Chapter 3

---

Austin

I glare at Jessica as Raven storms off.

“What is your malfunction?” I ask before I turn around to follow Raven. As I reach the doors to the cafeteria I feel someone grab the hem of my shirt.

“Why do you have to defend her so much?”

Her voice comes out pitiful and pouty. I turn to look at Jessica.

“Maybe because b*****s like you enjoy picking on her,” I roll my eyes and pull the hem of my shirt out of her hands. I didn’t want to deal with her or her boy toy any more than I have to.

“Please Austin, just ignore her. You know that I’m better,” she said softly, almost whining.

She looks up at me and flutters her light brown eyes, a pout on her lips.

What is her problem? Why does she have this attraction towards me? I made sure to make myself as invisible as possible. With a shake of my head, I walk away and head towards Ravens next class.

I look through the window of our math class and notice that she hasn’t arrived. I groan internally.

This girl is going to be the death of me.

I run to my locker and toss my bag inside. I head out of the front doors of the school and run towards her house. I really need to get a car for days like this. Her house is on the other side of town and I left my longboard at my apartment since Raven picked me up.

It takes me almost 20 minutes to reach her house. I’m covered in sweat, my long sleeve shirt soaked and clinging to my body.

Why do I wear these shirts?

I always question my sanity in my style choices for this job. Making myself seem as invisible as possible is the best way to protect Raven.

I walk up to Raven’s front door and pull out the spare key that Raven had given to me. Her house isn’t that large; a decent size living room that opens up into a dining and kitchen area, a guest bathroom, a set of stairs off the side of the dining area that leads up to the second floor. The second floor is basically a large bedroom with a bathroom attached.

I do a quick sweep of her house with no luck of finding her. Groaning I run my hand through my hair in frustration. She probably went to the forest. I’m not surprised about that though. She has had an interesting fascination with the forest since she has gotten out of the hospital.

Might as well shower real quick while I wait for her. I head to the guest bathroom . I chuckle as I notice a change of clothes hung up for me on the towel rack. I guess she got tired of me carrying around extra clothes and leaving them here. I probably have a full wardrobe here. I pull off my shirt and toss it in the hamper by the door.

I stop at the sink and inspect my reflection. My hair was standing on end from running my hands through it and my eyes were almost grey instead of the normal crystal color. I guess I need more sleep.

As I stand in front of the mirror, I notice that the scars across my chest are starting to fade. I trace one of the four lines that stretch across my left peck.

The scar is no wider than the width of my finger and still has a pink tinge to it. I wince slightly as the memory of how I got it flashes through my mind.

I walked into the hospital room, hood up and my head down. I didn’t want to be here. Why does this girl need me to watch her.?It’s not like she is going to go on a rampage anytime soon.

I looked up at the sound of people grunting and the scene in front of me stopped me cold.

The girl that I had been assigned to was awake, but she was going crazy. Her eyes were a gold color and they were looking wildly around the room like she was a trapped animal.

The doctors were surrounding her as she backed into one of the corners and she was lashing out, clawing at them. Something was off about her, she didn’t seem human. As I got closer I noticed what was off about her. Her skin had a dark ashy tinge to it, like she just got done rolling around in ashes, and her unruly red hair flowed in a wave around her face, as if it is fire.

She curled her lips away from her teeth and snarled at the doctors, her teeth were sharp. I walked towards her side, stepping around the doctors. I lowered my hood and looked her in her eyes as I crouched down.

“Raven, calm down. We are here to help you,” I said calmly as I moved closer to her.

Her hand snaked out in a flash and pain blossomed across my chest as her claws raked across my skin. I grunted and fell back in pain as I pressed my hand to the wound.

I looked back at Raven to see her eyeing the wound she just inflicted curiously. Her tongue flicked out to moisten her lips as her eyes grew hungry.

“Restrain her now,” One of their doctors shouted out.

Two of the men lunged forward and grabbed her wrists. She cried out in frustration as she fought against the men that were holding her. Her eyes were wide with fear and anger. Without thinking I lunged for her legs and pinned her feet so that she is unable to kick us.

I helped the doctors move her to the bed and restrain her. She was struggling against the restraints as hard as she could, biting at any hand that came within reach of her.

One of the doctors was able to get a sedative into her and she slowly relaxed. As she started to drift off her skin lightened and returns to normal. She looked like a normal girl when she was asleep, not like the feral creature that was in the corner.

I drop my hand from the scars and shake my head slightly. Raven doesn’t need to have that memory.