Raven Flight

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I'm Not Alone

I jerked out of my stupor of sleep as heavy, menacing footsteps echoed down what sounded like a long corridor behind me. I made my body go limp, steadied my breath, and therefore lightened my heavily beating heart. My eyes naturally fluttered closed as if I had actually been unconscious the whole time. Even with my professional manner of withdrawing into myself, I couldn't help but flinch as a deep laugh boomed above me like thunder rolling through thick, water-drenched clouds.

“If you think, even for a second, that I believe your ruse, then you are even more dense than those who ARE affected by our sense-stealing concoction,” his voice pounded as if he spoke directly into my head; there was no way possible of ignoring it. His very presence made a shiver go down my goose-bump chilled back, and I couldn't stop the sensation of wanting to curl up and hide, away from the all penetrating voice. I was surprised at my frightened reaction and almost immediately suspected something was up, for almost nothing scared me, especially not a regular man, if he was in fact regular.

A muscular man stepped into my view, with a square jaw covered in stubble, and a mane of dark brown hair covering his head. At first, he'd seemed the very image of evil, but I peered closer and saw something flash behind his eyes. Fear? No it couldn't be, curiosity maybe, but not fear. He leaned in closer and I could smell his cologne, a strong smell that filled your nose and gave you the urge to cough; it didn't even smell nice, but I doubted that was his intention. He was wearing a black tank-top, and I could easily picture him with a round of bullets hanging off of his shoulder in a GI-Joe scene. His dark blue jeans were intentionally too long and bunched dramatically at the ankles. From his lack of wrinkles, and his young, strong air that was about him, I guessed him to be in his late twenties, to early thirties. If it wasn't for the sudden shock of fear that almost tugged at my stomach like pain, I would have thought him to be a fine looking man. Not one that I'd like, of course,(I was only 14!) but I could see that he wasn't nothing to laugh about either. Of course, I couldn't really care about something like that, when he had an unnatural air of fear that pierced you like a blade.

A moment later, as if he could read my mind, I heard the familiar, soft scrape of sharp metal on thick leather. What he would be doing to me with a knife I couldn't imagine, or more so, I tried not to think about it. Without my controlling it, a shiver slid over my skin, showing him weakness for a split second. As soon as it happened, I secured control over myself and hardened my gaze into a stubborn mask once more, but I could tell that he had seen.

“Don't worry,” he said with a cruel chuckle, “I won't use it unless I have to.” His slippery voice snaked its way into the very recesses of my skull. I allowed him to see my measly smile, I couldn't help but laugh a little at my own thoughts. His voice reminded me of none other but disgusting water mold, hated by all, but never able to be avoided; people can't help but walk straight into it. As soon as he saw my face, his expression slipped into a beat of confusion, then into an explosion of frustration and hate. His next sentence was filled with the pure hatred someone gets for the only person standing in their way.

“You will be broken! A spirit using all of it's energy at once to stay well will not be able to sustain a never-ending draining of its life. I will break you! I will find your secrets, if you have any, and make you beg for mercy!” He lost control of himself, and his wild flaming eyes seethed at me, making me wonder if he was sane. “Excuse me,” he said a moment later, regaining his composure, “When in fact, why should I have to explain anything to you, or even convince you? Ha! I know that I'm better than you, and you better know it as well, or you sure will be surprised one of these days when you wake up, and you don't have it so easy. I will drain you, you'd be looking up to me if you knew how powerful I am.” He finished with a flourish of self-praise, and his face showed off a smug grin of pride. Now that he seemed sure of himself, I decided to tell him the secret that would put me ahead of his game for quite sometime.

“The more you drain me,” I said, having fun with the suspense of him not knowing what I was about to say, “the more you drain yourself.” He didn't react in surprise or frightful confusion as I expected, in fact, there wasn't even an unsure flicker, but what do you expect from a mindless fool?

“Don't worry,” he laughed, “You'll be out of the way long before I'm exhausted with this job!” He actually thought I was jesting. How brainless could you get?

“I don't think you understand what I'm saying,” I said patiently as soon as he finished chuckling, “The more you drain MY strength, the more I will take yours.” I could see the uncertainty finally flashing behind his carefully guarded eyes, but only for a moment. I knew I had him, but it's not like he would show me that willingly. He decided to continue on with his self-righteous ramblings as if I cared.

“Well, I wouldn't expect a weakling like you to understand, but I'm not exactly normal. I'm stronger, and command more attention from others than the usual man.” He sniffed contemptuously, looking down on me, and believing in himself even more. “I will be able to withstand any of your tricks onto my will, power, and strength.” I rolled my eyes and sighed in unimpressed boredom, but he didn't even notice. He seemed to be talking to himself more than anyone, reassuring himself that he was better than others. My reply was just as selfish and rude.

“Sorry for not caring, Mr. Brawn-Without-Brains, but I'm not what you'd call “normal” either, so whether or not you'll be able to withstand me... we'll see.” That definitely threw off his burst of courage, he let out a frustrated growl then stalked from the room with echoing stomps. I was delighted, but not surprised at my victory. He had given away the one piece of information that I was needing. The enemies had put their biggest gun forward, a sure sign that they were weak and needed me gone as soon as possible.

Though I was caught a little off guard at the mention of their being more people like me, with unnatural abilities, I was glad, hoping that there were some outside of the loop of evil that I would be able to retrieve for my side. However, a small shock of despair came over me as I realized if we were the only strange ones, the only other person similar to me was in the clutches of the enemy. Having enough of the thoughts that plagued me, I decided to treat myself to a nap to keep my “natural” strength up. Rest washed over me and I wandered in my past once more.