"Liam trust me it's going to be okay." Raven had watched him pace for almost two hours nervous about their meeting with this so-called Supernatural Elimination Squad. Abbie and Jay had respectfully declined being present afraid of possibly being killed by association. Liam wasn't supposed to disclose his involvement, but Raven had reassured him she had his back no matter what.
"They're powerful people I don't see how your going to resolve this peacefully. You can't put yourself at risk not with the baby." Raven nodded feeling slightly warm he was worried about her. This child was all she had left that was true but for some reason this force in her gut was telling her to defend Liam.
"I'll be fine, if they're human then there's no competition but if they're our kind then I might have to switch to plan B." Liam was settled slightly, that's right the hyper-vigilant always had a second option. Raven zipped her mouth shut and gave him a reassuring look. Both of their ears pricked up hearing heavy footsteps approaching he quiet home. It sounded like more than one. Liam tilted his head signing her to hide. Raven tucked herself behind the kitchen door spraying deodorize all over her to cover any lingering scent.
Liam opened the door sheepishly, three men barged through without even greeting him. Raven could smell only humans, a mixture of old cologne and sweat it was eye-watering. Liam had nothing to say either and simply sat down waiting for their proposal. When contacting them he was surprised to find they were also going to set up an important meeting.
"You're the vampire boy who killed his sister right?" Raven clenched her fists at the level of disrespect these men had, they needed knocking off their high horse, but she needed to maintain position, or this would go bust.
"Um…yes I am." In her mind hearing Liam's stuttering voice, she was begging him to stand his ground he wasn't beneath anyone. The conceited three sounded aged but wisdom didn't accompany such things and Raven knew that more than anyone.
"My name is George I am the CEO of the facility; we would like your expertise on something." Liam could hear the tone change the minute he mentioned work. As long as it benefited them, they would be kind he thought.
"Okay, what can I help you with." Before George could speak Liam was stunned to see one of them change appearance he went from a grey old man to a beautiful young blonde boy. He was the same spoilt brat who attended Ally's meeting with the superior's months prior.
"You can call me Lake. Your apparently smart right, your pretty good looking too—"
"Lake!" George silenced him quickly allowing him to bask in his confinement chuckling away, it was impossible he thought. This boy must be a creature just like him…
"Eyes on me. What do you think of this report?" A letter was shoved into Liam's lap, Raven was assessing the situation. Why would the leader of an organisation need to attend such a small meeting himself? Unless this was a bigger proposal than Liam was expecting but the pressure was on.
"Take your time." Lake said seductively, George was clearly impatient tapping his foot against the table. Was the CEO supposed to be so overbearing Liam thought, still he scanned the pages intensely. This was a death report along with a letter of challenge from a mysterious person. For some reason the recipient's name was cleared out. Liam didn't understand his role in this.
"Um…I'm not sure how I can help you?" George snatched the papers rudely.
"I don't need your help. I need your view on this, people recommended you due to your knowledge and deduction abilities. As you've seen we are on the brink of war." Liam was getting tired of his attitude; he wasn't getting paid for this…why should he take such abuse. Raven felt his aura change from a tired blue to a fiery red and smiled.
"Is that my problem? Listen you came to me for my opinion but instead your withholding information and pissing me off. So, tell me how you came into this predicament and perhaps I could assist you." George felt his stomach churn; he hadn't been shut down that bad since his conversation with Ally King. They looked at each-other cautiously taking into consideration he was a vampire too, if they made a wrong move Liam could easily join this so-called revolt. Raven was proud he'd taken control.
"They believe we are responsible for the death of a girl when we were hunting. She was supposed to be apprehended but resisted arrest and fell from the bay cliffs. We would like to avoid conflict at all costs, but this girl was very important to them, so we are struggling to come to a peace treaty." Liam looked at them all like aliens, were they thinking straight.
"Hold on a second, regardless of whether you were responsible for her death or not a person died under your watch. Surely sense would tell you that a pursuit near the cliffs would be too risky and retreat. Where did this occur?" Liam had taken full control of the meeting and the rest were at his mercy. Raven was also struggling to grasp their ideals; Liam was right with such a lack of information how was he supposed to settle this?
"Here." George was too blunt, but he wasn't stupid at all. Slowly both Liam and Raven began to work it out even though they stood in separate rooms it was like their brains functioned at one unit. Liam would figure out one thing while Raven resolved the next.
"But this sounds like a community threat. You said them to quote which means more than one person. Just how important was this girl for them to start a revolt. From the evidence here her death occurred due to negligence on your part. These people have every right to be upset." Lake chuckled seeing Liam's attitude change, like Raven he could detect auras and he was liking this striking new red.
