Shift

Chapter 24

24

Lana paced anxiously. Raven slipped in through a side door and she jumped.

“Don’t be so quiet!” She snapped.

“I thought that was the whole point of me hiding? Being invisible?” Raven countered.

“Yeah, you’re right… sorry” Lana apologised and ran a hand through her hair.

“You don’t seem like the nervous kind. Is something wrong?” Raven asked.”

“Huh? No, I’m just worried about things. I found somewhere for you to hide.”

“I’m satisfied in the cottage.”

“That’s not a cottage, it’s a shack. Anyone can stumble across it. It’s too close to the inner curtain. Besides, if you’re closer to us we can communicate more easily without raising suspicion.”

“Very well, where do you propose?”

“My family’s carpentry; there’s a hidden attic no-one knows about. Also, there are several secret panels to get out of the House quietly.” Raven thought it over for a minute.

“Sound’s safe. When should I leave?”

“You’re not leaving alone. All six of us will split up and take different paths. I was thinking tonight.” Lana explained.

“Are you sure that’s safe?”

“Yes, if someone is following us we can hide and let them follow the others.” Raven agreed and picked up a book to wait.

***

Six hooded figures stood at the back door. Irene and Vera were going together, Maya and Lana, and Erika and Raven.

“All clear?” Irene questioned, surveying their faces.

“Let’s go.” Maya nodded.

Vera and Irene slipped out first. Anyone suspicious of her would follow her, leaving the others to slip out unnoticed. Erika and Raven waited three minutes and ducked out into the night. Lana and Maya causally left through the front door. The chase had begun.

Erika walked in front, keeping to the shadows and peeking around each corner. Raven’s footsteps were barely audible. Together they looked like shadows flickering in the corner of the street lamp’s glow. They were less than a block away when an arm reached out from the shadows and grabbed Erika’s cloak. The arm pulled her away and ripped off her hood.

“Your majesty?” A low voice hissed, incredulous. Raven clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a shriek. It was Bane. Vera had said he was a loyal and fierce friend, but Raven couldn’t understand it. She’d seen him fierce and terrifying. She’d heard him accusing Vera, and Vera talked about him as if he were a weed that had been pulled from the garden, a complication to be forgotten. Why was he here, again?

Erika wriggled from his grasp and Raven melted into the shadows. He hadn’t seen her.

“What are you doing here Bane?” Erika demanded, though she knew full well why he was following her.

“I thought you were Vera.” He confirmed.

“Well I’m not. Now if you’ll let me go,” Erika’s eyes scanned the street, looking for Raven. Her distraction gave her away. Bane whirled around, following Erika’s gaze. He saw Raven in the instant she leapt for the roof.

She grabbed the gutter, kicking one leg up and pulling herself up the wall. She rolled over to pull her other leg up, but Bane was faster, grabbing her boot and yanking her back down. She tumbled off of the gutter and into his arms. Her hood slipped off in the fall and Bane looked down at the beautiful girl in his arms.

“What?” He choked out, bewildered. Raven kicked and squirmed to get out of his embrace but he reflexively clutched her tighter. It was frustratingly similar to the hold Vera had caught her in when she’d tried to go back with Drake and she wondered vaguely if Vera had learned it from him. The thought quickly vanished though, as Bane pushed her to her feet, still holding onto her.

“It was you? You would betray us all?” Bane questioned, turning to Erika. She held out her hands, pleading.

“She’s not what you think,”

“She’s a forsaken! How could you? How many others have you let in for Valdor?” Bane cried, cutting her off. Raven stood, useless, in Bane’s grip. She had considered Vera hostile towards her brother when she’d first met her, but now she could see how kind Vera truly was. Bane despised her kind.

“She’s not forsaken! Bane! Listen to me!” Erika pleaded. Raven realised Erika was trying to influence him, but Bane’s rage must have made it harder for her to get through to him.

“Are you going to try to tell me she’s from here?” Bane snorted. “She’s not going anywhere. I’m not going to let Valdor win this easily.” While Erika couldn’t control him, she was certainly distracting him. Raven quickly dropped to the ground, making use of his divided attention, and grabbed a stone. Bane swept down to grab her but he sprang up and pivoted so she was behind him, smashing the stone down on the back of his head. He crumpled to the ground.

“What did you do?” Erika hissed at her in astonishment.

“What? He was going to lock us both up!” Raven protested.

“Let’s get out of here before he comes around.” Erika said as she looked down at Bane’s still form and back out at the street. Raven nodded and followed her.

“Where is Erika?” Vera asked worriedly. She and Irene had already made two laps of the same street waiting for Erika to return to tell them that Raven was safe. Lana and Maya emerged from the back door of the apocethary and joined them.

“Where’s Erika?” Maya asked.

“That’s what we’re wondering.” Irene replied. Lana surveyed the street.

“She should be here by now.” They waited another ten minutes before Erika showed up, out of breath and dishevelled.

“What happened?” Vera exclaimed.

“We have a problem,” Erika puffed.