White Raven

Chapter Eight: No Place Like Home

Ary woke up just as the sun started to rise. She had only slept for a few hours, but she felt relaxed and well rested. She hadn't slept that good in a long time and she was surprised she had while staying at Rave's. The couch was comfy and everything, but with Rave sleeping just upstairs she figured she'd be more on edge. It was probably just the lack of sleep finally catching up to her.

She didn't waste anytime in leaving and quickly grabbed her clothes out of the dryer and changed back into them, hiding behind the kitchen wall so that Rave wouldn't be able to see her if he came down the stairs. She folded up his clothes and set them on top of the washer, but not before stopping to sniff his shirt. It smelled like pine needles and oil, just like Rave did. She shook her head. What was she doing?

Before she could do something else stupid, Ary grabbed her things off of the coffee table and slipped on her tennis shoes. She ran over to the elevator and pressed the button to go down. Her entire body froze as the elevator began to screech and groan. There was no way Rave wouldn't hear that. She hoped she could make it out of the warehouse without having to talk to Rave.

When the elevator door opened, Ary bolted out and sprinted to the back entrance of the warehouse where she had pulled the Jeep in. She quickly slid open the doors, cursing when those, too, made a loud screeching sound. When they were open wide enough for Ary to safely get the Jeep out, she sprinted back to her vehicle and quickly hopped in, shoving the key into the ignition and turning it hard. The engine roared to life and Ary put it into gear, driving out into the alleyway. She put it in park and hopped back out to close the doors. Ary was home free.

The sun was just peeking over the horizon, turning the sky into a pinkish orange. Ary didn't want to go back home, but she knew she couldn't stay at Rave's any longer without things getting weird. He wanted her, obviously, and she was afraid that if she spent too much time with him she would start wanting him. It was hard to deny the chemistry they had between them, but it was easy to keep at bay because of Rave's usual behavior. If she had more moments like last night with him she knew she would start to fall for him and that was a bad idea. Rave wasn't the type to be in a relationship and Ary wasn't the type to sleep around.

Ary arrived at home just a little after nine that morning and she was surprised to see both Maddie's and Scar's cars parked out front, along with her mom's. Great. Her mom had probably called to complain about what an ungrateful daughter she was.

"Bella?" Scar called as soon as Ary stepped into the house.

"No, it's a robber!" Ary called back.

Ary heard the clatter of chairs scrapping against wood and she knew it wasn't because her sisters were running for their lives. Sure enough, both of her older sisters came barreling into the hallway that covered the entire length of the house.

"Oh my God, Bells!" Scarlett stopped dead in her tracks, her hands covering her mouth, her greenish brown eyes wide with shock.

"Good morning to you, too," Ary managed a chuckle. She just loved how overly dramatic her sisters could be at times.

"Who did this to you!?" Maddie demanded, going around Scarlett to approach Ary and inspect her injury. She grabbed Ary by the chin and tilted her head in all directions, trying to get a better look at the monster bruise. Ary just rolled her eyes.

"I'm gonna go get Mom," Scarlett told the younger women before she ran over to the staircase and started screaming, "Mom!" as she headed up. It was like she was seventeen again, and not twenty-seven and married with two kids.

"Where the hell did you go last night?" Maddie demanded of Ary. "Mom called me at two o'clock in the morning and said you hadn't been home yet. We were about to call Uncle Jack and have him send out a search party for you!"

"Oh my God, stop being over dramatic," Ary said, rolling her eyes. She had been gone for barely twelve hours.

"Arabella!" Juliana appeared at the top of the stairs. She was wearing a pair of khaki pants and a light pink blouse, her hair was curled slightly, and she already had a fresh layer of makeup on.

Her mother was up and dressed before noon on one of her day's off? That was new.

"Oh, Arabella, I've been worried sick about you," Juliana rushed down the staircase and enveloped Ary in a tight hug. For a tiny little thing, she was sure strong and was very nearly suffocating Ary.

"Get off of me, Juliana," Ary all but growled as she pushed her mother away. She didn't know exactly why, but just the thought of her mother touching her sent shivers down her spine.

"Ary," both Scarlett and Maddie glared at her.

"What?" Ary snapped at them. "This is all her fault," she turned to glare at her mother, who had a hurt look on her face. Then, the strangest thing happened.

Juliana let out a horrified gasp and tears sprang to her eyes. "Oh my goodness, Bella, what happened to your face?" she asked in complete shock. Ary just gaped open mouthed at her mother. "Did a man do this to you?" she asked as tears appeared in her eyes.

"Are you insane!?" Ary shouted at her mother. Juliana flinched and cowered back.

"Bella!" Maddie yelled at her while Scarlett wrapped their mom in a tight hug to comfort her. "Don't take your anger out on mom. It's not her fault you went out with a guy and he abused you!"

"What!?" Ary's mouth dropped open in shock. She looked at her mother, who was sobbing quietly against Scar's shoulder, and then she looked at her sisters.

These were three people that were suppose to protect her and be on her side. What if she had gotten beat up by an abusive boyfriend? Weren't her mother and sisters suppose to be worried about her and try to coddle her? They should be threatening to kick the guy's ass, not beating her down more than she already was. And it wasn't even a guy who had hit her. It was her own mother, who was now acting like some sacrificial victim!

"Juliana was the one who backhanded me across the face!" Ary shrieked.

"Bella," Maddie frowned at her. She didn't believe Ary's story and neither did Scarlett, from the disappointed look on her face. Juliana just continued to sob against Scarlett's shoulder.