"I don't give a f*ck if they are upset. I have a facility to run not burn to the ground. How exactly do we avert this, these people are dangerous and merciless? They killed my whole elite squad in one bout." Liam frowned; there he went again withholding information. No such thing was detailed in the report nor was there any mention of an elite team on site during her death. Liam sighed; he'd had enough.
"Look if you don't cut the bullsh*t there is no way I can develop a genuine peace treaty. First you say your not responsible then you tell me an elite team was on site at the time of her death. I assume they were the ones in pursuit of the girl when it happened. Our race is agile, we don't tend to fall often and even when we do, we recover fast, so something went wrong." Suddenly the atmosphere changed as they all looked at each-other nervously. Except Lake who was nonchalant seemingly to enjoy George becoming flustered.
"We made the mistake of injecting her with a tranquilizer before we began the pursuit." Liam put his fingers to his lips in frustration. This was high rank manslaughter; he didn't know if he had it in his to assist these people. They were liars.
"Tell me more about her, perhaps if I understand from a personal level, I might get through to them." Liam was brushing past things; this conversation was exhausting him. However, when asked to describe the girl they went from desperate to slumped. Was it possible that they were affected by this too?
"Her name was Ally King; she was the Alpha's daughter." Lake started speaking oit of the blue, George's face went red with rage. It was becoming more apparent that this was confidential information as well as delicate.
"Alpha? She was a werewolf?" Liam was genuinely shocked, he knew of vampires existing but werewolves, this was out of his range. Still it was fascinating to him, a race descended from wolves whom live human based lives.
"Hybrid." Lake yet again spoke out causing George to grip his throat threateningly, Liam shuffled back in his seat seeing this had taken a harsh turn. Yet that word stuck with him. A hybrid?
"Hybrid means combined race. One of them is wolf and the other?" He could tell George wanted to cut this conversation in two, but he was more resilient than that. Raven also wanted to know more it could provide more clues as to what she was.
"A hybrid between a vampire and wold, it was a very rare case which is why we wanted to apprehend her. People like her are dangerous." Liam smirked yet another lie, he was great at reading body language and George looked at the floor when dishonestly was in the air.
"If that was the case then she wouldn't have been so valued to the point of war. What was she really like?" George put his hands on his head in stress and despair. Liam needed to know the truth about this girl before this facility was overrun. Lake sat back happily waiting for the unravel.
"Ally King was stern, resilient, incredibly smart and kind. That's the truth about her. Ally used to work for us at the S.E.S until she left and re-joined her pack. We wanted her for ourselves because she was so valuable. We made the mistake of being sloppy with our arrest which resulted in her death." Liam began breathing steadily again, finally the truth had come out, but he wanted to know more.
"I see. I have a contact, she's very hyper-vigilant and deductive I think she will provide a great service in setting this peace treaty before it becomes a tragedy. Before that you'll confirm that this hybrid was not hostile." George looked a little unnerved hearing another contact getting involved but Liam had a good reputation and had also lived up to his name. It was noted he was highly intelligent and in-tune with people's emotions, he blown the three away.
"Ally had her moments. Whenever her family or pack were in danger, she was relentless, you could never win against her mind or body which is to be expected from a wolf generate. But she didn't deserve what happened to her, especially at that time." George didn't seem very enthusiastic at all which alarmed Liam, this seemed equally dishonest. Lake burst into laughter hearing his pathetic remorse.
"Jesus that's enough my stomach can't take anymore. Ally King was foul mouthed, violent and a pain in our ass. She was the most dangerous creature in the territory and needed exterminating. The only reason our CEO over here wanted her was because of her gene. Ally was a superior, she could control other races." George had, had enough he grabbed Lake before throwing him across the room. Liam stood up in defense seeing the dramatic change in him, so he had been playing Liam all along or was Lake lying to make this venture seem more exciting? Raven had been listening to every word, this mysterious girl was valued and then defiled with words. Did she deserve to die or not things were far too uncertain.
"Shut your damn mouth you brat, this is highly valuable information!", George.
"That doesn't mean anything because she's dead you idiot!", Lake. A huge dispute broke out leaving Liam flustered and confused, he looked over at the kitchen for support. Raven was stood in the doorway ready to step in if they turned their frustrations against Liam.
"You killed a pregnant young girl with potential and you can't handle it. If your going to bullshit the poor kid the whole time I might as well get on my knees and kiss your ass. It's not f*cking happening!" Slowly everything began to halt accompanied by heavy pants. Liam was wide eyed looking at Raven who was frozen stiff.
"W-What did you say?" Liam stuttered. George sat down to try and catch his breath. Lake sighed and pulled himself up from the carpet.
