Raven was precocious when it came to psychology, sociology, and even kinesiology when she was a little girl. Among her teachers, Raven was known for her sharp wit and great sense of style. She had always been intuitive and perceptive, with a knack for discovering hidden truths. As smart as Raven was, she was an outcast that was never accepted by her peers.
It was Raven's sophomore year in high school. Her best friend was a young man with whom she could share her thoughts, information, and even feelings. Having helped her with the bullying at school, she was compelled to buy him lunches and school supplies. He lived in an orphanage and was rather poor. He was Maverick, and he and Raven were inseparable since they were in middle school.
Maverick normally wore hand-me-down clothes passed down from older kids. Maverick was proud of his long hair, and no matter how many times he had been bullied or told to cut it. He insisted that he wouldn't, so he kept his hair in a man bun. This naturally amused Raven, instead of calling Mavericks's hairstyle by the original name, she would pick on Maverick playfully calling his hairstyle, 'Bitch Biscuit.' Maverick was similar to Raven in many ways, for example, he too was an outcast that the outcasts never accepted. The charming and gentle Maverick was not the same as the other high school students who picked on Raven and Maverick. Raven was the intelligence while Maverick was the muscle.
During school, their favorite activity was learning codes and different ways of communicating without using the English alphabet.
In history class, Raven rested her forehead on the school desk in the classroom, she whispered, "Why aren't you at school today?" Raven questioned in a whisper, but something seemed off to Raven. As Maverick normally lets Raven know when he won't be able to attend school, Raven was able to deduct signs of early sickness, such as the flu and stomach bugs.
There was a lot of noise from the students all around Raven, and the professor waited behind them, ready to speak as soon as the bell rang.
"The announcement that I need to make before we begin class will be repeated by every teacher to ensure that all students hear it. Maverick has disappeared and was thought to be a runaway teenager just yesterday afternoon. If anyone has heard anything, has seen anything of where Maverick could have gone, please report to the police or the town Orphanage." The professor said looking at each student.
Raven's head shot up from the table quickly from hearing the tragic news. Raven couldn't believe what the professor said, "Maverick would never..." Raven thought to herself silently placing a hand over her stomach. She felt sick, as if a poison had entered her veins making the floor beneath her crumble into a metaphorical endless void of silence and fear.
While everyone else seemed to accept the official explanation from the professor and the officers at the school, Raven's belief and loyalty to Maverick's disappearance was no coincidence each day that passed. Determined to find the truth, she embarked on a quest to uncover the secrets behind her best friend's disappearance. Raven meticulously retraced Maverick's steps on the day he vanished. She interviewed classmates, professors, and anyone who possibly had any information on Maverick's whereabouts.
Raven's relentless pursuit of the truth under the police's noses revealed a startling pattern...
Many inconsistencies and unexplained events happened surrounding Maverick's disappearance and one thing Raven knew for certain. Maverick was in danger.
The turning point that led Raven to believe that something was wrong with Maverick's disappearance occurred when Raven visited Maverick's shared bedroom at the orphanage. While searching for any clues that could shed light, Raven discovered a hidden note between the bed and the bedframe of Maverick's bed. Raven slowly unfolded the note to see a code with 4 numbers and a single letter put together.
This code was one of the first practices Maverick and Raven cultivated in school. This code uses the deck of cards as the Alphabet. Beside each number and single letter was the suit of the card, which in this case was both the clubs and spades.
Let's say you want to spell the word Pretty, by using a deck of cards. You would choose two suits that represent the English alphabet. Each suit has about thirteen cards in total. Starting with the suit of Spades; the Ace of spades is the letter A, and then the two of spades would be the letter B. Which would make the King of Spades the letter M. Then you would connect the second suit, which is Clubs to finish the rest of the alphabet starting with the Ace. The ace of clubs would be the letter N, and the two of clubs would be the letter O. That would mean the letter Z would be the king of clubs.
So the Alphabet should look like this by using just cards; A♠️=A, 2♠️=B, 3♠️=C, 4♠️=D, 5♠️=E, 6♠️=F, 7♠️=G, 8♠️=H, 9♠️=I, 10♠️=J, J♠️=K, Q♠️=L, K♠️=M, A♣️=N, 2♣️=O, 3♣️=P, 4♣️=Q, 5♣️=R, 6♣️=S, 7♣️=T, 8♣️=U, 9♣️=V, 10♣️=W, J♣️=X, Q♣️=Y, K♣️=Z.
Spelling the word, Pretty would look like this; 3♣️, 5♣️, 5♠️, 7♣️,7♣️, Q♣️.
The 3 numbers and single letter on this small note that Raven found had; 8♠️, 5♠️, Q♠️, 3♣️.
"Help..." Due to her eidetic memory, Raven deciphered this code in less than two seconds. With this newfound revelation, Raven's belief in Maverick's innocence solidified. She became convinced that her best friend had not voluntarily vanished, but had fallen victim to foul play.