Book Two – Ch.#14
Over the next few days, I found myself feeling anxious. Under the constant watchful eye of both my father and Gavin, I continued to play along with my usual daily routine. Acting as if nothing was amiss. Doing all the training that was asked of me. But, inside, I was thinking back to that keycard.
The one I‘d hidden under my mattress. Waiting for exactly the right moment for when I‘d be able to use it.
…A moment I found finally presented itself on the night of the third day.
With my father expected to be staying overnight elsewhere for a late meeting and Gavin only working until seven o‘clock, I saw an opportunity to take advantage of the soon–to–be quiet house.
And I devised a plan to leave as soon as the sky grew dark.
A few hours later, I was slowly scaling to the ground from my bedroom window. This being something I did with ease and without being seen. And though I never thought to use my abilities to go behind my father‘s back, I certainly couldn‘t deny that it came in handy.
Soon, before much time had passed at all, I found myself facing the door I‘d been thinking of so incessantly. The door I‘d been wondering about every day, contemplating all of the things I could possibly discover once I entered through it. A door that might just possibly change my life forever.
And I stared at it.
…And stared.
…….And stared.
And I kept staring, even while my hand reached out several times to knock, failing every time to go through with it.
…I‘d been so certain in my decision and come all this way, only to But then, suddenly, the door opened in front of me.
“...Are you just going to stand out there all night?” came a voice from inside.
It was his voice. I recognised it well now.
“I ah…,” I started, feeling a little awkward for being caught. “I‘m sorry. I just… I—.” “It‘s okay. No need to be sorry,” he said, his face then appearing from the other side of the door.
Instantly, that same effect started to hit me, a reassurance spreading throughout as his presence held me. “I get it. If you need more time to think, I can just leave this open. I‘m not pressuring you to d–.”
“No!” I quickly blurted out. “No, it‘s okay. Everything is okay… I‘m ready.” I came here with determination to get answers. I couldn‘t back out now. Whatever happened tonight, at least I could say that I tried. My mistake would only lie in wanting to hope for a better life.
“Okay… well, come on in,” he said.
I was ready to step through the door but was stopped as he held a hand out to me. Just as he had done so once before.
However, the last time he‘d done that, I had been too overwhelmed to reciprocate. Too many thoughts and questions holding me back, so unsure of everything that had been happening at the time.
Now, when I looked at his outstretched hand, I saw a possible beginning.
(*“I just need you to trust me,“*‘ he had said to me that day.
Well, I couldn‘t be sure if I was ready for that just yet, but I was at least willing to believe. Believe that there was a chance of this being real… if only for a moment.
same sparks tingled along my skin in greeting upon contact. “I‘m really glad you came back, Raven,”
I felt as my cheeks began to burn
around him. I could see how easy it would be to become distracted from the mission
trust you,” I clarified. “And I… I‘d like some sort of proof. I‘m risking a lot by coming here and I feel it‘s only fair that you prove you are what you say you
where I stood, he towered over me, something that I
can manage that,” he
me only intensified. As if he were somehow devouring me with his eyes. Eyes that I could have sworn appeared darker
was just the
“Make yourself at home.”
quickly I walked around him into the living room. Desperately trying not to let myself become
penthouse. Honestly, it felt larger than some people‘s houses in here. Room enough to host an elaborate party without feeling even remotely cramped. “I would normally advise against doing anything like this
to do something where people might see,” he said as he walked behind me.
at him, I had to fight the urge to just spin right back around again. Because he stood to the side as he watched
seem phased in any way though, his lip twitching into a smile. “It‘s my favourite shirt,” he said, as if it were obvious. “I don‘t want it to get
his actions undeterred from my cries in protest. The skin that was revealed seemed moulded around perfectly sculpted
tried
I
confused. “You asked me to prove we were
And my mind immediately recalled the massacres I would wake up to post–change. “Isn‘t that… dangerous?” I quickly asked. “Do I need
laugh, much to my
answers. Right now, I could only make assumptions based
front of me. And, instantly, a shiver ran through me involuntarily. “Raven,” he said quietly, drawing in my attention.
of me wanted so badly to believe
couches and other pieces of furniture out the way, clearing an area in the middle. By the time he was done, there was a semi – large open space in which he stood looking at me expectantly.
