Ravenna

Chapter 16

    I promise I'm not going to lose the battle with the demons inside my head...

      
            "Hey! Raven! Hey!" I hear the repeated yells meant for me but don't budge as I unlock my locker and pull it open. I sigh, trying to maintain my balance as I grabbed the books I needed for the first few periods.

             "Raven?"

        "I am so not in the mood for whatever you have to say..."

         I turn and catch an oddly familiar guy beside me. A memory flashes by and I recall him from the day I got detention. He was the one with Klaus. In the car. He was the blonde.

           "Do I know you?" I still make it my point to ask since I didn't even have his name.

          He gives out a nervous laugh as he fiddles with the strap of his shoulder bag. "Um...probably not...no, I don't think so,"

      He swiftly clears his throat and focuses his attention on me, even more seriously now.

           "I'm Shawn."

           "And....apparently you know my name already." I give a tight smile.

            "Uh...yeah, you kind of have a reputation around." He tells me.

           He goes around, fiddling with the different objects he can find. Touching his hair, twisting up his tie. Was he nervous? If he was, why the hell was he even talking to me?

           "I wonder why." I smirk shutting my locker.

             "Listen, um...I know you don't really know me or anything but you're familiar with Klaus, right?" He raises a brow and I stare at him, hoping I'm wearing my best confused expression at the moment.

         "Did he put you up to this?"

        "What?! No. Actually, sort of, he actually doesn't know I'm talking to you," Shawn answers. "But I kind of need to talk to you about him. Something's up with him and he's been all moody and off. I was wondering if you could help me talk to him."

       I slam my locker shut with a loud bang before fully turning to Shawn once again. "Why the hell should I do that?"

        "Honestly, you have no reason to. I'm just really worried about him and he seems to take an attraction to you and I just figured...he'd talk to you instead and when he does, maybe you could help tell me and I could find a way to help him." He rushes his last words and I narrow my eyes at him.

           He cared about his friend. It was intriguing. It was really rare to come across true friends. Most people are so fake nowadays.

             "Where's he?"
 
          "He's not in school." Shawn swiftly replies and I also hit my head against the row of lockers.

         Playing hooky.

          
           Once I've gotten Klaus' address from Shawn. I try my best going into stealth mode just to get off school grounds. It wasn't actually that difficult. I thought I'd have to had pull the classic fire alarm but thankfully, the need for that didn't arise.

           When I get to the address Shawn had shared with me, I had to double check because the house was insanely...damn. You don't realize how rich spoilt kids are until you get to their houses...or should I say mansion? Skipping all the fancy descriptions of how incredible his house was because I don't want to feel awful greedily eyeing his family properties, I press the buzzer beside his gate, awaiting a reply from someone. This was going to be a long day.

      .Niklaus.

         I snort, completing my sketch of the grim reaper, hopefully giving it the dark aura that surrounds it. Just how it's supposed to be. I aggressively toss my pencil away when the awful thought crosses my mind once again. I spin around in my chair, launching myself onto my bed. I did not intend on shutting everyone out or skipping a day of school just to be stuck wearing sweats, playing video games, ordering multiple boxes of pizza and sodas and sketching. I just felt utterly down. Unable to actually think of anything else except the sadness that was creeping into my life.

         I get off my bed to get to my TV when I'm stabbed by a pin on the floor. I cuss out, making a mental note to clean up my room as soon as my phase was over. A sound suddenly grabs my attention and I look over to my desktop to find that's the alarm for the gate. Just in front, Raven stands, arms crossed, wearing a bored expression as she awaits a reply. She repeatedly presses on the buzzer like it's some sort of toy now. I ignore all thoughts on how she could have gotten my house address as a smile slips on to my face at her frustrated expression. And that's when I know...my phase might be over sooner than I expected.

    .Ravenna.

       I try my best to push down my anger as I press on the buzzer once again. The gate suddenly shifts open and my eyes widen in surprise. Pete knows how many time is the charm. I swiftly catch a glance of Klaus walking towards me. He's in grey sweatpants and his hair is the messiest I've ever seen it. He looks tired and worn out and in desperate need of some company and good night sleep. But as he approaches me, I see how he tries to hide it all, how his infamous dimpled smile came on and how he acted like nothing was going on. But I see through it all. I see how broken he is and how his body doesn't know how to process shit. I see through it because I'd once been like this.