White Raven

Chapter Six: Stark Raving Mad

Rave didn't want to have to make friends with anyone, let alone a scrawny kid from the country. He would have loved nothing more than to leave Chicago and escape Ary's hold on him, but he needed the money and there was no doubt in his mind that wherever he went, Ary would find him.

Surprisingly it wasn't that difficult for Rave to get in with Lucas. Because of his recent initiation into the gang, Lucas Lawson was getting a lot of attention from the other gang members. It wouldn't seem too suspicious for Rave to strike up a conversation with the kid.

"You seem pretty proud of the fact that you got the crap beat out of you," Rave stopped Lucas as he was about to get back into his truck.

Rave was taking a stroll around his old neighborhood when he saw Lucas stop to talk to a few other Bloodbaths that were hanging out on the street corner. Rave waited patiently for them to exchange pleasantries about some dope and bitches before he approached the younger man.

"What do you know?" Lucas demanded, trying to play the tough guy.

Rave let out a careless chuckle before his eyes went cold. He grabbed a handful of Lucas's hair at the back of his head and smashed it into the side of the truck. No one paid any attention as Lucas struggled against Rave. That was the beauty of living in the worst neighborhood in Chicago.

"I know a lot more than you, sunshine," Rave hissed into Lucas's ear. "So unless you want me to scrape the skin off your face with the pavement, I suggest you show me a little respect," Rave tossed Lucas at the truck and took a step back, admiring his handiwork.

Lucas had to lean heavily against his truck to keep from sliding to the ground. He had a new cut amongst his still bruised face that was slowly oozing blood. When he turned to look at Rave, there was fear evident in his eyes. Good. He wanted the scrawny little f**k to be terrified of him.

"Who are you?" Lucas asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"I'm Colt, and you-" Rave studied the other man with such intensity that the air around them became painfully awkward, "-are my b***h," he smirked at the kid's wide eyed expression.

If he had to put up with seeing the bastard that Ary willingly chose over him, he was at least going to enjoy himself. He didn't understand what she saw in the scrawny bastard. The kid looked like he was barely old enough to drive, let alone drink legally.

It infuriated him. So what if Ary was in love with this tool? She was attracted to him and sooner or later she'd have to give into the attraction. He needed her to give into him.

Lately all he could think about was Ary with her warm, expressive eyes. They not only haunted his dreams, but were present in all his thoughts. He'd never been so hung up over a girl before, even a hot piece of ass he hadn't f****d yet. He even broke down and did something he hadn't done since high school. He jerked off in the shower. He was so enamored with her that jerking off to thoughts of her was more appealing than calling up one of his usual booty calls to get a quick fix.

Rave was becoming increasingly pissed off as he stood in front of Ary's boyfriend. Just thinking about all the things they did together, that he wanted to do to her, got him worked up. He was to the point that his whole body was shaking with rage and he did something that he knew he would come to regret later. He punched Lucas in the face, knocking him out cold.

He immediately started walking away. It wasn't because he was afraid he'd get arrested or even that he had been satisfied with just that one punch. No, he knew that if he stuck around any longer he'd want to punch the kid again and again and again. Even through the red blur of rage he knew that would be the worst possible thing he could do if he ever wanted a shot at luring Ary into his bed.

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Ary managed to get the Jeep back to her house without throwing up, although she did have to stop a couple times to catch some fresh air. When she got home she left the doors open and went inside the house, coming back out with her arms full of cleaning supplies and air fresheners.

She spent the next two hours trying to get the smell of dead animal out of the Jeep. Instead of masking the grotesque smell, the air fresheners just combined with it and turned it into a whole different kind of nasty. At a distance there was only the scent of fresh flowers and even when one first got near the Jeep it still smelled pretty okay, but it was deceiving. The overly ripe raccoon smell still wafted through the Jeep.

"Forget guns, I'll just lock someone in here and they'll choke on their own vomit," Ary muttered to herself as she wiped out the entire back of the Jeep with a rag soaked in Febreze. She was going to get this thing smelling halfway decent even if it killed her.

After the bottle of Febreze was emptied, Ary decided to take a break on the front porch. She rested her hands behind her and leaned back, trying to relax. It wasn't long before the tarp on the porch roof started to flap in the warm spring breeze. Ary tilted her head back to glare up at the hole in the roof. She should really get started on fixing that.

Ary was in the middle of contemplating what time next week she would start to make plans to consider fixing the porch roof when she heard the crunch of tires on gravel. Her mother's cherry red Chevy Malibu came into view as it rounded the curve in the middle of the driveway. It came to a screeching halt in front of the two car garage that was to the right of the farmhouse.

