Later that afternoon, I waited in the driveway for Damian. I wore a black tank and jeans and fixed my hair into a ponytail.
At exactly six o'clock, a silver dodge 4 x 4 raced down the deserted highway and pulled into the gravel driveway. Glancing through the windshield, I could see Damian driving, and two men and a girl in the backseat.
I saw Damian say something to one of the men, and one of them got out and opened the door to the passenger's seat. He was tall and his Irish characteristics were obvious. His ginger hair exaggerated his blue eyes, and he wore a black suit with a green shamrock on the tie.
I climbed into the seat and smiled at everyone. The Irishman climbed back in the truck and presented me his hand. "I'm Jack O'Malley. I'm Damian and Rose's cousin." I shook his hand, and noticed the petite girl smiling up at me.
"You must be Rose?" she nodded. She seemed to be about twelve, and yet her mint green eyes made her look so much older. Her blond hair was fixed in ringlets that brushed her shoulders and she wore a blue day dress with black flats.
I looked over at the well-dressed man beside Rose. If I hadn't already seen him, I doubt id noticed him at all. He's abnormally pale, and his dark hair matched his eyes. Rose saw my question before I asked it. "That's Sebastian. He's another cousin of ours." I nodded, but he still wouldn't make eye contact. "Don't mind him, he gets shy sometimes." After introductions, Damian backed the large truck out of the driveway and we left for Tulsa.
After an hour of driving and silence, we finally arrived at Tulsa's roller rink. Jack helped Rose and I out of the truck, and Damian came over to walk beside me as we entered the rink.
"Have you ever skated?" I shook my head, and before he could say anything else, Rose grabbed my hand and pulled me to the shoe exchange counter. I smiled at the woman behind the desk as I handed her my shoes. "She's a beginner." Rose exclaimed.
The woman nodded and grabbed a pair of skates from behind the counter. It had four wheels and a large stopper in the front. Rose grabbed her skates, roller skates, and we left to a bench to put them on.
When we got them laced up, the boys rolled over to us. Sebastian helped Rose and they left for the rink. Jack wore a smug smile on his face as if he saw a joke that no one else noticed.
Damian frowned at him before offering me his hand. I grabbed his hand, and when he tried to pull me to my feet, the wheels rolled and I lost my balance. My arms reflexively reached out for something to hold onto, and unfortunately, they found his grey t-shirt.
As soon as I went down, so did he. The surprise on his face made me realize what had happened, and without thinking, I burst out laughing. Soon, the surprise turned into a smile that morphed into a laugh. Jack was even laughing.
Jack helped us up and sped off onto the rink leaving us alone. Damian caught his breath, "Well...that was different." I smiled, "Yeah, it was. I'm so sorry for pulling you down with me." He held up his hands, "It's totally fine." He took my hand and led me onto the rink.
We skated around the large rink for what seemed like hours. Jack would weave in between the crowd as if they weren't there at all, and Sebastian clung to Rose as if his life depended on it. Even though I was having fun, something kept bothering me, and I couldn't figure out what.
Finally after a couple more rounds, I noticed an old woman in a dark corner watching us. But not just us, me. I nudged Damian's arm, and he raised his eyebrows at me. "Do you have that feeling like we're being watched?" he looked around the room and shrugged. "No, why?"
I shook my head, "Nothing." As Rose and Sebastian came up on us, Rose released Sebastian and grabbed onto me instead, leaving Damian and Sebastian alone. "Having fun, Raven?" She looked up at me smiling. I nodded absently and looked back in the direction that the woman was sitting, finding that she'd disappeared.
(Damian POV)
After Raven mentioned being watched, it made me remember her place in the book. Today is when she's supposed to die, and I forgot. I'm a Reaper for Christ's sake! Since when do I forget things like this?! I looked around the room and found the source of Raven's discomfort. A Stray was keeping an eye on her.
Sebastian and Rose came up to us, and Rose took Raven from me, leaving Sebastian behind. "You seem unnerved, Master Damian." I nodded and pointed at the Stray. "Raven is due tonight, and I totally forgot about it." He cradled his chin in his palm and sighed.
I watched Raven and Rose circle the rink and I didn't notice that Jack had joined our group. We moved off the rink and sat down a t a table. "What do we do about the Stray without attracting attention?" I asked.
Jack looked over at the old woman and back at us, "Absolutely nothing. Not right now anyways. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but I've been wearing the Medallion since we left the house." Sebastian and I looked at him, "And?" He sighed loudly, "And she's been taking full notice of me when she shouldn't be. This means that she's probably noticed the Stray too."
This made since. So she had seen me that night. Sebastian sat up straighter and looked at me, "Seeing as how she's going to die anyways, why do you care?" Sebastian never learned how to sugar-coat anything. He just says what's on his mind. I glared at him even though he was right. Why do I care?
That's just it, isn't it? I shouldn't care, but I do. She seems to have that effect on me. I'd hate to see her die, it's such a waste.
As we sat in silence, screams erupted from the rink. It seemed that Raven was choking on something, but we knew better. The Stray was trying to strangle her.
Sebastian drug Rose out of the way, and Jack gripped my arm tightly. In that short minute of watching her, I snatched my arm out of Jack's grasp, took his Medallion, and rushed to her side. I knelt beside her head, out of the way of the Stray, and placed her head in my lap. "Look at me, Raven. Now." She glanced up at me while struggling to breath. "Do you want me to save you or not?"
She looked at the Stray in horror before nodding weakly. I closed my eyes in thought before grabbing her wrist. She moaned in pain at my touch, and it made my heart stutter in grief.
A tear ran down her pale face and I finished marking her. I dropped her arm and watched as the black skull appeared on her wrist, and I walked back to my stunned group. Looking back at her through the crowd, she was watching me with tear-filled eyes with a hand reaching for me.
Rose snatched me down to her level with anger lighting up her eyes. "The Hell did you do?! I knew you would do this! I knew it!" Sebastian took her shaking hand and took her back to the truck.
Jack opened his mouth to say something, but I glared at him. He put his hands up in surrender and left. All I could do now was watch her die, and it nearly killed me in the process. She kept watching me, and I couldn't do anything about it.
Before she died, I pushed through the crowd and picked her up off the floor. You would've thought that someone would've called 9-1-1 by now, but nope. They just stood there watching. Life's cruel like that I guess.
I left the skates on the floor and didn't bother with reclaiming our shoes. I ran her outside and met everyone standing around the truck. "What are you waiting for? Get in." They got back in their original seats, and I handed Raven's limp body to Jack so that I could lay the seat back.
I placed her on the seat and strapped her in. After she was secure, I got in the driver's seat and sped back to Red Creek. Minutes after we left, she was gone. Only the mark on her wrist showed her future.
------------------------------------------------ Let's face it. If you've ever read any of my stories, you know that someone has to die at some point. But, but! We all know that the main character never truly dies right? Anyways, don't forget to comment and vote!
