Riverton

    Finally the bell rang signaling the end of another school day. Levi bolted from his seat, not paying attention to what his math teacher was going on about formulas, and headed straight for the front doors. He hated school. He had way to much to be worried about and focused on to pay attention in class, but Raven had insisted he continue to keep his mind off of what happened to Stella.

    He laid awake all night thinking of her. Every time he would shut his eyes, her dead image appeared more vivid then that last. He kept thinking about how nice she had been to help him regain his memory. How she was so willing to help him from the day they bumped into each other. How she was so quick to leaned a helping hand when he was too numb to deal with Elyssa that day. And now Stella was gone. He would never see her again.

    That lead his mind off onto a rabbit trail thinking about Elyssa. Wondering how she was doing. Was she still alive? Being air lifted to a different hospital was never a good sign. She had been a strange girl, that was for sure. Acting like she knew him, but did she? He could still recall the image of her in his mind, but he couldn't remember where he would've seen her at. Maybe before all of this nonsense happened.

    And then there was Raven. He couldn't help but notice how protective of that locked door in the kitchen she was. What was behind there? Something important? Something secret? Something that she didn't want anyone finding? Raven had seemed like such a nice girl the moment he met when he woke up in the hospital, but now she seemed... odd. Like she wasn't the same girl he had met a week ago.

    That's when a new thought struck him rendering him no sleep. What if Raven was hiding someone behind that locked door in the basement? Daniel had been the one to tell him that Elyssa was moved, but what if it was all a lie? What if the receptionist he had talked to was paid to tell him what she did? What if Elyssa was locked up behind that door, chained and in agony? It would explain why Raven was so protective over it.

    He laid staring at the ceiling the rest of the night formulating a plan to get behind that door.

    Levi burst through the double doors, and glanced around the front yard at the kids who piled around. He small hint of sadness washed over him when he didn't see Imani anywhere. But it was a good thing. He had told her to stay away, and at least she was.

    He lowered his head, and took off down the sidewalk to the Noble's house. He was thankful Daniel wasn't here. Daniel had been pretty worried when Levi told him this morning that he wanted to walk home alone. He knew the dangers out there. Someone was out to get him. That wasn't something he was taking lightly, but he couldn't handle being around people and possibly get them hurt too. No, for now on, he had to do everything alone.

    He walked down the sidewalk as cars passed by on his right. He remained with his head down, watching his feet as he walked, hoping that no one would notice him.

    He suddenly stopped and glanced to his left at the window of an antique shop. He squinted his eyes as he took a step closer. Through the reflection, he noticed a girl walking a few paces behind him on the opposite side of the street.

    He turned around to face his stalker as she adverted her gaze when he realized that it was Imani who was following him. His brow furrowed. What was she doing? "Imani!" He called out to her knowing she'd seen him look her way.

    Imani raised her head, and gazed at him as her shoulders sank. She looked both ways across the road before running across the pavement toward him. When she reached the other side, she lowered her head as her shoulders drew inward toward her chest. "Hi, Levi."

    "What are you doing here, Imani? Why are you following me?" He wanted to sound angry with her because he was, but he couldn't get his voice to rise how he wanted. Instead of being angry, he felt unexpected fear. Now, he had to protect her too.

    "I... uh," Imani stuttered. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

    He was getting ready to reply when that same sensation went off in his mind like before. The one that had warned him that Stella was about to pull the trigger. It had returned. But why? Did that mean something was about to happen?

    He tried ignoring it, shooing it away. It was probably nothing. Just his nerves. He would've been okay if it was only his life in danger, but now Imani was here. He didn't want anything happening to her.

    He tried to focus on something else, but the sensation in his head grew until it hammered at his skull. He clenched his eyes for a second as pain arose in his temples.

    "Levi, is everything okay?"

    The pounding in his head continued as his heart beat wildly. Something was coming. Something bad, and dangerous. "Imani, get down!" He gripped her shoulders and dragged her to the ground, throwing himself over top of her for protection. They both smacked their knees against the concrete as a loud bang rang throughout the air followed by glass shattering from the window behind him.

    He jerked his head up, feeling glass fall off his jacket, and watched as a black Toyota zoomed away.

    "What was that?" Imani asked, uncovering her head with her hands. Her big brown eyes gazed at him. "How did you know that was going to happen? I didn't even hear that car."

    Levi's heart continued to pound as he shook his head. "I... I don't know. I just did." He swallowed. "I was facing the road. Maybe I saw the car."

    Imani shook her head. "No, you were staring at me the whole time. There's no way you knew that was about to happen."

    He sat back feeling his legs give out, glass crunching beneath his pants. It was then he realized his mouth was agape, and his eyes were wider then needed. His chest squeezed as fear gripped him. What was going on with him? First with Stella, and now this? That couldn't be normal, could it?

    Imani placed a hand on his knee. "Come on. We should find Daniel. Tell him what happened."

    "No!" He hadn't meant to shout, but that's how it came out. He cleared his throat. "Daniel can't do anything. Let's just leave it."

