Friday 11 October 2013

Chapter 37 - Raven O' Connor



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The shock was short lived and Raven's smile slowly dissolved as the twins gathered before the bed shielding Marina. He was offended by the notion. Surely if he meant her harm he would've done so already. He watched Jane touch the pillars of the bed no doubt drawing a protection ward over it before linking hands with Julie and joining in the chant. It was the same one they used on the vampire that night in Rosalie's room:

'To be protected from you,
This magic charm we do,
With these words we banish thee,
For you to let us be,
To be protected from your harm,
With light we now seal this charm’

'Marina, look away!'

A warm light spread into the very corners of the room and the last thing the twins saw was Raven shaking his head as if he expected it and then everything went white…
Julie let go of Jane's hand to shield her eyes, but this time it lasted a lot shorter than that night. With her hand still in the air, she blinked to see Raven's hand also in the air; waving. Did he just wave their spell away? Jane's mouth fell open when she saw that the spell that delivered much damage the last time they used it, didn't even scratch him. 'Are we done with this?', Raven said lowering his hand.
Both twins took a step back, behind the bedposts. Did it fail because Rosalie wasn't there? All sorts of questions went through them as they moved closer to Marina. It wasn't until they heard her gasp, that they noticed Raven's eyes were red. The spell obviously didn't have the desired effect, but it didn't do nothing.
'What are you?', Julie shrieked.
'A vampire, like you said', Raven answered, crossing his arms once more; his blood-red eyes fixed on her.
'That spell would've damaged a vampire. I saw it myself…', she shrieked again.

'Please. You think that spell would work on me. Me? The one that taught it to your grandmother in the first place? Yes,-', he continued seeing the surprised look on their faces, '-she knows who and what I am. Maybe you should take a chapter from her book on handling things that have nothing to do with you'
'You lie!'
'Of course! I just happened to have spent 2 days under the roof of one of the greatest witches I know and she had no clue of who I am. You are right, that sounds more believable'
'What do you want Raven, if that's even your real name'
'It is, and I want nothing'
'You lie!'
'You really need to start telling me when it is that I am not lying, Julie', his red eyes all but cutting through her.
'Why should we believe you? You've lied about everything. What you are, the amnesia…'
'Perhaps someone-', Raven's eyes shifted to where Marina was looking at him from behind the twins, 'will recall that I never said anything about amnesia. It was the way in which I answered that you concluded that. My only fault lies in that I never corrected you and for that I apologize'

Marina said nothing and just looked at him. This was all so much to take in. The fact that vampires exist; the fact that her boyfriend was one and that she just witnessed magic for the second time in her life. Anxiety and confusion were the main emotions running through her where the most natural one in a situation like this, namely fear, was absent.

'I'll ask again. What do you want Raven?', Julie held on.
'World peace', he answered flashing a full set of teeth; fangs included. Julie had enough of him and was getting ready to strike once more. Whether it would hit or not was a chance she was willing to take. Her hand was already halfway up when a chuckle from behind halted her. Even Raven's teasing abruptly left him and he frowned at Marina who hastily lifted her hand to her mouth. Did that really come out? She looked at Julie with a face asking if it really wasn't as funny as it sounded.
'Seriously Marina? Can you really not grasp the danger of this situation? The danger you're in?'
'I'm not in danger-'

Raven snarled at those words, making them all look up. 'What makes you so positive?'

Marina sighed and took a deep breath. What she was about to do was plain crazy and quite stupid taking in the situation, but she felt like she needed to prove a point. She moved from behind Jane, despite the latter trying to hold her back, and slowly walked towards Raven. He snarled at every step she took in his direction. 'You didn't turn into a vampire today Raven. You were already one when you were brought to me. And despite the evidence before me, I still find it a bit hard to believe. In the last few weeks there were plenty of opportunities for you to hurt me… but you didn't… Instead you let me get close to you'

To her the person that she came to know in the last few weeks was Raven, not the being her cousins were describing. She still didn't know all that much about him, but those few weeks they spent together at least gave him the right to explain himself. Marina halted in front of him. For some reason he seemed larger than she remembered. 'I'm not afraid of you Raven! It makes no sense, but I'm not', Marina said lifting her hand to touch his face even though everything screamed at her not to.


