Hunting Ravens

Truths

He is double crossing the government.

How in the hell is my father, the man who kicked me out of my own home, going up against the government in the name of some righteous cause?

... He is double crossing the government! What in the actual fuck.

The man who I grew to despise had never matched the man who raised me, that much I knew. I always attributed my disowning to be from some underlining guilt that, he believed, that he failed to raise me correctly.

I was never one for frilly conversations and coy words. I played the part well, dressing modestly and airing a flowery disposition. Yet, I read books on the mannerisms of psychopaths and the queries of long forgotten politicians from the old government. I was the epitome of a rebel in a socialites clothing; a wolf in sheep's skin. I questioned the rules and pushed the boundaries of my position. I grew to believe I had become an embarrassment, that, what I thought to be intelligence, was wrong.

That was until Hunter came along. He brought the world to light again, shining it into the darkness of the government and its corruption, showing me what I had turned a blind eye on to.

An eye my father forced into blindness. But why?

If he doesn't work for the government, if he's going against the party; than what would be achieved from disowning a daughter, that hadn't fallen far from the tree, and ensuring that I'd never question again?

A warm presence was at my elbow, "He was protecting you." A soft breath of a voice whispered beside my ear.

Hunters familiar scent brushed my senses, enveloping me in a light caress of familiarity. I welcomed his presence, suddenly feeling wary of my father, I leaned into Hunter momentarily, gathering my thoughts.

Hunters notion of my father disowning me, was in fact, hidden with the act of protecting me, resonated within me. It made sense, a father not wanting his daughter to be caught up in such a dangerous game, yet inadvertently ruining any relationship with said daughter.

"Your plan backfired Simon." I reverted to using my fathers name, not giving him the satisfaction of a family reunion filled with tears and apologies. You tore me apart, I mentally snarled.

"You intended for me to stop my questions, to live a life blind to the truth. It worked, momentarily I admit." A numerous scoff escapes me, "The irony eludes you; your own creation, your own questioning, is what led me back to the path of defying the rules."

My fathers face slackens with guilt. My heart pulls as the guilt that leaks into my stomach beseeches me to apologise. I ignore it all, favouring to give into the rage that builds within me.

"Listen to your father Raven. We have plenty of time to get angry latter, but now, we need to find some answers before the party begins to miss it's host." Hunters calm and logical voice pierces through the haze. Why is he always right?

I take a deep breath, promising myself a hard workout later.

Refusing to acknowledge my father, I solemnly nod towards Hunter, notifying him on my agreement to listen.

"Sir, please tell Raven what you told me."

My father clears his throat before beginning, "The government approached me when you were but a small child, barely learning how to walk." His pause has me envisioning some whimsical look on my fathers features as he reminisces.

"They wanted me to design something that would be able to quietly and efficiently take care of any opposition to rise against the government. At this point, your mother and I were determined to bring you up into a world where equality was boundless. For year w had been apart of the rebellion, I was sent to infiltrate the government and to remain there until the time was right and overthrow what would have been left of the current government."

My parents, in the rebellion? My father a damned spy of all things. Do I really know anyone in my life? Ben. You know Ben. The thought fills me with a small calmness until another though flitters through my mind, but he doesn't know you.

A quiet shame fills me, not only am I double crossing the government, I'm also shoving a knife into the back of my boss, the sector agents, even my second, Trevor.

I'd say Hunter knows me, despite that I've kept my background sharing to a minimum, he seems to have written and published an entire novel on my mannerism and thought processes. He's intuitive, he's clever, a sentence that I keep trying to convince myself to believe in.

An intuitive and clever man who seems to genuinely care for some odd reason. To care enough to figure out and understand me.

"As you began to grow, we realised you weren't fooled by much. You are so so smart Bee. We knew we had to keep you safe. Your mother and I didn't want you anywhere near what we were doing. We lead a life of paranoia, keeping on eye trained in front of us, and the other constantly looking behind. A life of lying and segregation. Your mother wanted you to grow up as a young woman should, fall in love, fall out of love, make mistakes, have fun." I felt my father gaze flicker between Hunter and I, "Even if that meant we never heard from you again, even if we knew you'd have a family of your own one day who never knew their grandparents. As long as we achieved the world we wanted you to be in and you have the opportunity to thrive in that world, we were happy."

If only you knew.

Hunters warmth pressed into the small of my back, the feel of his skin on mine brought goosebumps to my flesh. Hunters hand suddenly disappeared, I peered up to ponder why to find my father smiling at us both.

"I can't tell if Rick is this fellow here, or if Hunter is pretending to be Rick for the night." My father lilts as he notes the rings on our hands.

Oh.

Hunter grimaces briefly as colour flushes his cheeks.

My mind was flitting through all the information provided to me tonight that I let the comment slide, subconsciously knowing he didn't mean for it to hurt me. He just doesn't know.

Noticing Hunter was in his own world of information, I decided to question my father on Hunters behalf.

"What about Hunter. Why did you send him to assassinate me?"

Hunter perks up at his name as my father grimaces.

"Honestly, I would love to know why someone wanted you assassinated, or how they got Hunter to do it." My father must have decided our confused faces were truthful, "A week after your activation Hunter, you disappeared from our radars, your tracker was disconnected, you moved out of your assigned apartment and you didn't respond to any of our messages."

Hunter balked, "You sent me money to buy my own place, you told me that apartment was only to help with the transition. I've spent all this time dolling out assassination after assassination." Hunter became increasingly panicked, "If I wasn't killing for you, who was I killing for and why?"