Original Raven
“BAM!” The door to her room flew open, and she and her sister stared in horror at the Officer that now stood in the doorway. “After years and years of chasing, I’ve finally got you cornered,” he said so softly that they could barely hear him. He smiled maliciously, and drew out a long knife that glinted wickedly in the light. Noticing her stare he said, “Now don’t you worry little missy. I’m not allowed to gut you with this baby, yet. This is just to make sure you behave,” he said as his eyes flickered towards her sister standing protectively in front of her. “Over my dead body you son of a bitch,” her sister said even softer than him. His grin became more pronounced, and he said, “I would actually prefer it that way.” With that he pounced, and at the same time, her sister threw her out the window. Only a second after she felt the cold air pierce her face, she heard a bloodcurdling scream that filled the night.
“So what’s up Ray? You look kinda troubled,” said her best friend, Emily. Ray sighed and answered, “I’ve just been having some nightmares. And I told you to call me May remember? The rest of them don’t know who I am.” They were sitting on the edge of the pool watching the rest of their little group playing in the water. Ignoring the last part, Emily said, “It’s about Amy right? Your nightmares?” Ray sighed, and said defeatedly, “Yea.” Emily stared at her pitifully, and said, “It happened two years ago. Just forget it and move on. You’ll feel better if you do.” Ray glared at the water. Emily just didn’t understand anything that she had gone through. T0 stop her from asking more questions, Ray asked, “So how’s Tom?” As expected, Emily blushed and said rather snappishly, “Don’t know what you mean.” Then she slipped back into the pool and joined the others. Ray smiled, Em was so predictable. She watched Emily talking to Tom who was 2 years older than both of them, and she laughed quietly at Emily’s futile attempts to flirt with him. A little guilty, she too slipped back into the pool and joined little Timmy and David. David was the unofficial leader of their group because he was 15 years old, making him the oldest out of all of them. Timmy was the baby because he was the youngest. They were a group of homeless “criminals” that traveled and stole a lot, but only because they were so poor. They broke into someone’s backyard to use their private pool to celebrate the end of a very long winter. While she was talking to Timmy, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Emily and Tom were sneaking off into the woods. She was happy that Emily finally won him over, but she felt a little pang of jealousy. Only a few minutes later, Emily and Tom came running back looking disheveled, and they both shouted, “RUN!” Getting the message, all three of them jumped out of the pool and they all ran for their lives in different directions. Ray grabbed Emily’s hand and dragged her with her. They stopped at a clearing to catch their breaths. “That-was-too-close,” Ray gasped. Emily clutched a stitch in her chest and managed to say, “I have to go back.” Shocked, Ray stared at her bestest friend in the world, speechless. “I have to save Tom, Ray. You’ve got to understand!” She pleaded. “He’s not worth both our lives!” Ray shouted. “Maybe not to you.” And with that, she turned around and ran back the way they came from. For a split second she thought about following her, then she heard someone say, “I heard voices over there, sounded like girls.” She made her decision, and ran away. She ran out of the woods, and found herself in a familiar neighborhood. Knowing where to go, she sprinted to the right. She didn’t stop until she hurtled herself over a fence and sat behind a bush. She heard the thundering footsteps of at least 50 men rush past her, and even after they had gone, she sat there not moving for at least half an hour. When she was positive that they were long gone, she moved her stiff body out from behind the bush. She walked over to the backdoor of the house. She picked the lock, and walked inside confidently. She met a scene that was very unexpected. She was confused, the people that own this house were away on vacation. She knew that because they were planning on hitting this house tomorrow. But there was a boy about her age standing in the kitchen holding a carton of milk. They both stood dumbfounded by each other. Ray broke the silence by saying. “What are you doing here?” he actually laughed breaking the tension and said, “Well it is my house.” He seemed like a pretty nice guy, so she smiled back at him. “Well I thought you were on vacation," Ray explained as if they were friends. “Well I had to stay behind because I’m ‘too young’” he said making quotation marks in the air. Ray appreciated his obvious effort to try and make the situation less awkward. So she said, “Well I would like to have a house all to myself.” He smiled and after several minutes of silence he said, “Yea I guess, so you wanna sit down? I can get you some milk.” This is a really nice guy, she thought. So she closed the door behind her, and sat down at the kitchen table. “Thanks, I haven’t had milk in forever.”
