Lost in Darkness

Chapter 34-Moving Forward

Chapter 34

Raven's POV

Two Weeks Later

"Are you sure you're alright Raven?" Cole asked for what had to be the hundredth time that day. 
I chuckled, batting halfheartedly at his hovering hands as I climbed awkwardly out of the car.

I glanced up at the building before me. Never had it felt so good to see the rundown, battered door, or the unkempt garden that smelt nothing like sweet flowers, but more like car fumes. 
"For the last time Cole, I'm fine!" I said, beyond exasperated. It wasn't strictly true. I still felt the odd aches and pains, the signal that as much as I hated to admit it, I wasn't fully recovered just yet.
"Yeah, well," Cole mumbled, grabbing my bags from the boot and hurrying to my side. When I tried to take some of the bags from him, he shot me a dark look until I dropped my hands with a look of surrender. "The doctor said that you have to rest."

As we entered the hall that still smelled faintly of urine, I couldn't help but smile. It was good to be home.
"The doctor said I have to rest, not be a lazy piece of shit," I retorted, fumbling with the keys and pushing the door open, suppressing a wince as the old pain flared up in my shoulder. Cole followed me in and kicked the door shut, dumping the bags. They landed with a heavy thud that immediately made me feel guilty. Before I could even say anything, he muttered warningly, "Don't even think about it." 

Laughing, I went into the living room and slumped down onto the sofa. After a few moments, Cole joined me. I snuggled up next to him, smiling slightly. This moment felt so right. So perfect. Like nothing from the outside world could touch us here. And I suppose they couldn't. After all, what was left to taint the moment? Lucius was dead now. There was nothing else to worry about. 

I still found it hard to believe. I'd spent my whole life looking over my shoulder, wondering if today would be the day Lucius decided to come after me. I was having a hard time adjusting to the fact that he was dead. That he couldn't hurt me any more. It felt too good to be real. 

The day after I woke up, I gave my statement to the police. Thankfully, they didn't ask any difficult questions, so my statement was the perfect match to Cole's. For the rest of the time, I'd been forced to stay in the hospital to rest and recover, which was as boring as hell. Cole was by my side the whole time, making me laugh, so it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. 

"It's nice being back home," I said, closing my eyes and snuggling closer, smiling when I felt his strong arms wrap around me. I knew that he would always protect me, no matter what. 
"It's nice to have you back," he replied, gently kissing the top of my head. 

That was another thing I hadn't quite gotten used to yet. I wasn't sure I ever would. My heart seemed to pound even at that small contact. It was still hard for me to think that Cole found me attractive that way. That he actually wanted to be with me. I don't know how I'd ever gotten so lucky as to snag an awesome guy like him. But hey, it was his stupidity, not mine. I wasn't one to question a good thing when it happened. I'd learned to enjoy the good moments when they came. And when it wasn't so good... Well, I guess I'll tackle those problems when the time comes. 

"Thank you for being there for me these past few days," I murmured, looking up at Cole through a film of my brown hair. "I don't know what I would have done without you." He wiped the strands out of my face and kissed my nose, then my mouth when I made a little noise of protest. It was a short kiss, but it seemed to speak a thousand words of love and adoration. 
"I'll always be there for you Raven," he whispered against my lips, before he captured them again, taking my breath away.

And I knew then that everything really was going to be okay.  

***

OMG OMG OMG!!!! I DID IT!!! I FINISHED MY FIRST DRAFT OF A FULL NOVEL!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! *mentally slaps myself to calm down*

Okay, so I know this is really short and cheesy, but hey, I was just thinking short and sweet. And keeping in mind that I don't have any experience whatsoever with novel endings... I'll probably go back and change it later, but for now, it'll do. 

Just keep in mind that this is only the first draft. I'm going to go back and change a LOT, because there are a lot of things that I didn't mention, like Izzy's funeral, what happened to Izzy's mum, Cole's new power. Stuff like that, looking back, I realise I missed out, and will definitely rectify that in the drafts to come.

I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who followed this book right through to th end. Your support really means a lot to me, and i wouldn't have been able to write this book without you, because without you guys encouraging me to continue on, I seriously wouldn't have, because I suck at continuing stories -__- Haha, you don't know the amount of stories I've started but never finished. >.< 

Speaking of other stories, I'm now working on a werewolf/fantasy novel called Hunted. If you enjoyed this story, then you'll probably like Hunted even more, since this one was kinda crap, lol. Hunted is basically set in the aftermath of a disease that killed off nearly all of the feamel werewolves. It follows the story of Azula, who's trying to survive and retain her freedom, which suddenly becomes a lot more complicated when she meets Amias... Check my profile for a proper summary!

AHHHH, for the last time.... Bye guys. I really hope you didn't find this too awful :) 

~midnight-disaster