Raven's P•O•V

I could feel my hands begin to shake as I gripped my warm coffee cup. I breathed shakily and glanced towards the cafe doors every ten seconds. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I waited for my brother to come in and tell me what he needed to say so importantly.

I felt someone tap my shoulder and I almost flinched. I turned and saw him smiling at me. I let go of my coffee and stood to greet him.

"Hey, sis," My brother, Steven, greeted me, wrapping me in a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around him and sighed in his chest.

"Hey," I mumbled softly into his sweatshirt. I let go of him and sat back at the table. He sat in the chair across from me and set his coffee down. He smiled at me, but pity was in his expression.

"Are you okay?" Steven asked and stirred the tan-brown liquid. I scoffed.

"Am I supposed to be?" I asked in a thick voice, recalling what had happened last night at the family dinner.

"In my opinion, no," Steven answered with a soft chuckle. My lips curved into a half-smile as I stared down at my untouched drink.

"Should I want them to forgive me? Are they even that important in my life? Or am I better off without them?" I said aloud, rattling off the questions that had been stuck in my mind all night.

"Raven... They're our parents," He started to say but I looked up at him and he stopped once he saw my expression.

"Don't lie Steven. They never have been my parents. We both know that," I said with a sort of hurt towards the feeling of admitting this aloud. "Last night was the first night in two years that they have ever called..." I mumbled and looked down at my coffee again. I felt a small feeling of anger ignite at the thought.

"And all they wanted to do was gloat to the family of how perfect our family was. Especially Casey," I hissed her name, rolling my eyes at the thought of even questioning whether I wanted my family back in my life or not. Last night had been the last straw. I finally took my coffee and sipped a little bit, hoping Steven would say something so I could calm my mixed emotions.

"I can't lie to you, Raven. I can't make you call them your parents. Who would I be if I did that to you? You're my little sister and the most amazing person I know," Steven said with a compassionate voice. I felt my eyes start to water because he always knew what to say. Always.

"When we were still in high school and still lived in the same house, I couldn't stand to see Mom and Dad oppress your individuality. It was outrageous! God, I just wanted to clock Dad every time he opened his fat mouth," Steven said and I let out a laugh. He smiled at me and chuckled.

It went quiet as he sipped his drink and I looked up from my coffee. I smiled softly.

"You always know what to say to make me feel better," I told him honestly. He smiled and put his drink back down.

"Oh do I now?" He asked with a laugh. I scoffed and nodded.

A small buzzing noise came from Steven's pocket. He pulled the phone out of his pocket. He looked at the screen and frowned, answering the phone.

"Hello?" He said and went quiet while whoever was on the other line talked.

"Yeah, I'll be there immediately," He said and hung up, getting out of the seat. I instantly knew it was the precinct he worked for.

"They just found a body down the street. I'm so sorry I have to leave," He said guiltily, but I got up and smiled.

"It's okay. Talking to you really helped," I told him. He smiled and embraced me in a hug.

"Anytime sis," He said and parted from our hug before turning to leave. I sat there and drank my coffee.

I heard the cafe door chime as a new customer came in. I looked up from my coffee and saw a guy come in. The first thing I noticed about him was his build. Not a single exposed part of his body wasn't toned. It felt like I was witnessing a walking statue. His jaw looked like it was chiseled by Michelangelo.

He must've felt my stare because not a second after getting in line to order, he looked at me. I could feel myself snap out of my gaze and I looked out the window. I only got a glance of his eyes before focusing on something else. I could feel his eyes on me though, burning the skin on my neck where his gaze had been set on instead of my eyes. I felt my face burning in embarrassment, so I looked out of the corner of my eye to see if he was still looking, but he was gone.

The door shut with a chime and I merely got a glimpse of his shadow walking out, then he was gone.

♱

Alec's P•O•V

"How the hell are we going to find her?" DeMalo groaned as we were walking down the street.

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me? Aren't you the one that dragged me out here to find her?" I retorted in annoyance.

"Don't you want to see her? She's your Soulmate anyways," DeMalo asked, making me shut up. Yeah, I did, but at the same time, I did not.

"That's what I thought," He muttered.

The streets started getting more familiar as we filtered through them. For some unreasonable plan, we decided to start out with the blocks surrounding the one where I saw Raven. We spent countless hours looking for some sort of clue. Which, you guessed it, there weren't any clues we were looking for and there were pretty much no clues to find. She was invisible in the city of millions.

Finally, I found myself on the sidewalk of the most familiar street of all. The smell of clotted blood came from the dumpster of the alley across the street. From where I was, I could see the smashed brick wall. DeMalo stopped beside me and smirked.

"I'm guessing this is the one?" He said, gesturing to the smell. I nodded and started walking again. I suddenly felt a crunch beneath my foot and looked down, holding my foot up. It was glass. I looked over and there was the phone. I picked it up carefully and looked at it.

I pressed the power button. Nothing. I continued to hope it'd turn on so I held the power button down for a minute. Nothing. I sighed.

"Was that hers?" DeMalo asked and came up to me.

"Yeah. But it's a lost cause," I said without emotion. I dropped the phone and stood leaning against the wall. After a minute or two, I looked down the street in the direction she had come from last night. I pushed myself off the wall and started walking.

Retracing her steps, I found myself at a small intersection. I stopped and suddenly a glimpse of army green came from the corner of my eye. Out of some instinct, I turned to see what had caused the color to catch my eye.

Across the street was a quaint cafe with huge windows that showed the people inside. And there she was, holding her drink and staring down at it. I froze in my spot and watched her stir the coffee. There was a man with her, talking and I felt something in me burn with jealousy. I didn't have time to listen in on their conversation before I realized DeMalo was beside me.

"Anything?" He asked and looked around. I shook my head and tore my eyes off of her. A feeling of unease came over me and for some reason, I felt the need to play it off. I didn't want DeMalo to know what she looked like. Not yet anyway. I didn't want him looking at her. There was no denying the beauty she possessed. Who could possibly keep their eyes off her?

"No," I lied.

"Well, that was a waste of six hours. I'm going to head back to the hotel," He sighed and told me. I nodded and shoved my hands in my pockets.

"Aren't you coming?" He asked when I didn't follow him.

"No. I think I'm going to wait a little longer," I said. DeMalo nodded and turned.

"See you back at the hotel," He said and in an instant, he was gone. I let out a sigh, not noticing that I was holding my breath this whole time. When I turned to look back into the cafe window, the man that was with her was gone.

I clenched my jaw and decided. I walked across the street and faced the cafe door. I looked at it and finally grabbed the handle, pulling open the cafe door.

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