'I'm not afraid of you Patrick. It makes no sense and I know I should be, but I'm not'

A flashback hit him about the very exact scene before him; a different raven-haired beauty caressing his face. But as warm as that flashback was, it quickly changed into a not so pleasant one where that same raven-haired beauty lay still on a carpeted floor. Her skin whiter than before…
It was that particular image that made Raven pull back before Marina's hand could touch him. He moved away from her and sat down on the small stairs next to the wardrobe. 'You should… She made the same mistake and look what happened!'
She? Who's she? Marina had been so caught up in caring for him, helping with the, now proven fake, amnesia to even stop and consider there being someone in his life. A girlfriend? A wife? She felt a twinge of jealously at the mention of another woman, but decided not to jump to conclusions. His words did let her to believe that that person was either dead or missing.

'She?', Marina said kneeling in front of him, 'your girlfriend?'
Raven looked at her, but said nothing. 'Your wife?', she felt a bit more. This time he didn't need to answer, because the vacant look his eyes said it all. A wife. The jealousy reared its ugly head back in all Marina could do was sigh. It was either that or break something and she was fond of everything in her room.

'Will you tell me about it?'
Her question brought his eyes back into focus and he frowned at her, 'To what end?'
'I want to know about you. About your life before you were brought to me and… about the vision Julie saw'. Raven squinted his eyes at her wondering why she would want to know about all of that. No one knew about his life apart from his family. It's not something he freely shared… with anyone!

'Marina, perhaps you should keep some distance… the red in his eyes is starting to worry me!
'Despite the fact that you only just attacked me, I still like you Julie! Do not make me change my mind', Raven answered in a voice so low it was downright scary, but that emotion was still absent in Marina. She straightened up a bit, blocking his view of Julie. She was not about to let anyone change the subject; not when she managed to get this far already. Marina said nothing; just looked at him attentively awaiting his decision.
It dawned on him that she was right in the middle. On one side her cousins, on the other him still needing to clarify on his part. He was this close to losing her and that was one thing he couldn't take. …not again! Raven nodded and gave in. He would tell her his story even if that could push her out the door all the same.

'Very well then'

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'My name is Patrick Raven O' Connor. I am the youngest son of my father, born and raised on the plains of old Ireland. My family was the only distributor of wheat and bamboo at the time and you could say we were pretty well off. But after a while my father started getting weak from unknown causes and we sought help from the medicine man. A local witch-doctor, but now that I think of it, he was more witch than doctor. His ritual included my father and all the sons born from my mother, thus blessing us with this curse'

'Blessed with a curse?', Marina frowned.

'Blessed- for it gave us strength, speed and stamina to work in the fields and continue our business. Cursed- because of the bloodlust. The ritual he did required for us to drink the blood of a hunted animal, mixed with the blood of the witch we later learned, creating a need for it should the weakness return. Vampires he called us; after the blood-drinking bats he had encountered during his many dream-walks. Naturally we called him insane when he warned about controlling the bloodlust. Why on earth would we want to partake in that nasty ritual again?

It was a rude awakening that came in the form of great sorrow and pain. As warned, my father lost control and attacked my mother and we knew what the man said was true. We searched for him to undo the evil he had bestowed upon us, but he was nowhere to be found. My mother died shortly after that… Shame and guilt washed over my father and it drove him insane. Every day he spend in the house they built together it got worse. He began feeding on everything that moved; chickens, cows… and the villagers! We were able to cover the tracks, but not for long. The villagers started panicking because of a beast in the woods and no matter what was said, they were afraid. There were many hunting sessions that came up empty and they switch over to accusations of witchcraft, resulting in innocents being burned at the stake. We made the decision to leave. Father's insanity reached a point where he no longer recognized us as his sons and tried to attack us as well. We restrained him with shackles and starved him out. Killing him wasn't an option, not just because he was our father, but because he had already tried it himself after our mother died and it didn't work.

