Page 44 of The Raven
The Raven
I didn’t tellMasonthetruth. Thetruththatevery time I tuned into myraven,all I could see wasdarkness. It happened after we had sex. Before, I could see through her eyes as she flew high in the sky, looking forGrim. After, there was nothing.
Thedarknessremained the entire time he and I drove around the townlooking for any clue as toGrim’swhereabouts. Every time I checked in with her, all I could see was pitch black, and an unsettling realization sank into mybones.
Grim had her.
It was the only explanation.
Ifiguredit happened when I was too busy enjoying my last time beingintimate withMason. If I hadn’t been so distracted, Iwould’venoticedher warnings,would’venoticedthat hervisionhad been covered by a thick black veil.
Masonwas already fretting, so I kept the information to myself. If he’ddiscoveredthatGrimhad likelydiscoveredmy weakness, it would have been impossible to stop him from coming with me whenGrimeventually showed himself.
As it happened, I didn’t need toworry.
Helplessly, I watched from the shadows as Mason was led to a waiting car with his hands cuffed behind his back as he was driven away.
I wanted to go after him, but what could I do? He told me totrusthim, andthat he knew what he was doing, and that wasall I could do.Trusthim.Trustthat he’d be able to get himself out of the mess I’dlandedhimstraightin the middle of.
I guess one good thing came out ofMason’sunexpected incarceration; Ididn’t have toworryabout him while I had my showdown withGrim. If he were locked up,Grimcouldn’t hurt him. And by the timeMasonwasreleased,Grimwould be dead. I hoped.
I never really understood how I couldappearand disappear on a whim; Isupposed it was a ghost partytrick. As soon asMasonwasdrivenaway from his apartment, I vanished from where I loitered, reappearing outside my old childhood home.
Back to where it began.
Autumn leaves crunched under my boots as I walked across the yard towhere tall, metalbarriershad been erected around bothmineandMason’sold house.
A few years back, adeveloperhad bought them both, along with the fields atthe back whereMasonand Iusedtoplay. Rumor had it that thedeveloperwas going to knock down ourhousesand build a bunch of new homes, but for whateverreason, it never came to fruition, and ourhouseswere left abandoned.
As I slid through a gap in the barriers, memories began flashing in my mind. Christmases, birthdays, baking with my mom, and laughing with Nathan as we played ball. None of the happy memories included Grim.
I thought hehatedme from theminutewe firstmet. At the age of twelve,and being an only child, I was excited at the prospect of gaining anolderbrother. He was three yearsolderthan me, and I thought he’d become a protective big brother.
The reality was nothing like I’d imagined.
WhenNathanintroduced him,Grimhad looked at me with adeepscowl onhis face and disgust in his eyes. I couldn’t understand what I’d done wrong to earn his wrath or why he insisted on making my life a misery.
Until I turned fifteen. The very dayMasonleft, and while Ilayon my bedsobbing my heart out,Grimsnuck into my room. Catching me off guard, he flipped me onto my back andpinnedboth my arms above my head in one of his calloused hands.
“Now that cunt has gone, we can be together,”Grimhad said beforeslamming his mouth down onmine, his tongue invading my mouthdespitemy protests. He tasted of cigarettes, and when his hand roamed over my body, touching me in places I hadn’t even letMasontouch me, nausea churned in mystomach.
Despite struggling underneath him, he was too strong for me to buck him off, and he managed to rip my top down, exposing my breasts. I screamed and screamed, but he wouldn’t stop.
Before he could go any further, though, Nathan arrived home and heard my distressed cries. He burst into my room and yanked Grim off me, punching his son in the face.
My vision had blurred from all the tears gathered in my eyes, but I could make out the bulge in Grim’s pants, and it hit me how close I’d come to being raped by him.
That was when Nathan disowned him. He kicked Grim out and told him that if he ever came near me again, Nathan would bury him alive. The last words Grim ever spoke to his father was to tell him to watch his back.
Yet, he’d been looking at me when he said it.
After,Nathanencouraged me to go to the police and reportGrim, but Ididn’t. I was too ashamed, thinkingGrimwouldsomehowspin the story to make it look like I hadledhim on. By that time,Grimhad already gotten away with several crimes, and I knew he’d find a way out of my accusations. In the end, I sworeNathanto secrecy, making him promise not to tell my mom.
I didn’t tell anyone what happened. Not evenMason.
In the years thatfollowed,Grimkept his distance, but I knew he was outthere, watching me. Waiting for a time to strike. He’d park under the trees near my school, far enough away that I could only just make him out. When I startedcollege, he wouldappearon campus, disappearing as quickly as he’darrived, and making me think I was losing my mind.
Aftercollege,Nathanhelped me buy my flowershop, andwithina month ofopening it, someone broke in and smashed the place up. Break-ins and criminaldamage to myshopbecamea regular occurrence. I could never prove who was responsible, but I always knew.
