made contact with the building, a clawed foot hit her in the stomach. Raven was buried under ruble, and she stayed still for a minute. Her back was aching, and she was sure something was broken. The tremors reached Raven, who tensed, and stood, breaking free of the rubble as if it was tissue paper.
Raven rubbed the back of her wrist against the corner of her mouth, and glared around her. She jumped forward, and spun around, her arm reaching out and the claws ripping into The Hunter’s face. He stumbled to the side slightly, and Raven readied herself. It had been a glancing blow, nothing else. He wasn’t going to be stopped that way.
The Hunter launched himself toward Raven, who twisted her waist so he past her, and she flung her elbow down at his face. His lizard nose was hit, and he took a nose dive. Raven took several steps away, and grabbed a fairly big rock. It wasn’t that heavy. The Hunter shifted to his feet, and Raven tossed the rock at him. It shattered on his shoulder. Not that it hurt him. Not that Raven cared.
The Hunter growled, and Raven started to circle him. The Hunter twisted to face her, and that was when she struck. Raven ran at him, and he lifted his arms to grab her, but Raven leapt in the air, twisting herself around so her out stretched foot caught him in the neck. The claws pulled at the flesh, and The Hunter screamed. He stumbled away, leaning against a car. Raven flung her arm at him, and he dodged, Raven’s arm plunging into the roof of the car, her hand cutting through the metal like a hot knife through butter. A whip cracked, and Raven felt something hit her between the shoulder blades.
Raven felt the air around her charged with anger and hate. She spat like a cat as she pulled her hand out of the metal, turning around to get the next whiplash across her shoulder. She fell to her knees and hands, and gasped. ‘This can’t be good.’ Raven looked up at The Hunter, and growled. He was laughing at her. No way was she going to let him get away with it!
“Pitiful Raven. I could have killed you a hundred times by now. I haven’t. My boss wants you alive very badly. However, your annoying mother...” His voice trailed off ominously. The Hunter took a step toward Raven, who tensed. ‘Now.’ Raven launched herself at The Hunter, hitting him just below the knees, toppling the lizard. Raven was kicked in the ribs, and rolled slightly. She lay on the ground gasping, her cheek pressed into the pavement. This wasn’t good. This was bad, very bad.
The Hunter got to his feet, and Raven watched him start toward him. She could get up... Or perhaps she couldn’t. Something had decided to snap, right around her pelvis. It hurt to breath, to think, to live. Spots of color danced in front of Raven’s eyes as she struggled to turn over, to get on her hands and knees and then to her feet.
Raven stood, swaying on her feet like a drunk, her hands out and the claws glinting, her eyes watching The Hunter’s every move. The Hunter was circling her now. His whip like tail lashed at the air, his yellow eyes unblinking. Raven narrowed her own eyes, and darted to one side. When The Hunter moved to block her that way, Raven darted to the other and slashed at The Hunter’s unprotected neck. Her claws dug into the flesh, pulling, tearing. The Hunter screamed and fell down. Raven backed up, watching him, but The Hunter didn’t get up, move, anything. He looked dead.
Raven turned away then, and made her way over to her mom. There. She looked better now, her eyes moving under the eyelids. Raven touched Emily Rising on the shoulder, and her mom opened her eyes. Raven watched in awe as her mom sat up straighter.
“Mom?” Raven murmured, watching the wounds on her mom’s stomach start to mend, the flesh melding together seamlessly.
“Raven? You’re grounded...” Her mom sounded weak.
Raven rolled her eyes. “Mom, you’re hurt. You should see a doctor.”
Emily stared blearily up at Raven through half closed lids, and shook her head.
“Raven, she can’t. They’ll find her.” Mrs. Maguire said, getting out of the group of people. Raven stared at the old woman.
A youngish man moved forward, and picked up Emily. Raven followed as the group of people walked to Mrs. Maguire’s store, and up into the second floor. Emily was taken into a spare bedroom, and lain down on the bed. Mrs. Maguire then took Raven by the arm, and pulled her out to the hallway, but not before Raven saw other people.
Mr. Snidely, the grocer, Mrs. Hotburr, Raven’s second grade teacher, and several kids parents she had seen picking up their kids from sports, clubs, school. And a few people that Raven had never seen before. What were they all doing with her mom in that building?
“Raven, forget everything you saw here.” Mrs. Maguire said, pressing Raven up against the wall, glaring into her young friend’s eyes.
“But... I can’t. Mrs. Maguire, what were those people doing? For that matter, what are you doing with them?” Raven asked, confused.
“Just forget! You don’t want to know, because then we’d have to kill you! Go home, don’t come down here again!” Mrs. Maguire shoved Raven down the stairs, and Raven stumbled down, falling to her hands and knees. Raven looked back once, and made her way out of the house to the store, then out into the street. The Hunter was gone. Raven started walking, her hands in her pockets. What did she do?
Click-click-click-click-click
Tic-tic-tic-tic-tic
Raven stopped, the clicking of her claws stopping as well. The tics did too, after a second. Raven looked around, seeing the many alleys, and made her way to the middle of the road. She started walking, looking around now.
Click-click-click-click-click
Tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic
The tics started going faster, and Raven started to run. Suddenly, she felt something hit her in the back of the neck. The world went black, and Raven fell down like a ton of bricks. Out of the shadows, The Hunter stepped toward Raven, holding another rock. Lifting the unconscious girl onto his shoulder, he started to run, going up fire escapes to the roofs of the buildings. Leaping along between the buildings, he headed toward one of the biggest buildings there was. Rising Empires.
~~**~~
Emily Rising glared at the old woman.
“And then what?” Her voice was icy, her very manner showed a woman just shy of blowing up.
“And then she left. I thought I was doing the right thing! The poor dear is too young to find out about...that.” Mrs. Maguire wrung her hands, and looked close to tears.
“And then she just disappeared into thin air, I suppose. Think, Julia! I fainted, but I’m not brain dead! He’s got her.” Emily cursed under her breath, and sat back. This was about as good as Raven finding out about her mom moonlighting as a rebel. “What does she know? Perhaps, if she knows nothing, he’ll let her go.”
Mrs. Maguire shook her head. “She knows nothing, but that doesn’t matter to him. He’ll kill her, or experiment on her. Ed...Ed knew nothing, but did HE care, no, he killed Ed. We have to go save Raven!”
“NO! We don’t have the men or the equipment. Why do you think I was so hard on Raven? She has to take care of herself. She’s got spunk. She’ll be fine.” Emily said, her eyes averted from Mrs. Maguire. She stared stonily into the distance.
“Spunk or no spunk, Raven’s just a kid.” Mrs. Maguire muttered, and turned to leave. Two kids flung themselves away from the door just in time. It hit the wall, creating a bang like a gunshot.
