"I guess there's no reason to hide it anymore," her father's voice crackled through the phone, heavy with years of buried truth. "Your mother is alive, Raven. When we separated, she found someone—fell in love again. But one night, witch hunters found them." He paused, and Raven could hear him struggling to continue. "They killed her girlfriend right in front of her. After that... something in your mother broke. The grief turned to rage, and she hunted down those responsible."
Raven ended the call, her hand shaking so badly she nearly dropped the phone. The cafeteria's fluorescent lights suddenly seemed too bright, the chatter too loud. Every step felt like moving through water as she gathered her things, her mind racing with the weight of this revelation.
In math class, Jake took his now familiar seat beside her. Raven tried to focus on the equations and the review game their teacher had planned, but her thoughts kept drifting to the impossible truth: she was the daughter of the woman who had killed Jake's parents. The woman who had turned from light to darkness because of loss.
During fifth period gym, the track stretched before her like an endless loop of questions and doubts. Her feet pounded against the rubber surface in rhythm with her racing thoughts.
"Hey, you notice Jake's been watching you, right?" A voice cut through her reverie as a girl with ruby-red hair streaked with blonde highlights fell into step beside her. "Oh! I'm Michaela, by the way. You're the new girl everyone's talking about?"
Raven managed a nod, grateful for the distraction. Michaela wore a Fairy Tail shirt that had been modified into workout gear, and her friendly smile seemed genuine. Still, after the morning's revelations, Raven found it hard to trust anything at face value.
Over the next few days, Raven's powers grew stronger—she could feel the magic humming beneath her skin, responding to her turbulent emotions. But it wasn't just her powers that were intensifying. Despite everything—or perhaps because of it—her feelings for Jake were becoming impossible to ignore. Every time he smiled at her, every laugh they shared in class, every moment their eyes met across a room sent her heart racing. The cruel irony wasn't lost on her: a witch falling for a witch hunter, their families' histories intertwined in blood and vengeance.
During third period, she caught herself watching him instead of taking notes. The way his brow furrowed when he concentrated, the slight curl at the corner of his mouth when he solved a problem, the gentle strength in his hands as they moved across the paper. Each detail only made her fall harder, even as her guilt grew heavier.
At lunch, she tried to lose herself in her artwork, music playing through her earbuds to drown out her thoughts. But then Jake was there, sliding into the seat beside her with that smile that made her forget to breathe. He glanced at her drawing, and something in his expression made her chest tight.
The words tumbled out before she could stop them, her soup forgotten and growing cold. "Jake, I—" she started, her voice trembling. "I like you. But there's something you need to know." The music in her earbuds had stopped, leaving nothing but the sound of her hammering heart. "I'm a witch... and I'm the daughter of the woman who killed your parents."
Jake's face froze, his expression shifting from warmth to shock as the truth finally shattered the fragile peace between them.
YOU ARE READING
Lovers Have Fallen (Editing In Process)
RomanceWhen Jake and Raven meet, they get caught in the remnants of their parent's war that had left Jake an orphan. Will Jake forgive and forget, or will he avenge his family's death through Raven? Credit to @thepaintedshadows for the cover
