The Raven

Chapter 1

I sat on my blue plastic chair in the back of math class. I always sat in the back of the classroom and usually Raven sat next to me. Lately, he hadn't been at school. I wondered what was going on.

The teacher cleared her throat and I looked up from my spiral. I had been doodling and I figured she knew that. She gave me the "Answer the question" look.

"Um.... could you repeat the question please?"

She rolled her eyes and called on someone else. I heard some kids snickering quietly. I sighed and decided to attempt to pay attention.

At lunch I sat down with some of my new friends. One of them was a teenager a little shorter than Raven named Kado. He had medium brown hair and dark brown eyes. The other one was a girl a little shorter than me named Ivy. She had long, silky blonde hair and green eyes that I totally wished I had.

It had been quiet without Raven. I looked out the window. Everything seemed normal. Then, my eyes opened wide. A figure about the same height was running past the school. It had a black hoodie on and black leather jeans. It also had dark colored shoes and it stood out against all the daylight. I stood up quickly.

"What's wrong?" Ivy questioned.

"Um... nothing."

It was probably just my imagination running wild. I looked back out the window. The figure was gone.

Later that evening after I had eaten dinner with my orphanage family, I walked over to Raven's house. It wasn't that far away and we sometimes did homework together at his house. His parents were pretty nice, but they weren't around very much and they always had this faraway look in their eyes.

I walked up the cracked steps to the front door of Raven's house. It was always a little eerie here, but I had never really thought about it until now. My hands shook as I reached forward to knock on the door. Something didn't seem right.

I closed my eyes and hurriedly knocked. The sound seemed to echo throughout the whole street and I looked around realizing how dark it had become outside. The old lampposts the city had never bothered to fix flickered on and off. I looked back towards the door. Nobody answered it. Maybe no one was there.

I knocked again and this time the door creaked and slowly opened. I held my breath. My hands were shaking and I felt a drop of sweat drip off my forehead. Slowly, I walked inside. Everything was quiet.

"Raven?" I called.

The sound seemed to echo through the whole house. I realized I had never found out his parent's names. Strange. I headed towards the living room. Everything was quiet except for the soft tapping of my footsteps.

I walked into the living room. I blinked and covered my mouth with my hands to keep myself from screaming. This couldn't be right. This was impossible.....

Right ahead of me were random parts sprawled across the room. Except they weren't body parts. They were machines. His parents were fake. A cracked, porcelain face rested on the floor in front of me. I averted my eyes to the kitchen trying to get the image out of my head. A sharp kitchen knife was sitting casually on the kitchen table pointed right at me.

I quickly ran up the old, creaking stairs. I didn't remember the house being like this.

"Raven! What's going on?" I said breathing heavily.

I ran to his room and threw the door open. The shades were shut and everything was pitch black.

"Raven?" I said shakily.

I slid my hands against the wall searching franticly for the light switch. Finally, I found it and turned the lights on immediately. My eyes adjusted to the brightness and I felt light-headed.

On the wall were multiple maps of the world. There was another map, which was of the city, that was also pinned to the wall. The last time I had been here none of this was there.

Slowly, I inched forward thinking that at any minute something or someone would reach up and grab me. I scanned the room breathing heavily trying to clear my mind.

When I got to the edge of the bed I extended one arm towards the covers. My hands were shaking and I realized that my skin had gone a weird, ghostly white. As my hands latched onto the soft fabric I pulled back instantly, yanking off the covers. Only one thing caught my eye. One pitch-black feather laid on top of the white pillow on the bed. I reached for the feather and took it carefully in my hands. I have to leave this place.... now.

I hurriedly rushed down the stairs through the kitchen. When I reached the door I stopped. As I turned around I realized something. The knife on the kitchen table was facing me again. There was only one thing different about it. Instead of facing towards the living room where I had been before I went upstairs, it was now facing towards the front door at me.

Sweat trickled down my forehead and I quickly ran out the door slamming it behind me. I didn't care about the darkness of the streets. Nothing compared to what I had seen in Raven's house. I ran all the way back to the orphanage leaving the danger behind me.