    "Are you crazy?" Imani shouted. "Someone just tried to kill us! We have to tell someone!" She thrust her hands on her hips. "That's one of the bad things about living in a small town. There was no one around to witness that!"

    Levi ignored her concerns as he pushed himself to his feet. His left hand stung, and he flipped it over to see a few cuts on his palm that oozed blood. Probably from when he fell back into the glass. Wasn't his best moment. He held his palm out, careful to keep it away from his clothes. "Let's just get out of here before they decide to circle back."

    He lead the way to the Noble's house as Imani followed close behind. He glanced every way constantly looking for someone who could be the people that so desperately wanted him dead. Thankfully, he didn't run into anyone, or at least see them, the whole way.

    As the two walked through the gate of the Noble's house, Levi took the path that lead to the garage rather then the house.

    "Uh, Levi, where are you going?"

    He didn't answer. He hated that Imani was going to get messed up in the involvements of his plans, but he couldn't send her home by herself. Not now anyway. Not with those people still out there. She'd just have to wait for someone to give her a ride.

    He continued toward the garage and shoved open the side door.

    "Why are you breaking into the Noble's garage?" Imani's voice sounded fanatic.

    Levi chuckled. "Is it really considered breaking in if I live here too? Plus, it's not locked."

    Imani glanced around. "I mean, you've only lived here for a week, and they're your guardians. Not your parents."

    He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay, well they will never know." He stepped inside and glanced around the two car garage. He found Daniel's tools, and began digging away for the object he needed. He continued searching until he found the bolt cutters he was looking for, and held it up in a victorious grasp.

    "Uh, what do you plan on doing with those?" Imani asked.

    He turned around, not bothering to eye her, as he walked toward the door. "I found a locked door yesterday. I want to know what's behind it." He stepped outside, trusting Imani to shut the door behind them.

    "Whoa, whoa, wait! You can't just go cutting them!"

    "Why not?" He marched through the front door, and into the kitchen.

    Imani ran in front of him, placing a hand on his chest as she gave him a slight push. "Because what are you going to do when they find out? They'll be furious when they see what you've done."

    Levi huffed. "Look, something's going on here." He jabbed a finger at his chest as his voice rose. "And I have to figure it out. I need to know what they're hiding."

    He rushed into the house through the entry way and dinning room until he was in the kitchen. He made his way to the back of the room, gripping the cutters in his hand tightly as he eyed the chain on the door. He raised the cutters and placed the mouth around the chain, using both hands on the handles.

    "Alright. I'll admit. That is a little strange." He turned as Imani stepped up to his side. "What do you think could be behind there that's so important?"

    "Why don't you ask me yourself?"

    Levi and Imani flung themselves toward the door at the sound of Raven's voice, Levi hiding the cutters behind his back.

    Raven leaned against the threshold. "May I ask just what you're doing?" She sounded aggravated, but didn't take any action that suggest she was angry with them.

    He gulped as he tried thinking of an excuse. What was he going to say?

    "What's down there?" Imani took a bold step forward. "What's so important that you had to screw a bar to the wall just to chain lock the door?" She thrust her hands on her hips. "People only do things like that when they have something to hide."

    Raven sighed as a tiny grin tugged at the corner of her lips. "If you wanted to know, you should've just asked." She slowly began walking toward them. "Down there, in the basement, is my collection. Artifacts, books, things that are very old and very rare." She stopped directly in front of him. "Things that I don't want, nor can afford, to be broken." She placed a hand out.

    Levi swallowed and looked away before drawing out the bolt cutters from behind his back and placing them in her hand. "Why keep it locked? Are you afraid I'm going to break something? Just tell me not to go down there and I won't. You don't need to protect your items from me." He crossed his arms, offended.

    Raven chuckled. "I'm not protecting my belongs from you, Levi." She placed the cutters on the island beside her. "Two years ago, a couple of teenage boys broke into my home, and ransacked the basement looking for something to empress their friends with." She crossed her arms as her face hardened. "They tore out pages in my books, shattered extremely old clay pots, and punched holes into my paintings. They destroyed billions of dollars worth of items."

    He and Imani exchanged glances. Imani lowered her head as a frown crept onto her face.    

    Levi lowered his own head. He felt guilty for trying to break in.  He never should've done that. Sadness pierced his heart. Imani had once said that she saw him stealing food before. Perhaps no matter how badly he wanted to change himself, once a thief always a thief.

    Raven lowered her hands, placing one on the island. "Daniel was the one who installed the bar and suggested I get a padlock for it. That way no one else could destroy my things."

    "Raven, I'm so sorry," Levi apologized. "I shouldn't have tried to break in in the first place. I should've just asked you."

    Raven smiled, her nose wrinkling up. "You're forgiven." She placed a hand on Levi and Imani's shoulder. "Now, how about we settle down and have a piece of pie?"

    He gave her puzzled face with a raised brow. "Before dinner?"

    Raven puckered her lips in a shushing manner. "Don't tell Daniel," she whispered. "Come on! You'll love my apple pie! People around here say it's amazing."

    Levi was pushed out of the kitchen and into the dinning room as Raven went to the oven to retrieve their snack.