Raven's Blood

Raven's Blood Ch 2

At one point, I was aware of some strange fluid flowing into my mouth. It was very salty, but the more I swallowed, the sweeter and more delicious it became. I began to drink greedily, but unfortunately by then it was no more, and I sunk again into unconsciousness.
A month after the death of my sister Allison, I began having this weird, recurring dream about her. It made little sense, and it honestly freaked me out a little. I mean, I know twins are supposed to have this weird psychic connection with each other, but could it still be there after the death of one twin? Could Allison's spirit actually be haunting me?
The dream started with me walking down the street. I was in a sea of people, but I couldn't see any specific faces. Everyone else was no more than a blur. Then, I'd look to the side, which was when I'd see my sister. She was also surrounded by people who looked as blurry and unrecognizable as the people by me.
And here was where things got weird. I'd notice that on the side I was on, it was daytime, but on her side it was nighttime. I'd try to call her, but she didn't hear me, anymore than I could hear what she was saying. That's when I noticed that we were separated by a never- ending pane of glass, right where light met darkness.
That was usually when I woke up.
But this time, my dream was different. I did walk down the street, and everyone else was a blur, and I did turn to see that Allison was in the darkness, and I in the light. And yes, I did notice the barrier separating us.
But that was when things changed. Instead of waking up, I stared as the glass that separated us slowly disappeared. And then, I walked over to her side.
But she didn't hug me or anything. She just shook her head and sighed.
"Oh, Jessica," she said. "You were turned at the worst possible moment. Things are only going to get worse."
I was about to ask her what she meant, but unfortunately my brain decided it was time to wake up. And I did wake up, into the most unexpected environment possible.
It was completely dark. The surface I was lying on was soft, satiny. It was deathly quiet, to the point where I couldn't help but wonder if I'd gone deaf somehow. I tried to get out, but the ceiling was less than an inch from my face. It reminded me of this one time when my family went camping, and I ended up sleeping on this foldable bed that was close to the ceiling of the trailer we owned.
But at least I could get out. Wherever I was, I couldn't get out from the sides, or even from the front or behind. I suddenly felt terrified and claustrophobic as a thought occurred to me.
I'd been attacked. Just like Allison. And they thought I was dead.
But I wasn't dead, unlike Allison. I wasn't anywhere near dead.
I was buried alive.
No, no NO! I thought desperately. I can't be buried alive! Maybe I'm dreaming or something! But when I pinched myself, it definitely did hurt.
At that point was when I really started to panic. I banged on the lid of the coffin, even though it was undoubtedly useless. I somehow pushed it open, and instead of dwelling on it, I started digging my way to the surface. It only took a few minutes.
When I reached the surface, it was nighttime, the full moon shining brightly. The terror welled up inside me when I saw this, that I was outside at night once again. I tried not to hyperventilate, telling myself that I can take a taxi or use a payphone. Unfortunately, the whole thing about being in a graveyard only made my fear worse.
I began walking towards the wrought iron gate, wanting to get out of here. I vaguely wondered how my parents would react to finding out I was still alive. They'd probably freak out, but they would be relieved. Perhaps they would apologize for thinking I was dead. But most of all, they'd want to know how I managed to get out. I wasn't sure how to answer that yet, because I wasn't sure how I managed that myself. I don't think people who were buried alive could get to the surface to let people know otherwise.
After a few minutes of walking, I had the feeling that someone was following me. I started to run, afraid that if I turned around I'd find the same two guys who'd attacked me. Soon enough, I reached my house, without even realizing I was heading there. I grabbed the spare key under the doormat, and I tried to unlock the door. As soon as my hand made contact with the doorknob, I recieved an electric shock, and stumbled back, my mind reeling. I tried again, only to get the same result, except maybe a little stronger. That's when my pursuer, or rather, pursuers, caught up to me. They were all male, and there was a half dozen of them. None were either of the two guys from... how long ago was it? Two days ago? Three? I wasn't sure.
Anyway, these guys looked so out of place in the neighborhood. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised at all if I found out they were part of some cult. They were all deathly pale, and they all wore blood red jackets and pants, with a black shirt. Each bore a tattoo of a black circle, with upside down red triangles inside it, side by side.
Two of them grabbed me, and one told me, "You are arrested for treason against the Queen."
Wait, what?
"What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded. "I didn't do anything!"
The guy actually had the audacity to slap me.
"Be quiet," he hissed.
This had to be a joke, I thought to myself. I'm going to wake up soon and find out all this crap never happened. It had to be a dream, right?
I felt a little better at the idea, but it didn't make the following events any more fun. My captors tossed me into the back of a black van, then closed the door. Two of them sat up front, pointedly ignoring me when I asked them once again what was going on.
It took about an hour to get to wherever we were going. But maybe it was because we were going at a hundred miles an hour, or so it seemed. I was bored out of my mind for most of the trip, and I began to wonder why I hadn't woken up yet. I mean, none of this was actually real, was it?
When we finally stopped, the door opened, and I was roughly dragged out. When I saw where we were, I couldn't help but feel as if I were transported to medieval Europe.
A massive castle stood, a dark, stormy grey color. And yes, I really do mean a castle. There was a massive drawbridge, dizzyingly high towers, and just about everything you can imagine a castle would have. The only thing it didn't have was a moat.
It stood there, so blatantly obvious that I wondered how people haven't seen it yet. Even the trees surrounding it did a poor job of disguising it, because as tall as they were, none of them were quite tall enough to completely hide the castle.
A huge castle in the middle of a forest in America. The whole idea of it was just mind boggling.
However, I didn't have much time to process this, as the guys pulled me into the castle. The drawbridge was already open, so all they had to do was stroll inside, with me in tow. They dragged me through elegant, massive hallways with massive paintings, and up a couple of dizzying spiral staircases. As they did so, I noticed another thing that was missing from the castle: those creepy suits of armor that stood around everywhere in those castles you see on TV.
As soon as we got to this one massive hallway, with paintings of a bunch of grumpy looking old ladies, all my struggling up until then finally paid off. I managed to slip out of my captors' grasp, and started running back where I came. I fled at a speed that completely surpassed any running I've ever done, and without getting tired. Maybe it was the adrenaline rushing through me.
Suddenly it occurred to me, too late, that I had no idea where I was headed. However, those guys seemed to know exactly how to navigate this place. And man, were they fast. I suddenly stopped to see one of them in front of me, and then turned around, only to see that the others were right behind me. Before I could figure out what to do, they grabbed me once more, and they held me even more tightly, kicking me every time I so much as moved a muscle.