The Eleventh Hour (FINISHED)

9 - You seem... oddly calm

"Malachi..." Raven said as she watched him sit on the bed, staring off into space in horror. "Are you okay? You've been sitting like this for almost ten minutes."

He looked up at her voice to find her standing by the bed, brows pinched in worry.

He nodded even though he was still unsure. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine."

"You... think?"

He shook his head in defeat and patted the mattress next to him. "Sit down, Ray."

She did, placing her hands in her lap as Mal rubbed a hand down his face.

"You remember my sister?" he said then.

Raven touched the scars on his back through his shirt, running two fingers down the length of one despite the fabric. "Yeah."

He seemed to calm more at the feeling. "It turns out... that she's alive."

Raven looked up at him then, shocked. "She is?"

He nodded. "Either it's true or Max is screwing with me, and he usually doesn't do that."

"Wait... Max? As in, your cousin?"

Malachi nodded.

"Didn't you kill his brother?" she wondered. "Wouldn't he be angry?"

"Remember when I told you that Mason was hunting down powerful races and killing them?"

She nodded.

"He hunted down a girl named 'Ember' a couple years ago and almost succeeded in killing her the same way he tried to kill you, but failed. That girl was Max's girlfriend."

"Oh," Raven said, then looked up at Mal. "So, Max... I thought he hadn't talked to you in years."

"We haven't," Malachi responded. "This is the first time he called me in decades, and he told me that my sister was alive."

"Is she alright?" Raven asked carefully.

Malachi nodded. "Yeah, I think so." He pondered for a moment. "I don't understand why she hadn't called or come looking for us yet, though."

"Maybe she's been busy," Raven stated.

He gave her an amused look. "For almost a decade?"

She shrugged. "There's probably a reason, Mal."

"Yeah," he said, "it better be good."