Chapter 24: no
.....................

Raven groaned as she opened her eyes.

Wait, was she on her bed? No. She was on her carpet. And her whole left side ached.

Did I fall off the bed?

She knew she had a dream last night. A nightmare more like. Though she couldn't remember what it was about. Strange.

Why am I getting the feeling that it was about last night? No, couldn't have been. I wouldn't have fallen out of the bed if it was. She sighed as she got up from the floor.

"Was my room always this cold?" She rubbed her arms. She looked over at the thermostat and Lucy had climbed up on the dresser and started messing with it. Seth was on the floor looking up at her mischief. "Come on seriously?" She reached for Lucy and picked her up gently. She put Lucy down next to Seth and looked down at them condescendingly. "You two have been around Matt for too long." She adjusted the thermostat and left to take a shower. "I've been around Matt for too long."

The plane takes off tomorrow morning at 10. She hoped she'd get back in enough time. Eventhough she had six hours to sleep on the plane, she wanted to get some sleep. Maybe she could get Matt to drive back? Knowing him he'd probably do it.

When she got out she didn't bother to dry her hair. She just braided it up and threw it over her shoulder.

She decided to go business casual. Mostly because it was extremely warm outside. She put on a pair of roll-up jeans and a loose silk, button-up shirt. Not really thinking or caring she put on a necklace too.

She gave a long sigh.

Shouldn't she be happy? She was close to finishing the assignment!

She never had so many mixed feelings and conflicting emotions in her life.

What she did for Dick yesterday wasn't to gain their trust, even though that's what she wanted to believe. No, she did it because she cared about him. Again, another reason she can't kill him.

She looked at herself in the mirror.

"Why do the worst things in life have to be from your own doing?"

"Because you're the only one who knows what the worst thing is." Nightengale answered back to her. Her reflection...

"Am I going insane?"

"Maybe you are. Or maybe that's just what you want to think." Raven slammed the door as she left, causing Lucy and Seth to jump right onto the bed in fear.

"I'm not taking shit from my own reflection." She muttered to herself.

....................

"Guys, how 'bout this?" Gar slid over a brochure with three dolphins on it. The title read 'DOLPHIN TOUR!!!' In big yellow letters.

"Aww yeah! Can't get much better than cocktails and dolphins in Hawaii!" Vic shouted exitedly.

They were doing no work for the company whatsoever. They were really just looking at things for Hawaii.

"I've never seen a dolphin before." Star confessed.

"Me neither." Raven added.

"Really? Wow. Although I guess I've never seen a real one. The only one I've seen is Gar when we go to the beach." Dick commented.

"Wait, have none of us actually seen a dolphin other than Gar?" All eyes were on Gar and he just looked confused.

"I've seen a dolphin before." ... "OH you mean I was the dolphin! Right...heh..." she scratched his neck awkwardly. Vic threw his head back in frustration and Dick facepalmed. Raven and Star just smiled, one of them letting out a little laugh.

He is so dumb.

"In that case we should definitely go on that one. Look," Raven pointed to the brochure. "It says we get free lunch too."

Gar snatched the brochure from her hand and went nose deep.

"Wheres the phone number??" He asked hastily. His question initiated a repeat of reactions from the other four.

Stop smiling. Agh...it hurts my cheeks when I smile for too long. Wait, did I just– I'm a sad excuse for a person.

She looked around. They were all smiling. They were all happy. And Dick hadn't made a smart or bossy comment all day. He must have thought about what Raven said. She wished he hadn't.

Raven just sighed heavily, not realizing she let it out of her mouth.

"Huh? Rae you good?" Gar asked her.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"You two have gotten very close!" Star said out of the blue.

"Huh? Where did that come from?" Raven asked. Gar's face got really red.

"Looks like Gar agrees with you, Kori." Vic stated crossing his arms all smug.

"Shut up."

"Someone told me earlier that he saw you with Rachel sitting on the beach last night. Do tell, what could you have possibly been doing?" Star asked innocently. Dick and Vic had that smug look on their face again. Raven looked at Gar and exchanged looks with him.

Gar was obviously not going to say anything. So...

"He kissed me after he walked me to my car." She said stone faced. On the outside she looked fine, but on the inside she was snickering like a child.

"Rachel!" His cheeks grew even redder. Dick and Vic looked shell shocked, an Star looked pleased.

"Wow we were joking. I didn't think that was actually what happened."

...well shit.

Raven's cheeks were red now as well.

Later...

At the end of the day, Dick allowed the five of them to leave early. But Raven offered to stay behind and do some "extra work". She didn't know that Gar had stayed too. At this point she had gotten a small workspace for her to use on Gar's floor, since that was where she spent most of her time.