“So when are your parents coming back?” Ray asked while eating a sandwich. She had now spent 3 days in Jay’s house, and it was like paradise to her. She had got to take a shower, wear clean clothes, eat good food, watch TV, and sleep in a bed. She dreaded the day that his parents would come home because that would surely mean that she had to leave. So her stomach dropped when he said, “Well they’re actually coming later today.” Noticing the look on her face, he added quickly. “I’ve already told them about you, and at first they were really mad, but I told them how nice and stuff you are.” He didn’t say anything else, so Ray said impatiently, “And?” He shifted in his chair and said, “Well they said that they’ll see you and decide whether or not you can stay.” Her face lighted up and she said, “That’s better than nothing!”
They were watching TV in the living room when they heard a car pull into Jay’s driveway. They looked at each other, and she quickly tried to make herself more presentable. “We’re home!” She saw his mom first, and her first impression was that she was very kind and good-natured. The rest of his family filed in, and they all looked very nice to her. It seemed impossible to imagine them mad as they greeted her as if it was totally normal. “Hello Raven, Jason as told me a lot about you," Jay’s mom said. Ray smiled and shook her hand saying, “All good things I hope.” They both laughed, and she then shook hands with his dad and his two older brothers. She felt relieved, and even more relieved when they didn’t even ask her any questions.
She stayed for a whole month, and for that whole month she finally felt relaxed and at home. He was especially happy with the fact that they didn’t mind that she was the Raven. The one that the whole country has been looking for about 10 years. Then one day, a member of the Guard came to search the house for her. They hurriedly hid her in the attic in a chest full of action figures which was very uncomfortable. When she was starting to run out of clean air, light flooded in the chest, and she saw Jay’s face, “They’re gone, it’s safe.” She immediately stood up and took a breath of fresh air. They went downstairs to the living room. “Are you OK honey?” Mrs. Franks asked. “Yea I’m fine thanks Mrs. Franks.” Then she turned to the whole family. Before she could even open her mouth, Bryan, Jay’s oldest brother, said, “Who snitched?!” slamming his fist on the table. “Must’ve been a neighbor,” said Mr. Franks. Before anyone could say anything else, Ray said, “Look that doesn’t matter,” Bryan made a “tcha” noise, “- it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I almost got caught and put all of you in jeopardy. I need to leave.” Everyone stood up and started shouting at this.
“You don’t have to -“
“- not your fault –“
"- get killed!”
“We love and care -“
“So what’s up Ray? You look kinda troubled,” said her best friend, Emily. Ray sighed and answered, “I’ve just been having some nightmares. And I told you to call me May remember? The rest of them don’t know who I am.” They were sitting on the edge of the pool watching the rest of their little group playing in the water. Ignoring the last part, Emily said, “It’s about Amy right? Your nightmares?” Ray sighed, and said defeatedly, “Yea.” Emily stared at her pitifully, and said, “It happened two years ago. Just forget it and move on. You’ll feel better if you do.” Ray glared at the water. Emily just didn’t understand anything that she had gone through. T0 stop her from asking more questions, Ray asked, “So how’s Tom?” As expected, Emily blushed and said rather snappishly, “Don’t know what you mean.” Then she slipped back into the pool and joined the others. Ray smiled, Em was so predictable. She watched Emily talking to Tom who was 2 years older than both of them, and she laughed quietly at Emily’s futile attempts to flirt with him. A little guilty, she too slipped back into the pool and joined little Timmy and David. David was the unofficial leader of their group because he was 15 years old, making him the oldest out of all of them. Timmy was the baby because he was the youngest. They were a group of homeless “criminals” that traveled and stole a lot, but only because they were so poor. They broke into someone’s backyard to use their private pool to celebrate the end of a very long winter. While she was talking to Timmy, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Emily and Tom were sneaking off into the woods. She was happy that Emily finally won him over, but she felt a little pang of jealousy. Only a few minutes later, Emily and Tom came running back looking disheveled, and they both shouted, “RUN!” Getting the message, all three of them jumped out of the pool and they all ran for their lives in different directions. Ray grabbed Emily’s hand and dragged her with her. They stopped at a clearing to catch their breaths. “That-was-too-close,” Ray gasped. Emily clutched a stitch in her