The attacks would stop if we left, of course, so we refrained from feeding for two weeks to let all calm down and not make it obvious that we were the ones. After that we spread the news that our father had died as well and that we would leave that place after the burial'

'You pretended to bury him to convince the villagers?', Marina asked.
'It was not pretend. We did bury our father; next to our mother. The starvation made him weak and a vampire that weak goes into a comatose state'
'Is he still there?'
'I believe so, yes! We have not returned since. My brothers and I vowed to keep our bloodlust in check even if it killed us; and by the time we reached a new world, the place of new beginnings, we had grown quite adept in it. That new world, you know now as New Orleans, was a big stretch of land with only a few houses. We blended in fairly quick and with our gift of strength we helped make the town  flourish. We gained a new name… the builders. A new profession with a new life. However, when my brothers and I stopped aging in the first few years of adulthood, we had to come up with a plan yet again, to keep the people from noticing; so we left. Waiting for years and years to pass, basically for generations to die off, so that we could return pretending to be look-a-like cousins or whatever was needed as long as they believed; and believed they did. The O' Connor name was included in some books as founders, but nothing official'

'I thought the French founded New Orleans', Julie said, thinking back to her history lessons.
'More funded than founded! The resources to build came from them, but the man-power, or vampire-power in this case, came from us. After that, it did make it harder to pass of as distant family members with everyone knowing who we were, but somehow we managed.

One year, we returned to find a new establishment they called a high institute for learning. Something equal to a college in these days. Due to our appearances, we were able to pass as students and were accepted into the institute. It was quite a memorable experience; even more thanks to our family's name, although my younger brother Calum would most likely disagree. He wasn't very popular with the girls next door. They had separate institutes for the boys and girls of course, but they were next to each other so we could still communicate with them over the concrete wall. It was so high, we could only see each other from the chin up…
That was when I saw her- a beauty with sun-kissed skin and hair as black as coal. She walked by the wall with the cutest nose to have ever been stuck in a book. Word around was that she and her sister were new in town; arrived only a week ago.

Her name was Camilla Lewis'



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*A/N:
~Congrats Deej – for being the first to squint at Camilla's disappearing mirror trick in Ch. 17~
~Congrats Aeon – for suspecting Raven to be the 3rd Elite~

You were right!

21 comments:

  1. Wow well wasn't that a lot to take in. So Camilla is dead and at the hands of Raven? I hope not. And Calum is his brother WTF I see a rift there. Maybe Calum killed Camilla out of jealousy and anger. Someone had to hurt Raven and I think maybe it was a fight between brothers.

    If Raven is the oldest, why is he not in charge? So that other Elite could be another brother or the dad. But I'm confused on something

    Here he says he's the youngest son: I am the youngest son of my father, born and raised on the plains of old Ireland.

    But then here he says Cal is his younger brother: It was quite a memorable experience; even more thanks to our family's name, although my younger brother Calum would most likely disagree.

    So how does that work exactly. And I take it the head hunter chick (blanking on her name) has no clue that Raven is with Mariana and getting her on their side won't be so easy. Especially since she's in love with the enemy.

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    1. Camilla is dead and Raven feels responsible.
      Calum is indeed his brother, making Raven the 3rd Elite. No comment and no comment :D LOL

      Raven isn't in charge because he's not the oldest. Iden is! He's the butt-nekkid-bastard you met in the park, hihi!

      It's intentionally written that way. See italics. Raven IS the youngest of his father, but Calum IS his younger brother. Guess mommy wasn't so faithful...
      I love confusing, so I apologize :) Messing with you is also exceptionally fun!

      Lillian, hunter-chick's name is Lillian, LOL, no, she doesn't know that Raven is in Marina's home. She won't be able to get THIS witch if Rinka turns out to be a bust!

      Thanks for getting confused :)

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    2. Lol! Yeah I told her that they must have different fathers. But the Iden thing is interesting. Listening to him talk about their dad I figured it was him inside that tomb. Hmm now that all three brothers are back in play though, things are about to get explosive!

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    3. Yeah, but I can get the confusion. But he was already born when the ritual took place, so he was included in it. Also I reread the way I wrote it, with the awakening and such, it's easy to think that's the father who woke up. Lol, but he's buried in earth, not a stone tomb.

