MAY

My obsession with attempting to make Raven stronger has taken over as the nightmares keep me awake at night. The worst pain came from the fears of her suffering or of losing her.

Raven sighs, "I'm worn out." She needs to build up her strength, which I am aware of. The conflict with the outside world is still very much alive, in my opinion. But I don't tell her about my feelings and keep them to myself. I draw this exhausted woman near to me, who on the outside seems like your ordinary college student but on the inside is the most dangerous hybrid the world has ever known. I look into her sleep-deprived eyes and ask,

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes but-" I cut her off.

"Then we need to do this." I kiss her head.

"Clay, give the girl a rest. We've been at this for weeks, day and night. Both Ray and Brie are exhausted and so am I. I don't know how much more my body can take from all these beatings." I hear Logan speak from behind me. In reality, both girls have been working constantly, given how much I've pushed them. In fact, Brie has found that she has a little bit more power than she initially thought. I look down at Raven, who has a tired expression on her face.

"Fine!" I walk away from the group. As I walk I mumble, "I'm telling you guys what we went through wasn't the end."

"What did you say?" Raven asks.

"Nothing!" I shout and head through the doors, up to my room.

As I lay in bed, I recall some of my most recent nightmares. Nobody can see me or hear me, but it appears that I am there. I'm truly scared of it. I have the impression that I am asleep and that my spirit is somewhere cold. I can still plainly hear my own screams for mercy. Even though I close my eyes, I can still feel Raven approaching the door.

"Come here," I open my arms for her to come to me and she does, "I'm sorry, but after what we've been through, I'm just scared of what can happen." I tell her .

"I know, but it's over and if something does supposedly happen we will deal with it when the time comes like we always do." She kisses my cheek. I hope she's right. We lay there for a bit when she gets up and heads to the shower.

"Coming?" She asks as she walks away.

She is everything to me, brings me serenity, and serves as a distraction from the outside world. I spring up and go after her. We allow the hot water to run over our bodies as she pulls me close to her and kisses me. As soon as I put my hand close to her, I notice that her legs tense up before she releases. I let her get out of the intoxicated haze I seem to have her in all the time. She then gives me a kiss with great intensity. We lose ourselves in each other until the water gets frigid. While pounding on the door, Logan says,

"Come on guys, we need to get to Lia's."

Since the day she moved into the girls' former apartment, the girls have fulfilled their promise to Lia and Ms. Danielson that we would go over for dinner every Friday. As Raven completes getting dressed, I turn to see her, and she grins and takes my hand as we leave.

Logan and I have come to think of Lia as a second mother, and she frequently inquires about our lessons as we eat.  Which the girls find amusing. After helping Lia with the cleanup, we have a lengthy conversation.

"Raven, how are things doing with all the magic training?" Raven rolls her eyes and chuckles as Lia turns to face her and notes her obstinacy.

"I'm tired but he," She points at me, "Won't let me have a break"

"You should always be knowledgeable since you never know when you will need anything, therefore that's a good thing." Lia finally turns her loving gaze on Raven. Raven slumps onto the sofa in frustration since she had assumed her Aunt would support her in this.

"When in the hell will I ever require the spirit-finding spell? The spell to wake someone, for example, doesn't make sense to me." With frustration, she says. "Or my preferred magic to locate someone in another dimension." While rolling her eyes, she says.

Based on my opinion of the situation, she will require far more information than that. Lia shakes her head as she watches Raven; she is aware that her niece is difficult, but Raven always acts on her conscience, and if she is only objecting to the training, then an internal voice is pressing her to cooperate. After a while, we bid Lia and Ms. Danielson goodnight and thank them for dinner.

The drive home is simply quiet. No one says a word as we pull into the driveway. We get inside and Raven heads to the chair near the living room window, I follow and take a seat next to her. Something is going on in that head of hers, like always I can tell when the gears are turning.

"What's wrong?" I ask my beautiful girl while she stares out the window.

"It hasn't rained since the beginning of April, we are due for a good storm." She says with a wicked smile.

"Raven?" I question what she has planned.

"Tonitrua."

She whispers. A clap of thunder fills what was a quiet town two seconds ago.

"Fulgar."

She whispers. Lights fill the dark sky as lightning strikes in numerous directions and finally, she whispers,

"Pluvia tempestas."

The sound of rain striking the window makes me jump. Although she has done this previously, she has never made it pour so heavily. As the lightning intensifies, the thunder grows louder, and the rain pours down more heavily, she eventually lifts her gaze from the window and grins at me.

"I know what I'm doing, so can we now stop with all the training, just for a little while, I'm tired of it." She tells me

"I understand you're tired, but you've never conjured a storm this big. How do I know you can stop it?" I ask her.

"Prohibere!"

She says strongly and the storm stops and the outside world becomes quiet again.

"Well, shit." I smirk, She really does have everything under control. She gets up to leave, but I catch her and pull her onto my lap where I give her a tight hug. I lean in to kiss her as she giggles.

"I love you." I move her to the couch.

"I love you." She kisses me.

Footsteps from the kitchen make me look over and I see Brie and Logan,

"We are going to the arcade, want to join?" Brie smiles. Knowing Raven she won't turn this down, she absolutely loves the arcade. But to my surprise she declines.

Brie shrugs her shoulders and informs us that they are going to the club with some people after. Raven tells her to have a good time and hugs her goodbye. We have the whole house to ourselves.

"Want to watch a movie on the big screen?" I ask her.

She nods and makes her way upstairs to get dressed. As I gather blankets, she dons one of my t-shirts. She exits the room as I change into shorts and head downstairs. While Raven sets up the movie, I make my way to the living room and light the fireplace. As Raven creates a small improvised bed for us to lie on by scattering all the pillows around the floor, I chuckle. I'll never be able to comprehend what goes through her mind.

I stow Raven next to me as I lay down and turn out the lights. She eventually rests her head on my exposed chest. As the warmth from the fireplace warms us up, I run my hands over her hair. Her lips had already touched mine before I have a chance to speak, so I pull her onto my lap. My neck, chest, and stomach are all touched by her lips as she proceeds downward. I can't help but groan as her hands pull my shorts down and as her lips trace along my length. Her hair is in my hands as I feel myself about to unleash. As she approaches me, I take her by the behind and lift her onto my lap. Before turning her over onto the sheets, I softly remove her panties. When we are physically together, she puts me in a place where I lose myself. Following my victory in making her feel amazing, we both release together.

Raven covers herself in the blankets and cuddles up to me. We soon both find ourselves in a deep sleep. As the night goes on, I'm awoken by noise coming from the front entrance. I hear Logan and Brie stumble in drunk. The noise they make makes me fear Raven will awake. I slowly get up and walk toward them, turning the hallway light on, they both look at me like deer in headlights,

"What the hell?"

"Sorry bro, so sorry," Logan's drunk ass says.

With no worries in the world Logan continues to stumble alongside Brie and I chuckle at the scene.

"Go to bed,"

"Aye aye, captain." Brie giggles as she makes her way to the stairs.

"Oh and shut the fuck up, it's four in the morning."

They quietly move up the stairs and I hear their bedroom door close. I make my way back to Raven who looks sound asleep. I lay back down and she moves her head to my chest and whispers,

"You'll make a great dad someday," She laughs.

"Shut up," I laugh with her as I move her closer and kiss her head, "Get some more sleep," She nods and wraps her arm around my torso as she falls back asleep.