chest and managed to say, “I have to go back.” Shocked, Ray stared at her bestest friend in the world, speechless. “I have to save Tom, Ray. You’ve got to understand!” She pleaded. “He’s not worth both our lives!” Ray shouted. “Maybe not to you.” And with that, she turned around and ran back the way they came from. For a split second she thought about following her, then she heard someone say, “I heard voices over there, sounded like girls.” She made her decision, and ran away. She ran out of the woods, and found herself in a familiar neighborhood. Knowing where to go, she sprinted to the right. She didn’t stop until she hurtled herself over a fence and sat behind a bush. She heard the thundering footsteps of at least 50 men rush past her, and even after they had gone, she sat there not moving for at least half an hour. When she was positive that they were long gone, she moved her stiff body out from behind the bush. She walked over to the backdoor of the house. She picked the lock, and walked inside confidently. She met a scene that was very unexpected. She was confused, the people that own this house were away on vacation. She knew that because they were planning on hitting this house tomorrow. But there was a boy about her age standing in the kitchen holding a carton of milk. They both stood dumbfounded by each other. Ray broke the silence by saying. “What are you doing here?” he actually laughed breaking the tension and said, “Well it is my house.” He seemed like a pretty nice guy, so she smiled back at him. “Well I thought you were on vacation," Ray explained as if they were friends. “Well I had to stay behind because I’m ‘too young’” he said making quotation marks in the air. Ray appreciated his obvious effort to try and make the situation less awkward. So she said, “Well I would like to have a house all to myself.” He smiled and after several minutes of silence he said, “Yea I guess, so you wanna sit down? I can get you some milk.” This is a really nice guy, she thought. So she closed the door behind her, and sat down at the kitchen table. “Thanks, I haven’t had milk in forever.”
“So when are your parents coming back?” Ray asked while eating a sandwich. She had now spent 3 days in Jay’s house, and it was like paradise to her. She had got to take a shower, wear clean clothes, eat good food, watch TV, and sleep in a bed. She dreaded the day that his parents would come home because that would surely mean that she had to leave. So her stomach dropped when he said, “Well they’re actually coming later today.” Noticing the look on her face, he added quickly. “I’ve already told them about you, and at first they were really mad, but I told them how nice and stuff you are.” He didn’t say anything else, so Ray said impatiently, “And?” He shifted in his chair and said, “Well they said that they’ll see you and decide whether or not you can stay.” Her face lighted up and she said, “That’s better than nothing!”
They were watching TV in the living room when they heard a car pull into Jay’s driveway. They looked at each other, and she quickly tried to make herself more presentable. “We’re home!” She saw his mom first, and her first impression was that she was very kind and good-natured. The rest of his family filed in, and they all looked very nice to her. It seemed impossible to imagine them mad as they greeted her as if it was totally normal. “Hello Raven, Jason as told me a lot about you," Jay’s mom said. Ray smiled and shook her hand saying, “All good things I hope.” They both laughed, and she then shook hands with his dad and his two older brothers. She felt relieved, and even more relieved when they didn’t even ask her any questions.
She stayed for a whole month, and for that whole month she finally felt relaxed and at home. He was especially happy with the fact that they didn’t mind that she was the Raven. The one that the whole country has been looking for about 10 years. Then one day, a member of the Guard came to search the house for her. They hurriedly hid her in the attic in a chest full of action figures which was very uncomfortable. When she was starting to run out of clean air, light flooded in the chest, and she saw Jay’s face, “They’re gone, it’s safe.” She immediately stood up and took a breath of fresh air. They went downstairs to the living room. “Are you OK honey?” Mrs. Franks asked. “Yea I’m fine thanks Mrs. Franks.” Then she turned to the whole family. Before she could even open her mouth, Bryan, Jay’s oldest brother, said, “Who snitched?!” slamming his fist on the table. “Must’ve been a neighbor,” said Mr. Franks. Before anyone could say anything else, Ray said, “Look that doesn’t matter,” Bryan made a “tcha” noise, “- it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I almost got caught and put all of you in jeopardy. I need to leave.” Everyone stood up and started shouting at this.
“You don’t have to -“
“- not your fault –“
"- get killed!”
“We love and care -“