      The vampires are fully represented! THAT'S for sure!

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  2. So that was Calum and Raven's dad waking from his grave?!? O.o wow if so, the brothers are in SO much trouble haha he seemed a little pissed! Also, WHOA on the bro connection. Calum and Raven really? They seem so different! Wow. I can only imagine what might have happened to cause them to be on such opposite sides of things. And was it Calum that attacked Raven that night leading him to find himself in Marina's care?

    It's a very interesting connection though with Raven having been in love with Camilla and her being the sister of the Lil. I can see why she would get into the business of hunting them down!

    Julie and Jane had better watch it with the accusations too, Raven was getting pissed! :P

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    1. I didn't know you HATED Raven??? You honestly wanted that to be Iden, Raven and Calum's dad??? The same dad they starved and then buried???
      I'm shocked! LOL, no that was Iden, the older brother! Reigning Lord of the Vamps! And, yes, he is pissed! More on that from him...

      Calum and Raven are brothers, yes. Turns out the thoughts on him being Calum's lackey were wrong. They are very different... Raven is more similar to Iden than he is to Calum. Scary, I know if you think of what Iden is capable of.

      Calum has an inferiority complex and his brothers, or his entire (now dead) family for that fact, may have something to do with that. Interesting thought on Calum being the one to attack Raven, now why would he do that? Can't you see the brotherly love between them? It's practically oozing...

      There had to have been a reason for Lillian to hate them so vigorously. Turns out, there was a time she didn't mind them so much. Lillian takes it out on the lesser ones, because she couldn't go for the Elite without breaking the treaty. Now with Alex's death... she can move freely.

      They attacked him! :P

      Thanks Deej

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    2. Lol no I don't hate Raven but I'm already crushing on Iden because HE IS SO PIMP! So if Raven is collateral damage, can I fault Iden? /swoon. Nope! That's how awesome bad guys are :P (and I haven't even seen him!) it's just the way he carries himself. Damn that's bad.

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    3. Haha, I know, but if that was the dad, they were all as good as dead. They starved the man, so he won't be happy to meet them.

      You crushing on Iden already? All you've seen is his butt... LOL

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  3. Ahhh, excellent.... so is the naked risen crypt dweller actually Raven's father?? I can't wait to find out. Excellent! .... and hahaha, I would have laughed with Marina! :)

    Loved it ^_^

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    1. Lol, I've been getting that a lot, 50% OFF - FIND OUT TODAY!...no that's Iden. The older brother.

      I know I did, somehow it all seemed funny to me. A pissed off vampire you just attacked to say world peace. I get why Julie didn't see it, but come on!!!

      Thanks Zhip!

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  4. Ohhhhhhhh!!!
    Now the entire story just slots neatly into place! Wow!
    Calum, Camilla, the creepy naked dude... Even the Salem witch trials!

    I wrote some whole thing here about daddy back from the dead, but after reading the comments that's void. I did think it was weird that they buried their parents in an elaborate tomb... haha! I'm guessing his father can't come back unless someone feeds him blood? Lets hope that doesn't happen...

    And I noticed the *youngest* thing too, very clever way of showing the mother was unfaithful (or the parents split up, a lot less likely for the time that bit of story was set in).

    Love how Marina isn't scared and managed to get through to him and get him to open up.

    Loved it, need more!!! :p

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    1. Glad you think so.. It is true, Raven's side of the story is kind of the glue to all the pieces. Now you know who HE is, who Camilla WAS, partially why Lillian hates vampires. Who the butt-flasher is... I just realized how much there is in this chapter! Didn't feel that way when I was writing it! O.O

      Yeah, it was easy to think that was daddy. Originally Iden would wake up AFTER Raven's story, so not knowing him and hearing about the dad! Easy mistake! Daddy is the weakest link right now and with no one but the brothers knowing the location it's highly unlikely he will be walking around soon. LOL, they didn't have tombs back then, just dirt graves. They buried him next to the wife he killed, seems kinda cruel to me, but hey, you've met Iden, so...... :)

      It's quite a thinker, but I'm happy all of you stumbled over that. I thought it would be overlooked entirely.

