What Sleeps in Shadows

Chapter One

"Fighting outside of combat practice is against the rules."

Damian lifted his sullen expression to her face, and he practically snarled at her, his expression dark. There were shadows in his eyes, thing she wanted to say, and secrets he knew he should keep silent. He looked down at the first-aid kit in her hands, uncertainty crossing his face, and his shoulders sagged in annoyance. There was a long moment where nothing was said, and Raven approached her bed slowly,like Damian was a wounded animal, hissing and spitting and frightened. He shifted as she sat down across from him, picking through the minimal items in the kit.

After a long moment, Damian finally scoffed at her. "You sound just like father."

That was almost insulting. She glanced up from beneath her lashes and offered a one-shouldered shrug. "It's against the rules to be in the girl's dormitory too, or to skip class, so I don't think either of us have any room to talk."

He grumbled something rough in the back of his throat, but chose not to pick a fight with her for at least a little longer. Raven was appreciative of that at least, he could be kind of an asshole when he wanted. Damian shifted again, looking around at the minimalist decorations on her wall, as if he was trying to decipher who she was by art she tacked up.

He let go of a soft breath and hummed. "Most girls have pictures of boys on their walls."

Raven saw him staring at the print she had put up of Ophelia, drifting listlessly in the river until she succumbed to her own madness and death. She looked at the picture for a moment, admiring the muted colors and broken expression on Ophelia's face, before turning back to the kit. She pulled out a large bandage and an alcohol cleansing pad, setting them to the side as she inspected the rest of the kit.

"I remember during combat practice you telling me that I didn't seem like most girls." Raven set her hands in her lap and stared at him,her expression unreadable. The last thing she needed was for him to see a weakness in her. He would dig in his claws and she would never be free of his disdain.

But,in spite of herself, Raven found herself fascinated with his profile,and watched the angular lines of his face as he continued to stare at the print. Damian was classically beautiful in a way that made her chest tighten and her body ache for something she hadn't experienced yet. The sharp bones of his cheeks and jaw, and the strange soft fullness of his lips, it all bled together to create something that seemed almost... otherworldly.The late afternoon sun was spilling in through a crack in her curtains, lighting up a side of his body. He looked a bit like a fallen angel - handsome, but deadly in his own way.

Shaking her head free of those thoughts, she leaned closer to him. "Give me your hand. Let me see-"

Whatever spell he was under snapped in a second, and Damian looked back at her, his eyes narrowing. She watched him pull his hand back, his mouth turning up into an almost-snarl. "You don't actually think I'm going to let you take care of me?"

Raven felt the ice-cold shock ripple through her, draining her mind of all sensible thought. She blinked, trying to understand what he meant before everything seemed to snap like a rubber band pulled too tight.Her lips pressed into a thin line and she huffed out an annoyed breath, feeling a sharp spike of anger start to boil under the surface of her skin. She pitched forward, meeting his stare and swallowing breath to try and calm herself. "Well then why did you come into my dorm room with me? Because we should both be at class,and the rest of the school is going to talk if we're in here alone."

"Who cares?" He grumbled low in his throat and looked away, crossing his arms over his chest, wincing with the movement. Blood spilled fresh from his wound, but he ignored it. "Besides, I came in here to talk about what that idiot said to you."