"Ally was pregnant at the time she fell from the cliffs. Six months according to the report." There was no way Liam thought. A girl fell from the beach cliffs in this town and was pregnant… George noticed his pale face and stiff posture. Lake also noticed his sudden change in behaviour. Liam could barely think anymore; Raven's face was so sad…
"Was there a body recovered?", Liam.
"No but there is no possible way she would have survived from such a height especially in her condition." Liam collapsed into the chair breathing heavily, it couldn't be! She couldn't be! Raven was in such shock she also struggled to breathe as the pieces came together. Young girl. Pregnant. Hybrid which explained her eyes. Fell from the cliffs. This was her, it had to be her…
"D-Do you value this girl!" Liam spewed words out without thinking causing suspicion to rise in the air. Lake glanced over at the kitchen where Liam seemed to be glued too but there was nobody there.
"Do? Don't you mean did and yes she was a very valuable asset." Liam was so enraged he felt the blood-lust rising like hot lava in his gut. If this truly was Raven, then they had ruined her life.
"You talk about her like merchandise! This is a young girl were talking about, how could you do such a thing! How f*cking stupid are you!" George felt threatened by him; he was talking like a mad man. Did the news of pregnancy hit home with him or was this something else? Liam quickly realized his behavior could be dangerous for Raven and calmed himself down.
"That'll be enough for today I'll start working on your peace treaty so please leave." Lake and George exchanged glances seeing they were being pushed out for some reason. Liam was praying to god they would leave peacefully without a fight. If not, Raven would be found out.
"Thank-you for your cooperation we'll be taking our leave." Liam was stunned as they got up and left quietly without saying another word, surely, they were smart enough to work out his outburst had some reason behind it yet there they went. However, his world was about to become so much more chaotic.
George stood outside the front door with a handful of soldiers. Sadly, he had planned this from the start, and it was an amazing performance. Lake dusted his hands off happily at the successful plan. Liam had let slip of a female contact which was all the information George needed. Despite his conversation, he was a sadistic man who got what he wanted in the end. Liam's fault was his emotions, if only he'd been more composed things wouldn't have had to be this way.
"Nobody leaves or enters. There is someone he's hiding, and I have a keen idea who it could be. Keep the radius wide and under no circumstance harm the targets. They are delicate." George smiled triumphantly; his plan was a success. Meanwhile Liam didn't know how to describe how he was feeling. There was too much of a coincidence for him to ignore this and Raven had been listening to or Ally as he should call her.
"Raven talk to me." As expected, she had locked herself in the downstairs toilet. Emotions couldn't establish the pain she was in right now. Not only had her life been established as done, even though all of this information spun around in her head she still had no memory of her past at all. It was like being a stranger in her own body. She was lost.
"What should I say?" Liam could hear her weak voice; this kind of stress was unhealthy for her. Liam wanted to see her face; his heart was pounding in anxiety.
"Anything, please come out. It's okay." Raven clicked her tongue before slamming the bathroom door open in anger. Liam was dumbstruck seeing her violet eyes grow dull underneath the tearful sheath. For some reason he could feel everything she felt slip through the floor and radiate into his body.
"It's okay? Nothings okay Liam. I don't know that girl they described or the people fighting for her! I don't deserve this body; I don't deserve to be lost! Who am I? Who is Ally King?" Liam watched the tears fall from her face; this girl had lost everything. Her memories, sense of self and now she was being described in different lights left right and centre. No wonder she was distressed. Nothing had gone to plan instead it had crumbled.
"Please don't cry. Listen we can find out who you are maybe those memories will come back in time. It's only been a month; things will turn out okay I promise you." Liam couldn't comfort her with words as there was nothing analytical about pain. It was what was felt in the heart not in the brain. Raven sat on the floor exhausted from standing over their conversation.
"Do I really want too?", Raven.
"Huh?", Liam. It was so straining to hear such weak cries come from this strong girl, she had been brave and overcame every insecurity independently without the help of anyone and now she was barely holding on.
"You heard them, right? I'm a monster. Heh I guess we were right maybe I am a mass murderer." Liam felt irritated as she put herself down. Liam had come to really admire and cherish her; Raven was one of a kind. The first person to tell him it was okay to not be okay. Without thinking he grabbed her from behind and hugged her close. It was so fast it momentarily stopped her tears.
"Liam?", Raven.
"They also said you were kind and resilient, stern and intelligent. Those are the words I felt the most. It doesn't matter of your Ally King or Raven; I still like you either way. You're not alone okay? I'm right here." Raven felt a throb in her heart, this was a different man altogether. Gentle, caring, emotional. It eased her soul so much just to be in his arms. As Liam sat there listening to her heartbeat steady, he realized something very important. This girl was his lifeline, now it was his turn to save her.