Paranoia

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

"Thank you for bringing Raven home safely," Robert said with a smile and poured some red wine into his glass.

"It's no problem sir," he replied.

"Please, call me Robert," Robert replied with a smile.

Raven ate her mash potatoes silently as she listened to their conversation.

"You do sports?" Robert continued to ask. Raven just rolled her eyes.

Boys will be boys, she thought as she took a sip of her wine.

"Actually, no s--" he replied. Robert held out his hand to stop him from speaking.

He blinked and cleared his throat before going on. "Robert," he said and Robert gave a nod.

"What's your name by the way?" Raven butted in, making both men to look at her.

"I'm practically serious here," she replied.

"You don't know each other?" Robert asked.

"No," was Raven's reply.

"On the contrary, we've met," he replied making Raven snap her head towards him.

"We have?" she asked curiously.

"I was the one whom you bumped into, two months back."

Raven blinked as she recalled the moment. "That was you?" she asked pointing a finger at him involuntarily.

"Yes. By the way, my name's Drake," he replied with a smile, making Raven's heart flip.

Raven placed some quilts on the floor and fluffed some pillows.

Robert insisted to let Drake spend the night at their house since it was already late and his place was a bit far of.

"You can take my bed, I'll take the floor," Raven said as she did an Indian sit on the quilt laid neatly on the floor.

"That would be rude of me. This is your house and this is your room. I'm just a guest. I don't want to be a burden," Drake said politely as he crouched down to have an eye level with Raven.

She gulped. His face was inches away from her, and she didn't like the thought of her having to share a room with a guy whom she barely knows.

Robert didn't want Drake to sleep on the coach, and he can't sleep in Robert's room since Robert was putting the business back together and he didn't want to be disturbed. The only spare space was the attic's.

"You saved my life. I'm just returning the favor," Raven said as she flopped on the quilt and placed the covers over her head.

Suddenly, she felt strong arms wrap around her. She uncovered her face and found Drake carrying her towards her bed and placed her down gently.

"Don't thank me yet," he said with a smile making her heart skip a bit.

Drake pulled away and walked towards the quilt and lied down. Silence filled the room as they stared at the ceiling.

"Um, Drake?" Raven said still looking at the ceiling.

"Yeah?" he replied looking at Raven.

"Thanks again for saving me. I owe you one," she replied looking at him who was a few feet away and smiled.

"Anytime," he said with a grin.

"Good night Drake. Sweet dreams," she said turning her back to Drake while closing her eyes.

"Good night Raven," he said still looking at her.

Everything was pitch black as Raven walked and all she could hear were footsteps, the wind whooshing and some rustling sound.

Suddenly, she saw a small light from a far off.

"Hello?" she said as she wrapped her arms around herself and walked towards the light.

As she neared the light, she heard murmurs that made her cover her ears. She didn't understand what they were saying but it was deafening.

"You killed her Raven!" Robert's angry voice echoed.

"Murderer," the mourning voices said in unison.

The mocking murmurs got louder. She heard an evil laughter escalating through the loud murmur, and slowly, the place illumined.

"You're responsible for everybody's death. You deserve to be punished," the voices said.

Raven shook her head as she covered her ears and closed her eyes. She started running, running towards an endless road. Her eyes began to water and the voices got louder.

"Die," a cold voice said. Then a sound of loud honking deafened her, making her snap her head towards its direction.

A bright light blinded her as she blinked rapidly and rubbed her eyes. She didn't know where she was going as she let her feet drag her.

Raven heard a screeching sound of tires. She turned towards the bright light and gasp.

Raven sat up from her bed gasping. She touched her face and her arms. She was still alive and gave out a sigh of relief.

She went down from her bed and headed towards her bathroom. She ran some cold water from the faucet and splashed it on her face. She leaned her hands against the sink and stared at her reflection in the mirror before going out.

"You alright?" a husky voice asked making her stop and turned to face Drake who already sat up.

"Yeah. I guess," Raven replied with a shrug and went towards her bed.

Drake stood up and sat beside her on the edge of her bed. Raven looked down at her lap and sighed.

"You sure?" Drake asked.

Raven nodded in reply.

"You don't look like it," he said with concern.

Raven shook her head and looked at him with a smile. She lay back down and sighed.

"Just a nightmare," she said placing her hands over her belly and stared at the ceiling.

Drake lay down next to her, placing his hands under his head and took in a deep breath.

"You're not going to die Raven," he said as he turned his head to face Raven.

Raven looked at him and smiled. "If that's true . . ." her voice trailed off and she dropped her gaze

"I won't let her," he said as he stared back at the ceiling, his jaw clenched.

Raven looked at him and sighed, shaking her head lightly.

No one can protect me. Rebecca's going to kill us all, she thought and closed her eyes.