      There's still that undeniable pull between Raven and Marina that they can't explain, so that might play a role in her acceptance of it all. Marina is not as fragile as everyone, even her own family, believes. Sure she had a rough time with both her father dead and her brother MIA, but she's not having a breakdown. So far I think the only one who doesn't treat her that way is Raven!

      Raven's story continues in the next chapter!
      Thanks hon!

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  5. Dammit, it didn't post it. Stupid internet.
    Basically, I read this the day you released it, commented, and my internet screwed up.

    I too thought that it was the father that came out of the crypt.

    I think the twins were unfairly jumping to conclusions. I think they had every right to fire questions at him but not try and attack him like that. If he wanted to attack Marina, he had ample opportunity to do so. Since he hasn't, they should at least give him a smidge of a benefit of the doubt.

    Love the twist with Lillian. (even if it took my slow mind reading the comments to make sense of it :P )

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    1. The internet's been hungry the last few days, eating up comments. We'll forgive it this time!

      I think everyone will... it's just written that way. However, if you think about how old Raven was when he was turned... His father would be a lot older and look it even as a vamp.. If it was the guy in the park, he'd have a freaking HOT young dad.

      They weren't taking chances. Raven is only the second vampire they've met and the other one tried to kill their grandmother. They have no experience with vampires whatsoever. And with an Elite too!!!! If they weren't Marina's cousins (No, even then, he'd still kill them!) -- If he didn't get to know them first at the party, they'd be dead!!! No question asked!!!
      He didn't hurt Marina true, but he could be waiting to strike. Anything is possible in their minds at this point. LOL, they are giving him the benefit of the doubt, sure it was after the first strike, but they're letting him tell his side aren't they??

      Haha, the comments were just fetching. More on the Lillian and Camilla part of Raven's past in the next chapter. Let your mind rest, it needs to become fast again!

      Thanks hon!

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  6. Oh! I was right! I knew Raven was always hiding something!

    I was going to say the dad was the one who has now returned but that doesn't seem so. I guess it is a good thing though, the dad doesn't sound particularly friendly.

    I wonder if their grandmother can still protect them at her age because I'm thinking they are going to need a little more protection from here on out...

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    1. I won't bring the dad in simply because he can't be controlled. Back when this all started he attacked his sons, because he didn't recognize them anymore, no way am I setting him loose in this already out of (my) hand story!

      With the -first- vampire trio complete, I'd say they need a lot more than their grandmother's protection. This war may not be against the witches, but they will be swooped up in this whirlwind via indirect causes... Rosalie is a powerful witch, but even she doesn't stand a chance against three (or maybe 2 - Raven won't hurt her) original vampires...

      Thanks Aeon!

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  7. Good Lord, I'd never have guessed Calum and Raven were brothers, can't wait to see how that trist happened.

    I don't believe Raven is going to hurt Marina, or anyone else. If he wanted to he could have already.

    Poor Chase, I kind of feel bad for him, but who knew he would show up..Master Raven huh.

    And throw Lillian and naked but oldest brother in there and we have a hoedown!...edenz~

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    1. Yes, that's a shocker for most! They're only half-brothers, but brothers nonetheless!

      Marina maybe, but --anyone else-- is far stretched. The twins need to be careful. He'll think twice because they are tied to Marina, but he wouldn't rule it out! That's Raven!

      Raven is Chase's real master. That's why he could -disobey- Calum's orders. He wasn't tied to him. Chase has been on the run from Calum, so I'm not surprised he would find himself in the presence and maybe shelter? of his master.

      Haha, you unknowingly spoiled it for comment readers. Chase appeared in the next chapter! You crack me up sometimes! Hoedown!

      Thanks Edenz! *^__^*

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  8. Replies
    1. Just for the record... Raven and Iden are definitely the better looking brothers *drooooool*

      Yeah I'm not a fan of Calum.

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    2. I dub your comment the best one yet!
      Thank you!

      What can I say, they both inherited Daddy's good looks.
      Calum drew the short straw on that, being from a different father :)

      *singing* you are not alone... most are there with you...
      He's quite messed up, but some fans like that about him.

      Thanks for reading and making me smile!

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