White Raven

Chapter Two: Family

Ary was berating herself on the entire two hour trip back to Haven, the town where she grew up. It was ridiculous to think she could trust Rave, even after handing him ten thousand dollars in cash. He could easily just take her money and skip town, and she wouldn't blame him.

Rave had abandoned the Bloodbaths for some unknown reason and she was sure some of the members were still pretty pissed at him. It would be a suicide mission for Rave to rejoin the gang, but Ary didn't have a lot of options at the moment. It was either ask Rave for help or try and infiltrate the gang herself, and that involved slutty clothing and an unlimited amount of s****l favors she was not willing to do, for any reason.

She was still lost in thought when she pulled into the long, winding driveway of her home. The perimeter of the property was lined with tall fir trees and the house wasn't even visible until about halfway up the drive, which was probably a good thing. The two story farmhouse was in desperate need of some TLC.

The once gleaming white paint was now dull and faded, and chipping off in some places. The roof was missing a few shingles and there was a large hole in the roof of the porch that someone had just stapled a tarp over. She was that someone.

Tom Harper had given his youngest daughter the responsibility of restoring the family homestead to its former glory. He figured she'd might as well do something useful with her life since she dropped out of college. It was his way of showing Ary what her future would be like if she didn't go back and finish school. He was very creative when it came to dealing out punishments.

Ary wasn't exactly Bob the Builder's wife, so the home repair had been going pretty slowly. She had to replace a broken window last week, but now the darn thing wouldn't open. Her nifty ability to hang up pictures in a perfect line on the wall had given her parents an unrealistic expectation of her handyman abilities. She'd have better luck getting a job as an astronaut.

"Oh good, Bella you're home." A pretty woman in her late forties greeted Ary as soon as she stepped into the house.

"Hey, Mom," Ary said, forcing a smile.

Juliana Harper was as beautiful as she had been in high school. Her reddish brown hair was cut short in a 1920s bob and her hazel eyes sparkled behind her librarian glasses. She was wearing a floral print blouse that was tucked into the waistband of a pair of designer jeans. Juliana still had a size 6 figure, even after having three kids, and she planned on taking full advantage of it while she still could.

"I need your help in the kitchen," Juliana said, ushering Ary into the back of the house.

"What the-Mom!" Ary gasped at the sight that greeted her when she reached the kitchen.

All the contents of the cupboards had been emptied. There were various dishes strewn out across the counters, a pyramid of cans sat in the middle of the island counter, and the kitchen table was buried beneath a mountain of pots and pans.

"I'm reorganizing the cupboards," Juliana explained, walking into the middle of her mess. "And now that you're home, you can help me," she gave Ary a brilliant smile.

Suddenly Ary wished she was back at Rave's. Having to deal with his cocky attitude and s****l harassment was a lot better than being her mother's personal slave.

"So dear, how did the job hunt go today? Did you find anything?" Juliana asked as she handed Ary dishes to put back in the cupboards. Ary was a lot taller than her mother's dinky five-three and it made her perfect to put things away on the top shelves. Her mother's words.

Ary fiddled with an ornate serving plate for a few moments, before answering. "Uh yeah, it went okay," she replied, lying through her teeth.

"That's good," Juliana smiled, continuing about her business. "If you work all summer then maybe you can go back to school next fall. You know, Maddie might be moving in with Beau soon. Maybe you can use her apartment."

"Mom," Ary groaned. She had been hearing the 'back to school' speech on a weekly basis since she told her parents she had dropped out last semester.

"You need to do something with your life, Bella," Juliana huffed as she polished a plate with a rooster painted in the center.

"Here we go," Ary muttered to herself.

"You know, Scarlett was starting a family when she was your age," Juliana began.

"Yeah, it's always been my dream to get knocked up at nineteen and have to marry an asshole that makes me work two jobs while taking care of two kids," Ary snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Daniel isn't forcing your sister to do anything. The economy isn't all that great and sometimes you have to make sacrifices to support your family," Juliana explained. She seemed perfectly okay with her daughter having to work 80hrs a week to support her lazy ass husband who only works part-time at his dad's garage.

"Okay, Mom," Ary agreed. She was too tired to deal with her mother's nagging.

"I just don't understand you sometimes, Bella. You don't want to go to school, you don't want to work, you don't want to get married. What exactly do you want to do with your life!?" Juliana demanded in exasperation.

"I've always wanted to be in the circus," Ary mused. She turned to look at her mother. "Do you think I'd make a better lion tamer or tightrope walker?" she asked, a huge grin plastered on her face.

"This is your life we're talking about, Arabella! Can't you be serious for one minute!?" Juliana was near tears.

Ary rolled her eyes. She wasn't exactly sympathetic towards her mother's whims. Juliana wasn't worried about her future, she was worried about what everyone would think when they found out that one of her children had dropped out of college and was currently unemployed. In a couple years she'd be freaked out that Ary wasn't in the process of getting married or starting a family.

The waterworks were postponed by the ringing of Juliana's phone. The older woman dabbed at her still dry eyes as she went over to where her cell phone was charging. She let out one lonely sniffle before answering the phone.

Ary took that moment to escape from the kitchen. She headed down to the basement, stopping at the bottom of the steps to reach up and pull the string to the lonely lightbulb in the room. It flickered a few times before finally staying lit. The light illuminated the area in a dull, yellow glow.

The basement was basically an old cellar that no one had bothered to remodel over the years. The floor was just a solid slab of concrete, as were the walls. It was used mostly for storage and no one ever went down there anymore, except for Ary when her father made her bring down more boxes into the already packed room.

Ary went over to the far wall, stopping to grab a screwdriver that was set out on a box that had 'Maddie's Toys' written on the side of it. Her mother refused to throw anything away, using the excuse that someday their junk could be worth a lot of money. That was just how Juliana defended her hoarding.

Ary slipped in behind a stack of boxes that was sitting a few feet away from the back wall. She knelt down on the ground and felt along the lower part of the stone wall until she found the piece of stone that had a 'C' carved into it. Then, using the screwdriver as leverage, she pulled the piece of stone out of the wall. Glancing over her shoulder out of habit, Ary pulled two stacks of cash out of her jacket pocket and stuffed them into the hole that was behind the wall. She had brought extra with her just in case Rave needed more persuading.

She was just starting to feel a sense of relief when she heard her mother scream her name. Scrapping her knuckles on the rough surface of the wall, Ary shoved the piece of stone back into place. She had just gotten out from her secret hiding spot when her mother appeared at the top of the basement stairs.

"Bella, your Aunt Charlotte just called. Lucas is in the hospital," Juliana sobbed, real tears appearing in her eyes.

Ary let the screwdriver drop from her hand and fall to the floor, a look of pure terror on her face. Was she too late?