"Oh my f*****g God," Ary growled. She shoved past all three of the women and stomped upstairs to where the bedrooms were.

Ary stormed all the way down the hall until she reached the last door on the left. She threw it open and went inside. She didn't waste any time in going to the closet and getting the suitcase that was in there. She started grabbing random articles of clothing and shoved them into the suitcase, not worrying about how pretty it looked. When she filled it ti capacity, she zipped it up and slid it out to the center of the room. When she stepped out of the closet, Maddie was standing in the doorway of the bedroom.

"What are you doing?" Maddie asked her.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Ary snapped. She pulled an old duffel bag out from underneath the bed and started throwing more clothes in there, from her dresser.

"You can't leave," Maddie told her, following her around the room. "I know you're hurt and upset, but this isn't the right way to go about things. Yelling at and blaming mom isn't going to make you feel better."

Ary stopped what she was doing and looked over at her sister. She just started laughing, like hysterical laughing. She probably looked like an i***t, shoving socks and underwear into a duffel bag while laughing her head off. She was still laughing when she grabbed her bags and walked out of the room.

"Bella, where are you going?" Maddie asked, following her downstairs.

"The basement," Ary stated. She dropped her suitcase at the front door and continued through the back of the house, duffel bag in hand.

"What?" Maddie followed her to the back of the house. Scarlett and their mother were sitting at the kitchen table and both of them glanced up when Ary came storming through.

"What's going on?" Scarlett asked.

"I'm leaving," Ary stated, as she opened the door that led to the basement and started to head down.

"What are you doing down there!?" Maddie hollered from the top of the stairs. She wouldn't dare go down in the basement. There were spiders and snakes down there, or at least that's what Ary had been telling her big sisters since she was six.

Ary didn't bother turning the light on. These was enough light streaming through the single, tiny window in the room that she could mostly see where she was going. She had to keep things in the shadows so Maddie couldn't see what she was doing. She could only imagine what her family would think if they found her stash of money. They'd probably think she was a drug dealer.

After Ary had stuffed a few wads of cash into her duffel, along with a few other items she had hidden down there, she quickly zipped the bag and slung it over her shoulder and started back up the stairs. By this time, all three of the other women in the house had gathered at the entrance of the basement.

"Bella, where are you going?" Maddie asked for the umpteenth time as Ary pushed her way through the crowd of women.

"Bella! I forbid you to leave!" Juliana shouted at her as she made her way back to the front door.

"Seriously?" Ary c****d an eyebrow at her mother. Juliana looked generally pissed off. "I don't know if you've noticed, mother, but I am just two weeks shy of my twenty-first birthday. You can't forbid me to do anything," she laughed.

"You have nowhere to go," Juliana shot back.

"Sure I do," Ary replied, easily. Juliana gave her a confused look. "I can stay with my boyfriend. You know, the one that hits me because he loves me," Ary gave her mother a devilish grin, a whole slew of meanings hidden behind her words.

"You're not seeing anyone," Juliana objected, breathlessly.

"Shows what you know," Ary smirked. She grabbed her suitcase and stormed out the door, leaving her mother and sisters to stare after her.

++++++++++++++++

Rave was slightly relieved when Ary snuck out at the crack of dawn. He needed some separation from her. She was starting to get under his skin, in more ways than one. He was no longer just thinking about getting her into his bed, he was now thinking about her with her clothes on. He was worried about her and was curious to know what happened to her yesterday. He shouldn't care about what happened to her.

He spent the morning working out, trying to burn out some of his frustrations. What he really needed was to get laid, but the only person he wanted beneath him in bed was the one person he couldn't have. It infuriated him to no end.

It was almost noon by the time he decided to call it quits. He took a quick, ice cold, shower and got dressed, pulling on a pair of faded jeans and a gray long sleeved t-shirt.

He should probably go and check on Ary's cousin and make sure the poor kid wasn't dead. He probably wouldn't be paid well if he killed his charge, even if it were by accident. Ary definitely wouldn't see it that way, and she'd probably sick the FBI on him, after she get a few good looks in.

Rave was just putting on his black leather jacket when he heard the elevator. Still slightly cautious, he walked over to the kitchen area and pulled open a drawer that held a multitude of knives. He grabbed a good sized cleaver and brought it out, ready to attack. He quickly dropped it when he saw who stepped out.

"Ary?" Rave was more than shocked to see her.

"Hey." She gave him a cocky grin as she walked into the loft. "I bought us lunch. I hope you don't mind Chinese food." She held up two bags full of Chinese takeout.

"You left," he stated. He couldn't think of anything better to say.

"Yeah, to get us food," she said, setting the bags on the kitchen table.

"It took you almost six hours to get food?" Rave questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I had a very hard time deciding on what I wanted," she defended, smoothly.

"You're not going to tell me what happened, are you?" He gave her a curious look.

"No," she answered, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Okay then," he sighed in defeat and plopped down into one of the kitchen chairs.

"Although I should warn you that you're going to be seeing a not more of me," Ary grinned over at him as she took the boxes of Chinese food out of the bags.

"What does that mean?" Rave asked, trying to ignore the fact that his heartbeat had quickened at the prospect of seeing her more.

"Oh, you'll see." She gave him the most evil of grins as she handed him a box of egg rolls.

Rave took the box and just stared at her. He didn't know whether he should be excited or terrified of Ary's words. He knew from experience some of the things that she was capable of and he shuddered at the thought of what she might do, but even through the mystery and wonder of things, Rave couldn't help but to think one thing.

Ary had come back to him.