Raven's DarkNess | ✔

Chapter Eight

If there was ever a time I wanted Nessa dead, it was now. As I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror, I had to hold myself back from screaming profanities out loud. I was livid! I was devastated. When I agreed to change my appearance, this was just not what I signed up for.

I reluctantly agreed to short hair, not short blonde curly hair. My eyes widened as I held the hair, the frizziness overwhelming me. What am I supposed to do with this matted mess? I have never had hair that was not black before and especially not blonde or curly blonde. My hair never accepted dye. Every attempt failed. Curling it also failed. What has Nessa done?

Another thing that made me want to scream my lungs out was my eye colour. Why were my eyes black?

This girl in front of the mirror was definitely not Raven and it felt like I was having an identity crisis. I looked exactly like my mom! The curly blonde hair, sharp black eyes. I sighed deeply, not sure I liked the uncanny resemblance.

Well, at least my face still looks the same.

When I get my hands on that witch!

Another thing that stuck out was the millions of bruises that lined my otherwise flawless skin. It was purplish-blue gashes everywhere. I slipped out of the yellow dress I was wearing and saw more bruises on my belly and thighs. By the moon, even when I was severely beaten in training, I don't remember ever being bruised this badly! Did she have Logan beat me up or something?

I take off my bra and underwear, paying special attention to the two daggers I had hidden between my thighs held by thigh straps on either side. I also take out the one I had carefully hidden within my bra. When I search the bathroom for where to hide them, I am unable to find somewhere out of sight enough yet still easily accessible to me. My fingers wrap around my three daggers, thankful that they didn't stick out of my thighs when I was unconscious. I have no idea how they didn't, honestly.

I could have been caught.

Then I see it. The cabinet that hangs beside the mirror. I got to it and wedged two of my daggers behind the medium-sized hanging cabinet and the wall. The bottom of the cabinet was held by a horizontal wood attached to the wall while the top was held by a single nail. After I was done hiding two of my daggers, I checked to make sure they were secure enough, considering slashing the mattress instead and sliding everything inside. No, that's riskier, I thought.

As for the thigh straps and final dagger, I held them to my chest and thought harder. I am not letting go of this dagger. I call her Slash because she does a lot of Slashing and has done so for four years now. My trusty blade, Slash, which I got as a gift from Mak, the Leader after completing Training and graduating as the best trainee in my batch then becoming a fully pledged Assassin. I decide I'll hide Slash and the thigh straps in my hair before realising that oh yeah, I don't have hair anymore.

Thank you, Nessa!

They are both kept beneath the mat when I get into the water to bath. Tinley prepared a herbal bath for me. The water smells heavenly and there are even rose petals in it. She said the contents of the water would seep into my skin and heal my wounds. They better do that because there's just no way in hell that your girl's skin is gonna remain like this forever. No way in hell.

I sigh harder, submerging my head in the water and I feel every part of me start to relax. I haven't felt this relaxed in months. I don't know what Tinley put in the water but I need this kind of bath every single night. I make a mental note to ask as I set my head against the bathtub, feeling light.

I shut my eyes.

"Rochelle?!" Mommy screams at me, clasping her hands around my arm and slamming me into her. I started to scream too, my head hurting from spending hours on end crying. "Do you know how worried I have been because of you?"