Between Love And Hate

Chapter Thirty-six

Jace didn't drop his gun and Raven didn't move from her position either. Raven's cynical smile was still plastered on her face, she totally looked like the joker.

Deep down the bottom of Jace's guts, he knew he was scared of the look Raven was giving him. But granted, he still had the upper hand, since he still had the gun. Not for long though.

Bending down so she could feel the back of her boots, her eyes never leaving Jace for even a second, Raven pulled out her pen knife. The kind people used in movies and you'd think they were extremely cool.

"See? I have got a weapon too. And trust me, Jace, in all my travels, I've learnt well. I never miss a target. You don't want to become one. Long story short, I'll drop my weapon, you drop yours." Raven said, dropping the penknife on the floor and kicking it far away.

Jace did the same. Kicking his gun far out of reach. Thinking Raven had let her guard down for a second, Jace lunged at her. She moved aside, only stretching her leg in front of him so he could fall down.

He got up fast and attacked Raven again. But Raven had the upper hand this time. Picking a hand full of dust, she threw it in his face. Temporarily blinded and unable to see, Jace stood still.

Picking up a metal bar, Raven hit the back of Jace's head with it, watching with glee as he grabbed his head in pain.

"You want Janelle, don't you? Well, fight to get her!" Raven roared.

Another blow to the back of his legs sent him down to his knees. "You little brat!! wait till I get you, you little piece of shit!" Jace cussed.

Raven dropped the metal bar, grabbed a fist full of Jace's hair as she slammed her knee in his gut. She gave him blow after blow, continuously until she was certain she'd destroyed his face. Her hands, bloody.

She left him for a second and went in search of his discarded gun.

"It was so stupid of you to think I would play fair. I always thought you were stupid, and I was right."

She found the gun and a bonus, her discarded penknife. She took small precise steps towards Jace who was struggling to get up.

Noticing his efforts, she decided she'd put a stop to his pain. Raven stabbed the knife into Jace's left foot, leaving him stuck to the ground as he screamed his guts out.

She chuckled softly, she felt nothing, saw nothing. "I swear, if you ever return back here or ever go after Janelle or any other girl again. I'll give you a painful death."

Jace spat at her. Trying his best to ignore the pain in his left foot, he used whatever strength he had left to pull the penknife out. He threw it away.

Slapping Raven across the face in a rush with so much force, she fell down. The small device in her ear made a weird scratchy sound, it irritated her so much in a few seconds, she pulled it out and threw it away.

Jace gave her a hard kick on her ribs, sending her half across the warehouse into the old debris packed in the corner. Feeling the gun still in her left hand, she raised it high and pulled the trigger.

Janelle shook with fear. She'd seen everything go down, or maybe most of it.

As Raven walked towards the bed she was lying on, she could hear the police sirens going off from outside the warehouse, but she didn't care anymore.

-They came a little too late. She thought as she untied a crying Janelle. Before they became so close, Raven never fancied hugs or people embracing themselves. But now, when Janelle threw her arms around her, Raven understood completely, what it felt like, the comfort and love that could come in one hug.

"Are you okay? Did... Did he hurt you at all?" Raven asked, her voice laced with fear.

"Yes...no. No, he didn't touch me. I'm sorry I left. I thought I'd just go away without putting you in trouble." Janelle managed to say, between sobs. The only evident hurt on her, were the bruises from the rope Jace had tied her with.

"Well that's good news... But, I'm just hurt you didn't trust me enough. I told you I'd be with you and I was never going to break it. D'you want to go home or somewhere else?" Raven asked again, her voice filled with uncertainty and unseen pain.

"You didn't kill him, right?" Janelle asked, ignoring the question. Raven moved her head from side to side, a clear picture of No. She thought about how Janelle wasn't willing to let another man's life be wasted because of his mistakes.

"I missed his heart. The pedophile will live." Raven said. "So, on my offer about going somewhere else?" She continued.

Regardless of the fact that Janelle had been crying, she nodded her head. "Alright," Raven said, breaking the hug so she could wipe Janelle's tears, "Let's get you ice cream from your favorite shop and then visit the park. Okay?"

"Okay." Janelle answered. "Great, it's a date then!" Raven exclaimed. She got up immediately, not wanting to spend another minute in the warehouse where she'd shot a man for her own safety.

She picked Janelle up, despite the pain in her side, and marched out of the warehouse, ignoring the police officers and the paramedics when they tried to check on them or ask what had happened.

She only stopped so they could give their statements and to tell Barnes and Jones to let both their parents know they were going to be out late. She didn't care to know if Jace would live. She wished she had hit his heart instead.

First, they were at the ice cream shop. Raven got ice cubes to massage Janelle's bruised wrist with. And after ice cream, they took another drive to the old children's park where they first met.

"Do you find it odd? Whenever we're out here, it feels like home." Raven stated, walking towards the old swing she really liked.

"I actually don't find it odd. This is where I first met you. I was standing over there," Janelle said, pointing a finger at the park bench at the far end of the park sitting under a big tree.

"And you were right here, next to this swing. I so badly wanted to talk to you. But it didn't do any good." Janelle concluded, sitting on the swing and moving her legs back and forth, slowly.

"It did good, Jae. I'm right here with you now. I think at the time, I was a spoilt little brat who got everything they wanted. Unfortunately, you made me feel like I couldn't get everything exactly. And I think you taught me the biggest lesson in life. I learned to appreciate everything I had after that. It was one of the reasons why I never talked to you. You reminded me of the fact that I could never really get everything." Raven said, squatting to pick little blades of grass.

"But then, you want me, right?" Janelle asked out of the blue.

"I think that's very obvious, Jae. I want you, yes, but in more ways than I can explain." Raven answered.

"Jace Hemingway will never return, right?" she asked again as she went back and forth on the swing.

"I promised him a cruel unhappy death if he was to ever..." Raven got bored of just squatting and picking blades of grass. Instead, she got up, put a stop to Janelle's swinging.

She held the smaller girl in her arms while they went back and forth with the wind, and even though the swing was old, it still carried both their weight.

While Janelle slept peacefully in her arms, Raven forgot what pain felt like as she stole small kisses from her.

They were going to be alright again...