Raven

Chapter 7- That Thing

The sudden brightness of the sun beaming through the curtains and covering half my face causes my eyes to flutter open and a soft yawn to escape my lips. I look over to the clock. 5:47 How did I wake up this early? I never wake up anytime before 7:00. Strange. I suddenly became aware of the presence of a body next to mine. I start to panic, but soon the memories of last night flood back into my mind and I relax. Raven. Our legs are currently tangled together along with my bed sheets and her hand is lying delicately over my waist. Her head has fallen onto my shoulder and I can feel her hot breath against the side of my neck, giving me shivers across my skin. I am still wearing the same outfit as yesterday, but make no move to change. I don't want this moment to end. I assume Raven is in a deep sleep, her breaths are even and slow, peaceful. I snuggle my head into the crook of her neck, relaxing almost instantly. I place my hand on top of hers, so both of our hands are placed on my stomach. After a few minutes of peace, Raven starts to shift and I quickly remove my hand from hers and lift my head up to peer at her face.

"Morning," I say tiredly, my voice rough and light. Her eyes blink, adjusting to the light and then fall upon my figure. Time seems to pause as we both admire our morning states. Her hair is matted across her forehead her and skin seems to glow in the morning light. There are light bags under her eyes and her lips are curved into a slight smile. I wish I had her beauty. I look down at the mattress, blush creeping across my skin and interrupt the silence.

"We should get ready for school."

"Yeah." Her voice is only a slight whisper, but it still makes my skin tingle and my heart swell. I lift the covers off of us and untangle our legs to get up. I walk over to the mirror and peer at my reflection. My hair is messy, my clothes wrinkled, and my face is covered with spots and creases of sleep. If only I could be pretty like her. I sigh and look through my selection of clothes in the dresser, finding a pair of unevenly ripped jeans, I seem to only wear jeans ever, and pull over a dark blue hoodie which engulfs me in a complete warm, safe feeling. A feeling that I just want to curl up inside and escape, well, everything. I turn around to look at Raven who looks down from me once I turn my head.

"Do you want to borrow any of my clothes?" I ask, waiting awkwardly in the middle of the room for her to move or say anything.

"No, I have some at home."

"Okay, well do you want breakfast?" The air is thick with tension as if all the comfort we had gained last night was swept under a rug.

"Sure." She shrugs and stands up, her hair flopping over half of her face. I start to walk downstairs, in hopes that she would follow me, which she does, but at a chilling distance from me. I am glad that I put on a warm hoodie because otherwise this distance would suck all amount of warmth from inside of me.

When we enter the kitchen, our breath is frosty, the cloud of moisture swirling through the air before disappearing in front of my very eyes. Why is it so cold?

"Hey, does it feel cold to yo-" I turn around, but am stopped cold when I see Raven is gone and where she was standing is a pair of orange colored eyes. I can see no body to match the eyes, only a faint outline of, well I don't know what. Before I can make any action, it is gone and is replaced by Raven who looks a bit uneasy. I look around the room and all the sudden action makes me feel dizzy. I collapse onto the tiled kitchen floor and press my face into my hands. My breathing and heart rate increase as I think of those terrible orange eyes. I suddenly feel a slender cold hand on my shoulder and jolt before realizing it is Raven's hand. I look up at her and her eyes hold worry and terror.

"What was that thing?" I ask in a whisper. She pauses to think.

"What thing?" She replies, faking a confused look on her face. I can tell she is lying. I can see in her eyes that she saw it. She saw that thing.