THE RAVENS

twenty

- aliyah -

I glanced over at my alarm clock, 6:54 am, I grabbed my cellphone to see who was calling me in such early times in the morning, and by surprise it was Luke,

He spent three days at my house before leaving to go back to college today,

"Luke, what happened, are you okay?" I asked, my voice incoherent as I shuffled in my bed, rubbing my eyes to trying to stay awake,

"Aliyah, I got into some trouble," Luke said on the other end of the line, his tone laced with panic,

"What do you mean?" I asked.
Luke wasn't the type to get in trouble, if anything, he was the guy who would feel guilty if he stole a pencil from the ground for goodness sakes!

"I can't explain right now, just meet me at the gas station near 5th Avenue."

I quickly scribbled the address down on my arm before grabbing my car keys,

"Come quickly," Luke said before hanging up.

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"Luke where are you?" I asked as I stepped out of my car, my eyes roaming around the gas station,

"I'm behind the gas station, make sure no one sees you." He says on the other end,

I run to the back of the gas station to see Luke covered in a pool of blood, his face beaten up and an unconscious girl laying next to him,

"Luke, oh my god! What the hell happened?!" I knelt down, traumatized by the scene right in front of my eyes,

"I tried to save her Aliyah! I really fucking did!" Luke cried as he held the girl in his arms, blood all over his shirt,

"Luke, I need to call 911!"

"No, you can't Aliyah!"

"Why not?"

"I almost killed somone for fuck sakes!"

What the hell does he mean?

Luke pleaded for me not to call 911, but that was the only solution I could think of right now, I quickly checked the girls' pulse, I sighed in relief to know that her heart was still beating,

"She's still alive, Luke," I stated,

Luke sighed in relief as well,

"What happened Luke?!" I asked, my tone stern as tears fell from my cheeks, my breath visible in the cold. My heart beat at a rapid pace and I was soon hyperventilating, I needed my pills to calm me down.

His green eyes filled with nothing but fear as he heasitated to explain to me what happened, why he was covered with blood, who was the girl, and how the hell did he come from driving home in the early hours of the morninig to this situation?!

"I beated this guy up so bad that he couldn't breathe anymore Aliyah! Then he crawled all the way to his car and shot me...and he drove off. That bastard! I'm going to kill him, Aliyah, I swear to god, he can't touch her! I will make sure that he's put into jail and never to be seen again."

I covered my mouth in shock as he explained to me what happened, this wasn't Luke...this wasn't him at all. Tears fell from my cheeks as I stood up and stepped back, I reached my phone from my back pocket and I did the most logical thing that anyone would've done in the situation,

"911, what's your emergency?"

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I held his hand as he laid in the hospital bed, jazz music playing in the background because that's his favourite type of music to listen to growing up. Balloons' and flowers sat on the able that given to Luke from his parents that unfortunately could only visit him a for a day before leaving to go to work again.

My eyes gazed upon Luke as he slept. He looked so gentle when he was sleeping, as if all the chaos from earlier didn't even happen, and he was just that little boy who was only a year older than me, protecting me from all the bad in the world. 

"Luke, your awake!" I state as his green eyes slowly opened. A big smile across my face, my hand still holding his,

"What happened? Where's Allie? Why am I here?" Luke asked abruptly as he sat up straight, his eyebrows furrowed and he quickly let go of my hand, his green emerald eyes not so innocent anymore.

I stared at him and found myself laughing, confused rather of the fact that he was not like this at all. The boy that was sleeping so peacefully, the boy that I held hands with, and the boy that I grew up with, was the Luke that I could remember.

So what the fuck happened to him?

"Tell. Me. What. Happened." Luke asked sternly, his piercing green eyes focused on my blue eyes that revealed nothing but absolute fear and confusion.

"You need to calm down, Luke. And then I'll tell you everything." I reply, before handing him a glass of water,

He hesitated before taking a sip,

"I'm sorry that I called you so abruptly last night, I didn't know what I was thinking. And to put you in a position where you have to call 911 or listen to me, and Aliyah I know you were scared last night, and not of the situation itself but...me. And I'm so--"

"Luke, it's okay," I say before he could unusual his sentence.

"Who's Allie?" I ask remembering the many questions that Luke wanted answers for,

"She was my ex...the girl that was unconscious last night." He explains more specifically, "I just saw her at the gas station with a guy that was beating her up, and she was crying as he punched her, so I got out of my car, and I bet the shit out of him until he couldn't breathe anymore. I stared down at him as he coughed out blood," Luke explains with a moment of pause, his eyes lost as he remembered the scene from last night.

I looked at him, shock revealed in my eyes, Luke never told me about his girlfriend, hell, I didn't even know he had one.

"Luke...is that how you got shot?" I asked lightly,

"Yeah, he shot me...but then he drove off like the pussy he was," Luke stated, his fists clenched as he remembered the vivid memory.

I held his hand for comfort and he was soon snapped back into reality,

"Thanks, Aliyah. I don't know what I would've done if you weren't there. I really appreciate it." Luke said, before embracing me into a tight warm hug that reminded me of how my Father used to hug me before.

It wasn't long until I wrapped my arms around him and smiled softly, "You're  family to me now. And nothing could ever replace that."

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a/n:

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