B.O.E.- Chapter 21: Raven

 Raven felt the world spin but wasn’t sure if she’d moved a muscle. She became aware of the soft mattress and pillows before the blanket suddenly grew uncomfortably warm. She shoved off the blanket but the world spun even faster. She took a deep, slow breath to force her eyes open and stared up at the ceiling for a minute. She was covered in sweat and moving felt like gravity itself was pushing on her. Still, she forced herself to slowly roll over the side of the bed to stand and make her way to the bathroom; unable to walk in a straight line.

Stupid, stupid, Raven, her mind scolded as her temples began to pound. She locked the door and quickly made her way to the sink. She wasn’t sure she could blame the hangover for her sore thigh muscles or her knees. She noticed the red mark on her neck as her mind suddenly remembered why she was so sore:

 

His hands pushed her face down onto the carpet, her arms still secured behind her and her ankles separated on the brace so she couldn’t kick. “I can’t forget your collar.”

Her insides froze as he fastened the thin leather strip around her neck before grunting as he pulled her up slightly with it. She gasped in air before her weight tightened the strap further, cutting off her air.

“Is that too tight?” he whispered behind her.

Her insides began screaming warnings at her. She tried to remain perfectly still but he jerked his grip and the strap tightened again. She let out a garbled shout before he loosened his hold, letting her fall onto the carpet again. She dragged in air before he yanked her up again.

“You feel that, Raven?” he growled behind her. “This piece of leather means you belong to me.”

She grunted as her cheek hit the carpet again. She panted for air and let out a soft whimper of relief… right before he pulled her up again. She felt her body begin to panic struggle before he let her hit the carpet again.

“Please…” she gasped for air.

“Now answer me,” he growled. “You left your apartment... The one I've been paying for. Where have you been staying?”

He yanked her up again and his lips tickled her ear. She let out a garbled whimper as her lungs screamed for air again. She heard herself gurgle in response before he let her go again. She panted; her eyelids growing heavy.

“At a safe house… had to leave... enemies found me… I lost their trail,” she replied breathlessly.

“Is that why you asked me for extra eyes on Anise?” he asked and she nodded. His grip tightened on the strap around her neck and she felt the world begin to fade. “You’d better not be lying to me, Raven.” Kurt released her and she dragged in a last breath before being swallowed by the dark.

 

With a shiver, she focused on the faucet and felt her stomach suddenly lurch. Clamping her mouth shut, she dived for the toilet and managed to open it before she heaved. When she finally stopped, she flushed and fell back on her ass on the cold tiles, panting.

That asshole, she crawled toward the sink and gripped the counter top to pull herself to her feet. I'm going to kill him slowly. She watched the water flow into the drain. Then she turned it off and moved to the shower.

A few minutes later, she dried off and pulled on clean clothes. She needed to get down to the kitchen before the giants did. She hoped they had the ingredients she needed for her personal hangover cure elixir. Hasn’t failed me yet, she thought as she slipped on a comfortable pair of sneakers and walked out of her room.

She made her way down the same flight of stairs as last night, opting not to banister slide this time. She turned at the bottom and eyed the door she’d entered. She tiptoed closer and pressed her ear to it. She could hear deep snoring from inside. Did they fall asleep in there? Are they hung over? She wondered as she tiptoed away toward the dining room. The kitchen had to be connected to it, right? She made her way to the swing door that the servant had taken their empty plates before serving seconds and entered a giant kitchen with dark wood cabinets, grey marble counter tops and stainless-steel appliances. She noticed every inch of it was spotless as Luther was chopping away across the island in the middle. She let the door close behind her but before it made a sound, the servant whirled around and lowered his knife.

“Good afternoon, miss Raven. I’m afraid you’re a bit early for breakfast,” he greeted with a soft smile. “Would you like me to make you something or would you rather wait for the Masters?”

Raven shivered at the word and waved his offer away, “I just wanted to make a quick blended drink.”

“Not a problem,” he moved to a cupboard and pulled out a blender for her. “Would you like me to assist?”

“It’s fine. I got it,” Raven shook her head as she neared the servant, eyeing him when he stared at her for a second longer.

Luther quickly turned away and continued chopping. Raven let her eyes wander over him, trying to figure out something about him but her groggy mind wouldn’t cooperate. She began to reach for the fridge when she glanced at what he was cutting. Then she eyed the other ingredients he had laid out and her arm dropped.

“Something wrong, miss?” he intoned, turning to her.

Raven kept her eyes on the cutting board, “Are you human?”

“No, miss,”

Raven met his grey eyes and masked her expression, “Can you read minds?”

Luther chuckled heartily, refocusing on his chopping. “What gave you such an idea?”

“I came here for those same ingredients,” she indicated the board.

“These are merely items for breakfast, miss,” he smiled softly.

Raven crossed her arms and regarded him. “What exactly were you going to make with chopped tomatoes, ginger, avocado, oranges, spinach, nuts, coconut water and bananas?”

He froze and she could tell his mind was working.

Loaded oatmeal, she thought and quickly ran through a few other wrong answers.

“A loaded oatmeal, miss,” he turned to her with wide eyes when she smirked.

Lying to me right now isn’t going to work, she thought.

He sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly. “I would prefer if that fact remained between us, miss Raven.”

Raven picked up the cutting board and began pouring the ingredients into the blender according to her recipe. She capped it and blended the ingredients together into a thick red shake. She needed a way to strain the chunks and glanced around to see Luther already holding a small mesh strainer and a glass over the sink. She poured the juice into the strainer and set the blender back in place as he handed her the glass. She still didn’t answer as she sipped the shake with a sigh.

Finally, she met his patient gaze and nodded. “I’ll keep it quiet as long as you never share whatever you read from my mind and let me help you with breakfast after today.”

He grinned, visibly relieved, and nodded. “I have misjudged you for the second time, miss. I hope you will accept my deepest apologies.”

Raven shrugged, sipping her drink and feeling a lot better. “Whatever.”

“Would you like me to prepare more ingredients for you, miss?” Luther asked.

“You know how I spent my night, don’t you?” Raven asked and he nodded. “Do vampire’s also get hangovers? Are you a vampire?”

“I am not a vampire but yes, they are susceptible to a hangover if they indulge too much,” Luther nodded.

“I should make this for them. It’s partially my fault they’re still knocked out,” Raven sighed and he chuckled.

“I am sure they will be most appreciative,” he began to chop more tomatoes as she finished her glass.

Together they prepared three more glasses and he set them on a tray.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go deliver it? I could stay here and do the dishes since you cut the ingredients,” Raven argued as he handed her the tray.

“This is your invention and idea, miss Raven,” he shook his head. “You needn’t fear them for they surely fear you.”

Raven heard herself laugh and she turned to the swing door just as it opened. Her eyes zeroed in on a pair of golden eyes and froze, the chill in her spine making her smile fade. Goddamit, she cursed angrily as she and Isaac kept eye contact.