Juliana got out of the car, looking frazzled. It was obvious from the smeared mascara around her eyes that Juliana had recently been crying. Ary glanced around, wondering if she had time to make a break for it before her mother noticed she was there.

"Bella!" It was too late, and by the sound of her voice, Juliana was more than upset. She was pissed.

"Hey, Mom. How was work?" Ary forced a smile as she stood up from the porch steps. She quickly brushed the dirt from her jeans.

"Do you have any idea of what you've done, young lady!?" Juliana shrieked, stomping over to Ary. With the four inch wedge sandals Juliana was wearing they were almost the same height.

"Uh," Ary drew a blank as a variety of possibilities crossed her mind.

There were dozens of reasons for why her mother was this upset with her and Ary tried desperately to think of them. She wanted to have the proper back story in her mind when she defended herself. Inconsistencies in her story would not bode well for her if she ended up in court.

"What have you been telling your sister?" Juliana demanded, folding her arms across her chest and giving Ary a stern look.

"Which sister?" Ary asked, stupidly. That was the wrong move on her part.

"Don't tell me you've been speaking to both your sisters about this!" she exclaimed.

"About what!?" Ary shouted back, utterly confused.

"Madeleine's engagement to Beau! Celia Calhoun just informed me that the wedding was officially off," Juliana sobbed. "I can't believe you told your sister to end her engagement with a man who adored her."

"I didn't!" Ary objected. "Beau wanted Mads to drop out of med school."

"Beau earns a six figure salary. Madeleine doesn't need to be a doctor or even have a job. Beau can support her and their family all on his own!" Juliana raged.

"Mads wants to be a doctor, Mom! She's wanted to be one since she was five. She shouldn't have to give up on her dreams just because Beau wants her to start popping out kids left and right!" Ary defended.

Ary knew that half the reason that Mads even said yes to the proposal in the first place was because Juliana had been talking about Mads and Beau getting married months before the proposal even happened.

Maddie Harper had laid out a plan for her life. She had been preparing to become a doctor since she was in the fifth grade. She wanted to travel to third world countries and help people in need. She was too polite to fight for what she wanted, so it was up to Ary to do it for her.

"You have no idea what the real world is like, Bella! You dropped out of college before your first year was even over and then you runaway to God knows where, doing God knows what, and come crawling back home looking like an anorexic druggie!"

Ary clenched her jaw shut tightly. Yeah, when she showed up back in Haven she had been nothing but skin and bones, and she had permanent dark patches underneath her eyes. Her mother hadn't even asked what happened to her. She just said that Ary looked good after dropping the extra meat, but she'd look even better if she covered up those hideous bags underneath her eyes.

"You have no idea what I've been through these past couple of years," Ary growled through clenched teeth. She could feel the anger bubbling up inside her.

"I can just imagine. You followed some boy out of state and he turned out not to be who you thought he was. Well, Bella, if you didn't behave like a boy and actually put some thought into how you looked, then maybe you'd meet a nice man like your sisters," Juliana huffed.

Ary just stared open mouthed at her mother. "You are a f*****g delusional psychotic b***h," she told her mother in a calm, even tone.

Before Ary realized what was happening, Juliana backhanded her across the face. Her cheek stung and she felt a warm liquid running down her jaw. She reached up and ran her fingers over her cheek. They came back with blood smeared on them. One of Juliana's rings must have cut her. She looked at her mother, her expression blank.

Juliana didn't apologize, nor did she seem that regrettable. She simply swiped at the loose strands of hair that had fallen over her face and straightened herself up.

"You don't ever speak to me like that again, young lady. I am your mother and you are a child. You don't know anything." With those words of wisdom, Juliana turned around and headed into the house.

Ary was left standing in the middle of the yard, unable to move. Her mother had never hit her before. She expected the loopy sense of right and wrong, and the screaming accusations, but this? She didn't know what to think.

She reached up to wipe away more of the blood from her cheek and that's when she felt the tears. She was crying and she didn't even know it. That realization brought on more tears and this time Ary had to fight to keep from crying out loud.

Blocking out all feelings and emotions, Ary ran over and jumped into the Jeep. She didn't care if it still faintly smelled like a dead raccoon. She needed to get out of there.

She had no destination in mind and she honestly didn't know in which direction she was driving. When she started to see signs marking her approach to the Chicago city limits only one thing was on her mind.