Devil Herself

Chapter 5

After two hours, Raven was at her last bag with her makeup and hair supplies inside. She put the bag on the chair beside the vanity mirror and organized everything into the drawers and on the table.

When she finally finished, she fell backward onto the bed with exhaustion. She had set the dog beds beside the door and the food bowls beside them so Ash and Chester would be in her room at night. Her room was finally complete with everything organized and put where they belong. She was ready to fall asleep until there was a knock on her door.

"Come on in," she called to the person at the door. The door opened and in walked Chris. She sat up and looked at him. "Hey Chris, what's up?"

"We all just finished unpacking," he explained. "Sofia wants to drive into town to grab some take out, you wanna come?"

"Sure, I just need to change," she answered. He nodded and left to wait with the others. 

Raven quickly leaped out of bed and to her closet, grabbing her black ripped jeans, dark red tank top and black Puma sneakers. She quickly changed, brushed back her hair into a ponytail and headed downstairs to the others. Everyone else had already changed after unpacking and were ready to go. Raven turned to Ash and Chester.

"You boys stay here, we'll be back soon," she told them. They both went to different corners and lay down to wait. She smiled and looked at the others. "So, let's go!" 

They all laughed excitedly and headed out to Sofia's car.

"Shotgun!" Russ called as he hopped in beside Sofia.

"Oh come on, Russ," Chris laughed. "I get shotgun coming back then!"

Raven laughed at the boys' foolishness but didn't complain. She was happy to be around people her own age for a change. 

After a 30 minute drive, they were in a local town with a large number of stores. By that hour, it was pretty quiet with a small number of people on the street. 

"While we're here, we can pick up stuff for in the house," Russ said. "Why not split up? I'll go with Sofia to get the takeout, you two go to Target for groceries."

"Sounds good to me," Chris agreed. "What do you think Raven?"

"I'm happy with that plan," she replied. After agreeing to meet back at the car in an hour, the four split up into the two groups. 

"While we walk, we can get to know each other," Raven said to Chris, looking at him.

"I was just thinking the same thing," he laughed. "So, where are you from?"

"Las Vegas. My dad runs a big casino there, The Devils Playground."

"Devils Playground? Kind of a weird name, huh?"

"Some people believe gambling is a sin and an act only done by sinners and criminals, since most sinners or criminals are believed to go to Hell, why not name it after the ruler of Hell?"

Chris chuckled a bit. "True. I grew up in Washington D.C. with my dad. He's a carpenter and owner of Joe and Sons Carpentry. He taught me all about the family business and how to be a carpenter. But that's not what I want to be."

"Really? What do you want to be then?"

"An elementary school teacher, I love teaching people about different things."

"I want to be a publisher or performer," Raven said. "But performing is harder than it looks."

"What kind of performing? Acting, musician?"

"Singing."

"You must give us a demonstration someday," Chris teased.

Raven laughed. "Maybe I will."

Soon, they reached Target and headed inside to buy groceries. They picked up the basics, food, drinks, cleaning supplies and other necessities. By the end, they had four bags full of stuff and started walking to where they parked the car.

While they were walking, they decided to take a shortcut through an alleyway which would leave them just across the road from the parked car. While walking through the alley, four silhouettes came into view halfway through the alleyway. Raven looked up at Chris.

"Should we turn back and go around?" she asked nervously.

"No," he answered. "Just ignore them, if we don't bother them, they shouldn't bother us."

Raven nodded a bit and looked at the silhouettes. All of their auras were harsh and negative, none of them having a good background with the law. But she couldn't see what they did wrong.

Raven and Chris kept walking, holding the groceries a bit tighter in their hands as they got closer. Soon they could make out the four silhouettes as four men, a bit older than the two. They all turned to look at the two college students walking towards them. 

"Lookie here, boys," one said. "Two kids who don't know where they're going. You two lost?"

"Not lost at all sir," Chris answered. "Just taking a shortcut to our friends."

"Oh really? Well, you took a shortcut through the wrong alley."

"Look, we don't mean any trouble, gentlemen," Raven said. 

"Trouble?" Another said. "She's trying to say we look like trouble, guys, isn't that very rude for a lady?" He chuckled, walking towards Raven, towering over her. "Wrong words lady."

As he raised his hand, Raven remembered the way her father hit her before Lucifer took her in. The shadow cast over her, the yelling, the impact of the glass on her face. As the man's hand came down, she saw it as her fathers, and before he could hit her, she caught his wrist. The look on his face was priceless. The next one was even more so. Raven glared up at him, her eyes flashing red at him so only he would see them.

"Wrong move, pal," she said as she threw him into the wall. She saw the look on Chris's face. "My dad taught me Jiu Jitsu twice a week since I was 12. Got the brown belt last month."

"Not bad," he said as he caught another guys fist. "Blackbelt in karate."

"Impressive."

"Hey!" One of the men shouted. "Enough talk. You'll regret your choices today."

Raven and Chris smirked as the remaining three men charged them. The two split up, Raven sprinting upstairs to a roof. Two chased her while one stayed with Chris. 

As Raven got to the top, a gate blocked off the roof with a small gap between it and the top of the barbed wire fence. Raven climbed the gate and slipped between the small gap, landing on the concrete roof. She ran ahead to the center as the two chasing her broke down the gate. She stopped running and turned to face the two. 

"You shouldn't have run, girl," one said. 

"Oh trust me," she replied. "I'm right where I want to be."

The two ran at her at the same time. Raven grinned to herself as she crouched down. When the two were close enough, she swung her leg, tripping them both and making them fall. When they hit the ground, one pulled out a Glock 19 pistol. Raven was quick to twist his arm and disarm him, pointing the gun at them instead. Both of the men stayed still as she stood there with the pistol.

"Now, gentlemen," Raven teased. "I suggest you both get outta here. You don't wanna see what I can do."

At that, both men made a run for the stairs and ran for it. Raven chuckled to herself and strolled down the stairs to see Chris had knocked out his opponent and was sitting on the ground waiting for Raven while casually eating a candy bar. She laughed and grabbed two of the bags.

"So how did you scare them into running?" Chris asked. 

"One pulled a gun," she answered. "I disarmed him and pointed. Idiots didn't realize the safety was on."

Chris broke into a fit of laughter as the finally got to Russ and Sofia in the car. 

"What took you guys so long?" Russ asked.

Chris and Raven looked at each other and smiled. "Got held up at the store," Raven said. "Long lines."

They all smiled, got in the car, and started heading back to the house.