à la folie (To Insanity)

Chapter 5- Raven

My heart is pounding from fear and the lingering excitement of being with Jackson. It speeds up again when Jackson pulls me to my feet, his hands around my waist. He lies me down on the bed and tells me to stay put. There is another knock on the door and this time, Jackson goes to answer it. Matthew slips in as soon as the door has opened enough to admit him. He looks around, standing still until his eyes adjust to the dim lighting. His face wears an annoyed look when he sees that I'm here but it quickly disappears when Jackson comes over. I wince when Jackson pulls the leg of my pants up to reveal my wounded leg. He tells Matthew to explain his being here, as he begins to unwrap the bandages. When Jackson pulls out another needle, I pull away. He presses his free hand over my hip, right were my shirt was pulled up, his hand warm against my bare skin. This is all the reassurance I need to stay still, I trust him. 

There is a slight pinch when Jackson does the injection and, other then that, I feel nothing. He rewraps the bandages after cleaning my wound, and turns to Matthew. I hear the scrape of the chair legs as Jackson pulls a chair over for Matthew to sit in. Jackson sits on the bed, leaning against the wall. He cradles my head in his lap and wraps me in a blanket. His closeness is enough to comfort me, and I fall asleep quickly. 

I wake later to Jackson shaking my shoulder. When I'm awake, I try to sit up, using Jackson's arms to support me. He pushes me back down gently and I lie there, looking up at his face. He's worried about something and the agitated look increases when Matthew walks back in. Jackson is given a tablet and when I try to sit up again, he shakes his head almost indecipherably, putting slight pressure on my shoulder. 

“We should send her in. To the government I mean. They'll stop attacking our scouts if they think we've given them enough.” 

Jackson tenses up noticeably when Matthew says this. Matthew turns and leaves, the door slamming shut behind him. After a few minutes, Jackson gets up and pulls me to sit on the edge of the bed. He furrows his brow and walks out the door. Now it's just me and I begin to process what I heard. The more I begin to understand, the more worried I become. I stand and walk out the door, trying to find Jackson. When I turn the corner, someone grabs me and presses a gun to my temple. The cold of the barrel makes me freeze, hardly breathing. An arm tightens around my midsection, pressing me into the person's body. Their breathing is uneven and I can feel their pounding heart against my back. Two new figures approach, running down the hallway. When they near, I am jerked sideways as the person holding me moves out to the middle of the hall. The two figures slow, one step at a time. Slowly coming to a stop as they see us, their footsteps echoing off the walls until they fade off. The gun presses closer to my skin. One of the figures speaks: 

“Let her go, it's Raven.” 

It's Jackson. My eyes lock on his as he slowly walks over, taking the gun away from my head. The arm around my dropps away and Jackson grabs my arm, pulling me towards him. I turn to look behind me, it's Dan. He quickly hands the gun to Jackson, I realize now that it's Jackson's gun. He holsters it and leads us down the hall, back the way I had just come. We all end up in Jackson's room and he locks the door behind us. 

He must have told them what happened because everyone's looking at me. We all jump when someone knocks softly on the door. Angie is the first to walk over and she swings the door open smoothly. Jackson swiftly draws his gun and trains it on the door. Jeanne walks slowly in, her hands raised. When she is all the way through the door, Jackson motions and Angie closes it. The lock clicks loudly in the stunned silence. 

“They sent me to collect Raven.” 

I stare at my sister in disbelief, why would she come here for this? Jackson pulls me closer to him as Jeanne walks over. She stops a few feet away, the space seeming too small. She's too close for comfort. I can't wrap my mind around what's going on. No one said this was going to happen, why are we still here?