something
shift forms in a mere matter of seconds. Changing and transforming effortlessly until all that was left was a
those familiar hazel eyes. But I didn‘t feel like running or feel even remotely afraid, as I thought I would. Instead,
front of him. And, in response, he laid down on the ground,
move if he instructed it to? He looked at me as if he knew exactly who
instinct… reaching out hesitantly to
soft,” I mused
didn‘t feel the same sparks as when I touched his skin, I still
something
and bloody murders to anything even
me a nod, confirming that this really
I whispered. “I don‘t
like this now… knowing that he could teach me and was willing
I had were apparently completely normal. Natural. No lies or nefarious intentions… just purely a part of being
if he had been telling me the truth so far… did that mean I
shaking his fur and running off into a room I couldn‘t see. I was taken a little off guard by the sudden movement but tried not to react. He had clearly proven already that he
finally emerge again, he was back to his normal self and tugging on
turn,” he said,
this immediately made
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UNDkCk6VWue5ke8KgaE13lr2bB+FL4rjtE+zd3/lqWYTu93Hax0/AEtkJliE6M/l9Xgc4NlDfZcy0hu7La3U5oqR4KAtfUFrRBMFLXfkXhcdJJaTQfcy5TvcuJwDONrb222C9OyD3/28G7gBFNz2kTC+eQnRhllaysUUK9oPWBE71fXf64uCKaFt6nyVzlUL7eZFgMu8ftZlSjUhaXInv6+WG+BIKNHNdQw8Q8nou54bjEH/0ifLxhmSEcW4xvrqUwT6/LuVvTPhlSTBM3I2MNiAQhGgP9EZpdrf07kEZPKNxcx/yS0W6/sqNjAbOPG9w59p8Ml4XTRjlv4mJZ4Tr6AvnIgPn8a0d9Uy9GhfB1ykpzz13tG48RUcMWEjPanjDoAVJ+EmeYeV2SfQXxg/FtlKJfPft2VR5ffj5dr6aAf6tg1wpd9qGhsr2xs5rYwQtJ4I3URRa0PEwemA5jQqIyplEVMvLFO+e4HxUlWJO1BCJQ27tGwNu8XxCfqbX/ISMAAD1yK4qH/CPMYUKwuOr09XTnT1Wwft0K2aH9Ku3CE2CSj+U23aalWz0VkBePuLcuWNcb/hVwgzoXQBhenaOHIoKqHpd7HOPpMO+rFhVEMHvcNDjXQa5IH7sGGKxQ6kLLaN0AIjNsao+fnHiDA7pjZ7hhzNZZOyyduoEfF5BmX7Ld5FKBtOT367Y3xQDoZejB8LYijlesAH4CPVwcVl7pxDDOMuL9HKtZLj1lMwaYxX6pJcZbGT4RmBTKgCGJf4IrizDSZC1BEKHhgDYFKjId+nbLW+I3ONT/sY6q2MUl8YbQ14w/9/AmFePJs9ksIQFnKoitgoHByZJsPaWrqKyasafe2ZQMx0doUL4Xmk/ecCApUc6IHK4E+H0/8APWFRpnN6PjUt/UZC7z0mxZ4/NGZNna344KGV1w+WjtdJIR2TEknkVrWdeOGobb4hzzd2rIAqKoyUJoUVIxjvPpDdDHq0vkNevET0La6jkvNYkt1GyHJnfYmrLN7cvUA3Q5IQ65KvqvDYkARu5A0ae9akGiXO45dqg31FL4r7nqxL6Q+nah+XPOtOgyT/N+ccNQzFiZKnTt4s/WsYiBiAnhhO4YWYiR46YuTgFmlUJfjqKlpVjX/zeEdYkRmZ7SXFk6e9VeJipqgx3GiBgDWL8V0k1ySX5t2RFkM/ur+YQv30dSo+Sa1dfSpWPKQNfM8Z9lnLrY1E8zOCMZRc18Z5rdsxzFn7C4Btv21SOU3n6ImhXuaCMd9PI0UmyI3m88k2xJUf6KEdv/HeA/IhVcWgPrrOSJoVUt1bYzIp6CsauwwcMLu7etLm/w2xaMtbHnzqJ/G6mnkX1Lw2Rx0NWHn3t55o2TOAMloyIMSqKUhpgopVQJeFt/v2foU2qf1XdVm8H3TdJDnOXUt5+VJT6zdqo46rksC4koHL2MCpniXxgvm7dOiuHixXBjIk+9dB+fyIBmwAY9vdmjpO3H112St/Cu3VX+lKTsAB6ea99pdDXtaab2jU3W+lJRRChbseKzDNveMXg3WO8nm+NL9qB+YihDulve93ReFG6xDCZnUkVCg4sRXEoQkUwCtjLFKd4KkWeK5ixxW3x5sWj18+Mlcad712ArXE91yZydHbpluxCpmk8dAuIH1w9BiJGD+pmoxALUUGyiXzOTif8Juf3QTuS+oewa54UB+3p3GmeXAiuqE9mqOHc9+r/MdX6UBvk1mtE0/8pkRAHWysaDRefl52kOZQPko15TN0BI/SYQGErd/brfTaFiQUEqqSR/fWHmR6F4Z05yKuD0KU/Cwa8RYYsrTGAS0DyAltPO0Zhidw6m+lQGQFKDWaxq2iBMUuPBRdTr1lDt84/P0Zw59k6itcvBkQFtVw0CGqtTANH6fJ2jLu//o45dB4KZewWdUkhBuxjGSS6wNSVR47t1pLLaYUfJUl7dDwnC+I5g7vtCX3ak+EkX87tc+3tZLYHFQxo9got/mSuNY9Htwo8XFKRbPIa4E6gFXfn/uYXrlBXKQ3V02leuFIpkMVYgAbz66EdfvjBd4YwMSa5zs8QZL4OKb4vGCotGbrlZS6kSObyUwTP+u+I7bttz4wzqO4rbDSYMJBvMNGif0Ra1d9amdvD+j1Q4vSoEEeVvUz17B7H84r2TRticxFlLBPgvOaMxmEFye1bsu6LdhWt1TbvRqTi2NjHAImibQMrhWxS0D9eoOG+Q6x7QmH6n704hgWCNmrVnmZGgbfEmc2WSZJVyeRuGs/pDL3NZZOjaVcld8WIbB22szWLgpIusxVLvzztuGudXsWD0YvMur6jQpW4pRSBdZOpyRqzFj4vPId9b/RlKNX/1fw/cOMmW/V48hbfWSUnu4ZogAiT/wZHqBh98MDWB5IVCuWCm+Tore5Tp9iw7eUw+AVcArF9KZzU89T4URGRuWkU5uqxGeTkZdbauTkjTac81Qd7Y7HhbfkNgALtM+H88c0ZMyDDgYTv7Glza8yl+sSLXpumg9K3lzsmIaDk8ZnwBW8FyRhQCm42a3h14RA7Zc=
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