DECEIT-behind the scenes

Chapter 7:James

It has been 3 days since our heist with the newest member of our team, Tara.

I could say that she was just like everyone else in our team but she clearly wasn't. She was extremely scrawny but her strength in battle always left the team awestruck. But, what caught my attention was Raven's interest in the girl. I knew well that raven always invests her time only in teammates with potential but the way she gazes at Tara was a bit different, almost like she was an old acquaintance.

Stating that I was not interested in Raven's past would be a complete lie. For as long as I remember, I have been doing lots of research on her past, but all I could gather was that she was from Corela and I found an old family portrait of a tall man and woman, smiling ear to ear as they held on to 2 little girls. One was a brunette and the other a cute red head.

At first assumed the red head was Raven but as I got to know her more, I realized she would go out to purchase a red dye every few months, I pretend to ignore it but it was clear she isn't a red head.

I tried hard to convince myself that Tara was not related to Raven but there were too many similarities.

All these thoughts swirled my head an made me dizzy that night so instead I sleeping I decide to take a walk down the quarter grounds and maybe visit the garden which looked beautiful in the moonlight. I neared a turn to the garden when I heard a light hum. There was already someone in the garden. Curious, I tiptoed near the garden.

It was Tara.

I was about to retreat when my stupid flipflop snapped a twig. I huffed in defeat when Tara turned around obviously startled by the intrusion.

"Sorry, I didn't expect anyone to be there," I said as I retreated.

"Oh no its fine, I could use some company..." Tara responded, I was a bit startled by her comment at first but I made my way and sat beside her on the cold marble bench. She stared back at me, probably trying to read my expression and looked away when she failed.

Suddenly, the atmosphere grew heavy with awkward silence.

"So, how do you like it so far?" I question Tara, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Uhh-" she mumbled, trying to find an appropriate response.

"Ohh right, sorry!"

"No, it's fine, I guess Ma-Raven isn't as bad..."

"Haha, I can see why you may think she is a little hard to approach, but if it helps to know, she cares too,"

"Cares for who?" she fired back, sudden anger evident on her face.

"Look, she had a hard childhood-"

"I please, everyone has a hard time, that doesn't mean you turn into an underworld villain that tortures innocent souls!"

"Hey, who told you she tortured innocent people!" I fire back.

"Look what she did to me, isn't that enough!" she snaps.

"You are not innocent, you killed someone, someone very special and if you feel like you are experiencing hell then good, because you deserve it! "I shouted back icily at her.

She sat there quietly for a while, probably trying to sink in all that I have said

"You must really like Vega and I am sorr-" she said sincerely but I didn't let her finish.

"I know you are Raven's sister!" I blurt out before I could stop my stupid mouth.

This clearly surprised her, she took a sudden gasp of air and her eyes grew tiny under the moonlight.

"What-h-h-ow?" she stuttered.

"I know raven doesn't like it but I was able to do some research but all I know it that she is from corela and her sister is a red head, while she is a brunette" I state matter-of-factly.

She stared at me in horror.

"Could you please keep this between us?" she asked, a little desperation lingering in her voice.

I nodded.

It took some time to get rid of the silence that ensued but we were able to talk and I felt like I had gained a friend.

She told me stories about her childhood and how she lost her sister, whose actual name was Maria.

I listened patiently and let her even breakdown when she spoke about her sister and how much she missed her.

After hours of chitchat I decided to head back to my dorm and I felt like I had got rid of a huge weight on my shoulder. I was no longer too suspicious of her and felt like she was a part of the gang. Of course, the fact that she killed Vega would not go unnoticed.

I felt like I was betraying Vega...

----------------------

I didn't revise the text so sorry for may grammatical errors!