I RAISE MY CROSSBOW. In some ways, Rave"s weapon is in his hand already, points to the woman in front of us. She stood up and raised her weapon as well. She has the same weapon as raven. One for each hand. "I only want to speak with you." She looked at me. Only now that I have noticed the scar on her left eye, it slashes through her eye. She could"ve been beautiful, with her long jet black hair and all. "What do you want?" I asked keeping my hand on the trigger of my bow.
"Maybe we could talk without harming anyone?" Raven and I looked at each other. Somehow, an understanding pa.s.sed between us. I nodded to the woman. We lower our weapons.
"So?" she looked at Raven. Seems like she doesn"t want anyone to interfere us.
"Leave us first," I said to him, without taking my eyes off at the woman.
"Okay." He said. I heard the floor creaks as he make his way up again outside. Suddenly I feel uneasy without him around.
She watched Raven walked as though she was staring at something inhuman. When she was sure that he was out of earshot she said, "You can see him."
"Of course," I said. "Why couldn"t I?" I cross the room and sat in front her, thankfully there"s a spare chair or I would"ve stood up.
She took a seat too. "You see, only few of us can see someone like him. Or rather only a few of us have the vision."
"Vision?" I tilted my head.
"Yes," she rested her head on her hand, seemingly tired to explain. "It is the thing that we have if we can see someone like him." She added. "As I have said, only a few of us have this. Mostly exiles but some of the government has it too and they ally with us."
"You mean..." I look at her in the eye. "You joined forces with the government?"
"Yes," she said in an even tone. "They believe that something fishy is going on and they have to know what it is. They also believe that the higher-ups are hiding something from us. Because why kill the exiles when you could"ve just left them and let them starve to death?" She has a point. If she"s trying to get me to her side she"s winning it.
"So what does it matter to me?" I said meeting her steady gaze.
"You are quite popular you see," she stood up and starts to pace in the room. She"s tall. I noticed that she"s wearing all black even her boots were black. She has a knife that is tucked inside her boots, the hilt"s peeking out with a letter K on it. "Being a black hunter..." that snapped me back to attention. "You saved some of my people. I have sent someone to track you for I am curious about their little saviour. It took us almost a week before we could see your house. You"ve made a very creative one by the way."
"Get straight to the point," I said in a sharp tone though I don"t really mean to be mean. I thought she would be angry but she just laughs.
"Okay. I want you to join us. It is such a waste of your talent to just save exiles."
"Saving lives is not a waste."
"Sorry," though she does not look like she is. "Join us then. And you can save many. You can save the kids. The next generation. That"s what you want right? That"s why you"re saving lives because you believe that the future generation can save us as well."
I caught my breath. She"s right but not really right. I square my shoulder. "You want me to join you. But what would I get from that?"
"Memories," she said. My heart skipped a beat. "All of us don"t remember our past and it"s what hunting us. Don"t you want to know what your life was? Before? Don"t you want to know what they"ve done to you?"
It"s really taunting. I took a shaky breath. "Give me a few more days."
"Okay, but if you need me, ring this bell." She handed me a small bell. I took it not gladly knowing that someone has my back. She stalked out of my house. I stare at the bell. I have always wanted to know my past, my memories, my parents, my everything. But...
A hand touch my shoulder. I was so startled that I jumped back. It was only Raven. I didn"t notice him coming in. I relaxed a bit. Somehow, his presence made me comfortable. "What did she say to you?" He asked.
"Nothing." I walked behind him.
"Where are you going?" He asked looking puzzled.
"You don"t really think that this is just my house right?" I smirked at him before I jumped down through the hole I made.
*RAVEN"S POV*
I landed on my feet. I realised that I didn"t get her name. Her back was facing me as she walked. I move behind her. I noticed that we are inside a room. The light embraces the room making it look almost all white. There are two tables in the middle. I figured that this could be a laboratory with all of the lab equipments. She walked to a door and opened it. I followed her.
"Hey," I said, breaking the silence. "Where are we going exactly?"
"You don"t want to be sleeping outside," she replied.
"We haven"t eaten anything."
"I"m just showing you my house," she said in a matter of fact tone.
We reach a door and she pushes it open. I guess this is the camera room. Monitors displayed everywhere. She comes up at another door and open it. We enter one room after the other and take turns whenever a corner appears. I am always good at keeping tracks but it"s like I am inside a maze that is inside another maze and another and another.
I started to feel dizzy when we stopped in a room. It is simply a bedroom. With one bed and a table beside it.
"So," I looked at her. "Am I supposed to remember all that?"
"All what?" She arches an eyebrow.
"Well," I shrugged. "You know, the way."
She smirked. I swear she looks so s.e.xy whenever she does that. I shake my head. What is this thought I"m having?
She walks inside the room and stops in the corner. She raises her hand and jumps. She knocks at the ceiling. She moves away, still looking up. I waited too. Then it opens and a staircase shows up. She looks at me and gestures for me to follow her so I do. She climbs up and for a moment I wonder where we were until I realised that we were inside the first room that we went earlier. I meant the very first room.
"Did you build this whole house?" I said in admiration.
"What?" She looks at me as though I said something very funny. "No," she said when she realized that I am serious. "Well, okay. Sort of. But someone helped me of course. " I stopped asking a question.
She gets her boots on and her crossbow. "What are you doing?" I asked. She is tying her hair in a ponytail. The sun is setting a halo around her. No, the sun is not setting the halo, SHE is the sun.
"Hey," I snapped out. She"s waving a hand in front of my face. I shake my head.
"Sorry, what?"
"I said, I"m going to hunt lunch," she moves out of the way and swing her crossbow over her shoulder. "Don"t do anything stupid."
"Oh," I said clearly surprised. "Okay, I guess I"ll just sit here and wait for you."
"You"re a tyrant," she smiled. A REAL smile.
And you"re beautiful.