The Raven

Chapter Two

sup it's me again. Yay, you made it to chapter two I'm so proud of you. Have a cookie. 

My eyes open. I blink a couple of times in the strong light, trying to get my bearings. The room's bare - not a thing in sight, except for the other beds that inhabit the place. The walls are grey and lifeless, striped naked of any personality that they ever had. There is an ache running all over my frail, shaking body - especially in my head. A shiver runs through my spine as I take a deep breathe. Groaning, I rub my sore eyes, and turn over to my right.

There's a boy leaning against the large, irom door - his broad shoulders hunched over, and his arms resting alongside his extremely narrow waist. "And sleeping beauty awakes," he teases, a smile playing on his thin, chapped lips. He pushes back his light brown hair and cocks his head to the side. His eyes are like misty cauldrons; surveying me from the other side of the room.

"Who-who are you?" I ask, and I'm sorry to say, but I stutter.

"Nat Williams." I stay silent for a little, gulping, and also wrestling with the fact that my head feels like it's on fire.

"Where am I?" I demand, struggling to sit up in bed, then start looking, almost madly, around the room.

"In the infirmary," Nat says softly, his tone of voice sounding almost pitying.

"Who- did you bring me here?" I breath heavily, feeling my chest raise and fall with each breath. Nat nods, the smile almost being wiped away from his face.

"Yeah. Me and another boy," he says. "We were taking our normal patrols when we spotted you on the floor. You were unconscious with a bloody head, we couldn't just leave you there." I frown, trying to recall what had happened before I got into this situation.

"When did you find me?" I ask, absentmindedly sweeping a strand of loose hair out of my face. Placing a hand to the side of my head, I close my eyes and try to tame the wild pain in my head.

"About a few hours ago," he replies, "nobody knows you're here yet. Damion's gone to tell the others." I open my eyes and stare blankly at Nat, just absorbing the information. "What's your name?" Nat inquires, breaking the silence. I shake my head, sighing.

"I don't know," I tell him. He frowns, and seems not to believe me.

"Look I'm not some creepy stalker," he crosses his arms, unimpressed, "I rescued you! Just tell me your name; I might be able to help you." I shake my head again, wincing from the pounding pain.

"It's not that," I pause to take a deep breathe. "I actually don't my name... I don't know, it's weird. I can't remember anything." Nat's eyes widen as he takes in what I've just said.

"I swear you're just trying to make my life more difficult than it already is," he groans, staring at the leaden tiled floor, his thick eyebrows furrowed together.
He looks up back at me. "Can you walk?" I shrug at the question. "Okay. I'll help you." I raise my eyebrows as I watch him walk over to my bed, and wrap a muscled arm around my waist. "Come on!" he heaves, pulling at me.

"You don't need to help me," I say, pushing his arm off me, suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious. "I'm fine." Nat's pale skin turns the colour of red wine.

"Yeah, well," he mutters, looking away. I roll my eyes, swinging my legs out of bed. It's extremely cold. I shiver, looking enviously at Nat's dark green hoodie. All I've got is a thin hospital gown wrapped tightly around my frail body. I place one foot on the cold, tiled floor, then another. I jump a little, immediately placing my hand on my head again, as the pain increases.

"I guess I can walk," I tell Nat through gritted teeth.
"Good," he replies. "Also," he adds, a smile dancing on his lightly freckled face. "I think you need to put some clothes on." I cross my arms protectively around my chest, feeling the blood rush to my face. 

"I am wearing clothes," I say stubbornly, not stopping the frown that takes over my face.

"You call those clothes," he says, "I call it a bed sheet."

"I hardly have a selection to choose from, do I?" I spit back, getting more annoyed by the second. He raises his shoulders slightly, tightening his lips.

"Fine," he sighs, "Follow me," he holds out his hand towards me. I stare at it, but then look up at him.
"I think I'm going to be fine," I say coldy. Nat colours again, but shrugs it off.

"Suit yourself."

It's darker outside - a lone light bulb hangs fruitlessly from the ceiling, emitting little to no light. Nat turns to me. "Now, you need to run away." I stare at him like he's just told me that an army of hamsters live on the surface of the sun.

"What?" I demand, my voice and my eyebrows raised. "I'm ill and have memory loss. You can't just tell me to get lost." Nat bites his bottom lip, looking cautiously down the corridor.

"I don't have much choice," he says in a hushed voice. "Please," he looks at me with a pained expression upon his face. "Forget about me too. It's not good for you. Go to the real world. The further away from us the better; you probably ended up in Mundi cave by accident." I just continue staring at him in disbelief. 

"But you need to help me," my voice has lowered, but there is still the same urgency in it. Nat shakes his head, sighing softly. 

"By staying here, you're in even more danger," he puts a hand on my shoulder, and squeezes gently. "You don't understand what this place does. What the people here do. I'm a disci-pulus diaboli. I'm a -" he pauses, looking away. "Nothing. You have to go."

"But-" I start to object, placing my hand on top of his.

"No," he cuts me off, pulling his hand away hastily. "Wait," he starts unzipping his hoodie. "Here." He hands it to me. I clutch at it thankfully, not taking any time to wrap it around my trembling shoulders.

"Thanks, I guess, but-"

"Of course!" he cries, his face lighting up, "Trousers!"

"Don't take yours off," I say, grinning gently at him. Nat turns red once again, laughing softly back.

"Of course not," he rubs the back of his neck. "I'm afraid you have to do without them. You have to get yourself out of here." I give him a frown, huffing.
"Thank you," I say to him, clenching my fists. "For everything." Nat nods, the red on his face seems to darken even more. He seems to be frozen to his spot. I roll my eyes at his reaction.
"So how do you plan on getting rid of me?" I ask in a teasing tone, then begin looking up and down the corridor, ready to run again if I have to.

"Through the back door," he replies, still looking flustered. I give a small laugh, taken back a little.

"That was well thought through," I say, amused by his choice. Nat blows slightly out of his mouth.

"I only had a second to think of a plan." I laugh once more, the ache in my head seems to be slowly ebbing away. An awkward silence suddenly possesses the long corridor. I know that I may never see him again. But then, why do I care? I don't know him.

"So this is it from me." Nat looks straight into my eyes, and I notice that he has flecks of brown in his eyes and think about how beautiful they are. "We're in London," he informs me, "You do know where that is - don't you?" I nod, and memories of London come back to me. England. Europe.

"Yes," I say, "I can remember."

"Good," is all he says.

"So, where is the back door that you were talking about?" Nat gives a small sigh. Then points to a single door at the end of the hallway marked 'Exit'. I frown at it, how did I not notice it before? "Well, that was easy to find." Nat smiles gently, taking my hand and squeezing it before releasing it once again. 

"Yeah," he says. I look to see the door again, and when I look back - he's disappeared.

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