Flower

Epilogue : Raven

Flora slept soundly in her hospital bed.  She had regained a steady heart beat and was regaining her strength, but she had not woken up yet. Her hospital room was like any other; small, with a window and chairs surrounding the hospital bed.  Her bed was long, longer than her body that is and was piled with two green blankets.  Her head rested on two, white puffy pillows as she slept soundly.

            We never left the room unattended. There was at least one of us in the room in case she had woken up.  At that moment, The Jacobson's had to go, so it was just Betty, Whitney, Derek and I. The doctors weren’t exactly sure what was wrong with her. They thought it was just exhaustion, but her peculiar dilemma had them scratching their heads. At the moment, she had a tube that dripped fluid into her veins as she slept unconscious in her hospital bed.

            "Raven," Whitney broke the silence, "The night of the attack, you saw something that scared the shit out of you. What did you see?" I didn't answer for a moment. I thought back to that night where we had lost two of our friends; Rhett and Jane. Then I remembered something, something that didscare me through and through.

            "When Flora walked back from talking to the demons, I noticed her eyes were rimmed red." Nobody spoke. "It disappeared after a moment or two, but it bothers me right now. I’m worried the demon inside Flora is getting stronger and when Chelsey bit her, it was like a rush or adrenaline.”

            "It could be," Derek replied. "The demons have done the impossible."

            "We don’t know much about this guy." Betty chimed in. "All we know is that he's her father. And what about this Father that wants Raven? Who is he and does he have any connections with Flora's father?" My mind throbbed. So many damn questions!

            I shook my head in frustration, "I don't know."

            "What's our next move?" Whitney piped in, changing the subject. "We can't camp out at the Jacobson's forever. They would have to send us to The Academy, or someone would find out and take us back by force."

            "I think our next move is to figure out who The Father is. Demons are being born by the day and all the ones I’ve ran into mention The Father. I want to know who the hell he is and I want him gone.”

            "You’re right Raven. Besides, no one wants to do anything about this; none of the adults that is. All they want to do is hole up in their Academies and forget the threat is there." Derek added on. I nodded in agreement.

            "The first step though, is to get Flora better." I said.

            "Question," Whitney shot her hand in the air like a school girl.  I thought it was sort of cute.

            "You don't need to raise your hand. We aren't in school. Go ahead though."

            "How are we going to be traveling? None of us has much cash and we can't drive." she stated smartly. I hadn't gotten that far in my thoughts. I looked over at Derek to see if he had any ideas and he smirked as his hand rested over his pocket. I would ask him later.

            "I'm not exactly sure. If Flora could change like the rest of us, then we could just go easily, but she can't so we need to figure that out." My phone buzzed. Everyone stared at it. I pulled it out as it vibrated crazily in my hand and looked at the number, expecting it to be Jacobson or Williams, but the number was unknown.

            "I'll be right back," I told them as I slipped out of the room. I answered. "Hello?"

            "I hoped you'd answer." The voice said huskily. It sounded dark and it was a man's for sure.  He also sounded rough and dangerous, like a demon.

            "Who the hell is this?" I hissed.

            "Who do you think?" It replied.

            "I have no clue," I said flatly. Who the hell was this guy? "Who the hell are you?"

            “Oh my goodness, I’m surprised that no one has mentioned me.” I thought back to all the demons I had encountered. They had all said a name.

            “Drake,” I said flatly.

            “Bingo! Give that girl a prize!” I rolled my eyes at the stupid comment. This guy liked to be funny.  The truth was: he wasn’t.

            “What do you want Drake and how did you get my number?”

            "Oh, I just wanted to tell you that I was going to pop by and say hi and take your soul away." I gripped the phone tightly. My palms were sweaty, which made it harder for me to grip the phone.  “And how I got the number is none of your concern.”

            "I am not going demon!" I shrieked. A few nurses stared at me with questioning looks. The voice chuckled as it drew a breath.

            "Oh, you crack me up. The Father will be very pleased you got his good genes. Just like me,” What did he mean by that?

            "Where are you?" I demanded as I wiped the sweat off my hands.

            "If I told you little raven, it wouldn't be as much fun!" he pouted. He cleared his voice. "I am coming for you right now, whether you like it or not." Then the line went dead. I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it. Without thinking, I raced back to the hospital room. I slammed through the door and saw the startled faces of my friends.

            Derek jumped to my aid, "Who was it?"

            "We need to get out of here. Now." I demanded harshly. Derek stared at me, saying the question again. I pushed him aside and rushed to Flora's side.

            "What the hell do you think you're doing Raven?" Betty swore loudly.

            "Flora," I whispered into her ear. "If you can hear me, wake up." I backed away and suddenly, Flora's eyelids flickered open, revealing what I thought was a nightmare; red rimmed eyes.