She got one last phone call before heading downstairs to the parking lot.

"Yes...yes I understand...no no please don't...wait–...no! You're a liar!" Little did she know that Gar had snuck up right behind her. The first thing he noticed was that she had tear tracks on her cheeks. "I'm an adult! I can speak to you however I want!...I don't care. I have more strength than you ever will. And I don't need to kill people to..." She trailed off. "Father, I...no. Stop trying to convince me!...don't ever call me again." She hung up the phone and held it close to her chest. It was silent for a moment, then Gar decided to break it a little.

"Rachel?" He put a hand on her shoulder and her breath hitched at his touch. She was suprised yet comforted by him being there.

"Gar? How long were you standing there?" She didn't bother to turn around.

"Long enough. Was that your dad?"

"As much as I hate him...when it comes to speaking directly to him, I'm so weak to him." She shut her eyes tightly as if she was trying to squeeze away the memories.

"Rachel, I frankly don't believe that. You are the strongest woman I've ever met."

"That's not what my father thinks." She sounded like she was about to cry. "I-I have to go Gar. See you tomorrow." She left without looking at him at all, tears welling up in her eyes that were blocked by her hair.

That Evening...

Today was rough, but Matt would be over any minute now and they'd head out. Hopefully. Realizing it would be a long drive she made sure he came earlier.

Ding dong!!

Right on que.

"Hey Rave. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be for a 10 hour drive."

"I know. We should get moving." He hurried.

"Yeah. Just let me grab a few things. Here," she tossed him her keys. "Start up the car for me."

"No prob Rave." He winked at her and left. She grabbed her coat, all the cash, and her purse. She took one last look in the mirror and growled at herself before leaving and locking the door.

When she got in the car the keys were already in the ignition.

"Thanks, Matt." She said as she buckled up. He nodded a 'your welcome' and they pulled out and headed for the highway.

Matt seemed to be in an ok mood, watching that cars speed by, endlessly searching for a luxury car. He usually was always the one driving so he never got a chance to look around.

Raven on the other hand, seemed tense. Scratch that, was tense. He could see it in her face and in her grip on the wheel. Although in a sports car, she was going 30 miles over the speed limit, 140.

"Raven you're going kinda fast aren't you?" She didn't answer. She just tightened her grip on the wheel and ended up going faster. Now she was going 150. People were going too fast to notice though.

She was in her own little world.

"Raven, I think you should slow down. What if we pass a cop?" Again, no response. She was definitely in her own head.

"Raven!" He shouted at her, making her jump and let go of the wheel. Luckily all cars have a temporary autopilot.

"Huh?"

"Raven, the autopilot is about to turn off!"

"Gah!" She slammed her hands back on the wheel and the car went back into her control.

"Raven why were you driving so fast?"

"Damn it go away!" She shouted.

"What?" Raven sighed.

"My father has been trying to contact me lately, sending me visions and messages. Earlier he found my number and called me. Now he won't leave me alone." She gritted her teeth.

"Are you sure you should be driving then?"

"I have to. You don't know where it is. We can't use GPS if thats what you're thinking.  It's not secure like my phone is. You drive on the way home, then we can–"

This won't work out like you want it to. You know it won't. I've said this so many times. Stop trying to fix everything, Raven.

She looked for an opening and pulled over.

Matt looked at her.

"Oh no."

"Shut up! You can't control me!" She slammed her fists down on the horn, panting in a panic.

"Raven!" Matt grabbed both her wrists and yanked her hands towards him, looking at her sternly. It took her a moment, but finally she said something.

"...you can drive..." Matt nodded.

They switched seats and Raven looked out the passenger window as Matt pulled the car back into traffic.

Raven kept mumbling to herself.

You take after me, Raven. You get enjoyment and gratification from seeing the bloodshed of others. You love to manipulate and use people. Don't deny it. You know I'm right. I am always right.

"You were never right. Ever. I'm not 16 anymore. You can't control what I do."

What about what happened just now? Hmm? I don't want you to drive. Now look, are you driving?

"..." She sat up straight in the seat and inhaled deeply.

"Seriously, Raven, are you ok?"

She clenched her fists in an unknown emotion. After which she answered slowly and ambiguously. She wasn't sure who she was replying to: "No."

A/n: hi guys I'm back! I just wanted to say real quick that if you didn't know, I took a break from wattpad. I had a lot of life problems going on but I'm ok now! Also, I'm going to post chapters every three days for this book until chapter 27 (or 28). So now you have a tiny schedule go rely on! Thanks for being patient with me guys!