Mark Of The Raven

Chapter Ten: Past Idols

I couldn't be quite sure, but it felt like we had traveled hundreds of miles and then made it through an entire state yet again. We had managed to find some cars abandoned on the side of the road that helped with gas but but outside of that we didn't stop too much. We had quite a bit of food so we were going to be OK for the time being. But that didn't make this trip any easier. And it didn't make the anger that was growing inside of Emery any quieter. She was mad. I bed I can even entirely say that she was mad at Astrid so much as she was mad at the entire situation. On some level I think she felt that we doubted her. That we felt like she wasn't good enough to be by our side but that couldn't be further from the truth. We needed her. She was tough, she was strong, and she in many ways, kept us together. I think me and Issac would've been lost without her. And maybe, the reason she wanted powers in the first place is so she could feel as though she mattered. Which was odd, because even with powers, I felt like I didn't. Perhaps she should have been the one with the vision. But, it couldn't change now. I couldn't give her this ability even though I know she wanted it desperately. Astrid of course, was speaking what he felt was the truth so I'm not sure his intention was even to antagonize Emery. But that's all he seemed to manage doing. Constantly antagonizing her with almost every single word he spoke. Issac had to suspect that things weren't going to end well if this kept up. He knew her for his entire life and even I, with the little time I've spent with her, knew that this was a disaster waiting to happen.

" What are you?" The silence was broken by Emery. Astrid looked at me and then back to Emery. " I am here to help" he answered which made Emery clench her fist tightly. " I didn't ask you what you came here to do. I asked what you are. And I want an answer..." Emerys tone was much darker than usual, it made me uncomfortable. On some level, I think it even made Astrid uncomfortable.

" I am a being of a world you cannot see or reach. I exist because it was purpose to help. I was called her by the vision to aid you all. My existence does not really matter because there is not much to tell before I arrived here. But, if you wish to put a name or a title to what I am..I guess you could say that I am a shape-shifter" he answered but Emery didn't seem all that satisfied with the answer he gave.

" That is bullshit. You are way more than that. You seem to know way to much about the mark to just be some basic ass shape shifter. And also, to be as skilled at fighting as you are..there is no way. You are something else. But I guess the biggest question on my mind is whether we can trust you.." Emery turned in her seat again to stare directly into Astrids black eyes.

" They can trust me about as much as they can trust you " Astrid answered which seem to have caught Emery off guard. She looked puzzled at first.

" What is that suppose to mean?" She asked, stating deeply into his eyes.

" You know exactly what I mean.." He answered before holding up his arm and pointing to it.

" That's what I'm talking about..you know more s**t than you should" Emery barked at Astrid.

And that is when I began to piece together what he was referring too.

" Emery...did you find a statue..? " I asked to which she turned her attention to me. " Don't freaking lie to me Emery..did you find a statue? " I asked again and her silence was more than enough to answer my question.

" Oh my freaking God. Stop the damn car" I asked Issac who obliged my request and pulled over.

" I'm not even mad at the fact that you found one. I'm more so mad at the fact that you chose not to tell us about it. Why would you not tell us about it? You've been going on and on about how you want one and how you want powers so why not tell us about it?" I began rampaging with my questioning, not even giving Emery time to answer the original question.

" Do you realize how freaking stupid that s**t is? When I found The Raven statue, I had no idea what it was or what it could do. You knew exactly what it is and what it can do and yet you chose to take it anyway. I'm not saying having power is so much of a bad thing but we still don't know anything about it. And all this could mean is that we have 2 people that could possibly lose control and cause a major problem for both Isaac and Astrid. Did you even remotely stop to consider that? " I blared through my questioning as Emery watched on in shock.

" Nooooo you didn't, did you? No. Because you think that will power is somehow something that allows you to control this s**t. Well what if it isn't? I didn't want this stupid power. I didn't want for any of this to happen. Sure, it helps on some level but there could major repercussions that we aren't aware of and you went and did this stupid s**t" I looked up and down her arm but didn't see any tattoos which was a little odd but I couldn't stop myself. I had to get this out. " But ooooh, it must be that Val doesn't want me to have powers. Oh it must be that Val doesn't think I can control it. Well guess what Emery? To my understanding, Noone has been able to control it because noone can control it. And even if it picks to be with you, it doesn't always mean it's for your benefit" my thoughts trailed back to my meeting with Todd and his explanation about how the power is destructive. I didn't want that for Emery but It might already be too late.

" Are you done? " Emery finally managed to speak as I took a moment to breathe. " I took the statue but it didn't do what it did to you. It's in my bag. It didn't break or anything. I figured maybe it was broken or something " Emery reached down in her bag and pulled out a Raven statue that was similar the one I had originally found. She threw the statue into my hands and I began looking it over.

" Looks like not all of us get chosen..." Emery turns around in her seat and sits back down. " Let's go " Emery mutters quietly to Issac who takes a deep sigh and proceeds to pull back out on the road.

I knew I should apologize to Emery but I was still heated. I knew now wouldn't be the right time. Astrid didn't say a single thing and all I could do was just stare down at the Raven statue. This freaking thing had caused me so much grief and yet it was so..small. it was so insignificant. I never wanted to lay my eyes upon it again and yet here I was, holding it. If I could change things, if I could change the world back to the way things were, even though I was unhappy, I would. Because this, all of this, was becoming too much for me. Being on the run all the time, living on the streets has somehow become even harder to do when you have people hunting you down. Everything was just one giant mess and I just couldn't see how I would be able to fix it all.