The One Who Watches by Jillian Cline (the rosie project txt) 📖

for me and when they found there target my mouth went dry. Parkers eyes too were dark, but did he have feathers? No that’s just silly of me to think about that. But was it him the poem was talking about or was it the raven?
I got up from my seat and walked up onto the stage. "Hey J, how are you feeling this morning?" I chuckled. "Like crap. Kayla is in art so... here I am." Parker nodded. "I saw her there not too long ago. I would have said hi but she seemed to be intrigued in her work I didn't want to bother her." Despite the fact that art is Kayla's talent I laughed at the memories of her so in tune with her work she didn't relies she painted a clown, her deepest fear. "Well I just hope it wasn't a clown. She hates it when that happens. It is best to just walk away when she paints or you'll be walking out of the room colorful." I couldn't help smiling and Parkers mouth twitched into one. "That sounds like Kayla." Then he turned back to the class and said, "Speaking of talents, would you guys mind if J tells us a story or poem?" I was shocked at how many people wanted to hear what I write. "Um, Parker I don’t think that is a good thing for me to do." "Why?" He asked looking at me now. "My writing isn't good; I don't think people would get it." A smile was now on his lips. "Isn't that what poetry is about?" He had a point. "Fine."
I closed my eyes and took a few breaths and let the words flow to me
"I look at the sky which was now pitching black. I couldn't get him out of my mind. Everything reminded me of him. The dark velvet sky was his black feathers; the stars were the only light in his eyes; and the moon was his heart, no matter what happened it still stayed bright and under the soft skin of armor, beating or not. I couldn't bear to look at any of it. It wasn't him; nothing was him, no one was him. Why did he have to go? Why did he have to leave me unprotected?
"I turned my back to the sky and walked into the tomb; the one he showed me when he changed; when he try and failed to protect me. The world could be a cruel, dark place. That was what killed him, Argus. That was his name; since the Greeks name a man that for protection, why couldn't I name him that? It fit him, just like his body fit against mine. It was the boy; he did this, this horrible thing. He stood between me and my Argus. Lies can be deceiving; people can be deceiving. Why should I waist my breath, they'll never know the truth."
I felt numb, so very numb. I couldn't breathe, only think. Was the name of the raven Argus? Why do I even care if the creature dies? My head spun with my thoughts, my feelings, and my questions. "J are you okay?" Parker asked, but I couldn't speak. "It doesn't make sense." I finally breathed. I felt like someone was watching me, separate eyes then from the crowd. Slowly my own eyes opened and I turned around to see the raven perched on the sill of a window, my raven. I should have felt afraid, but calm consumed me. The raven cocked its head to the side. "Parker if I lost my mind what would you do with me?" I didn't take my eyes of the raven. "I would try to help you?" I sighed. "You can’t answer a question with a question." "J what is wrong?"
"Pie. I don't know why but I'm in the mood for pie." I looked away from the raven to Parker. "I think the poem was about pie. It is a flying pie, I love it, and it fits my body well. And since lunch is next your class stands between me and a pie named Argus. It must have some strong kick to it." Parker smiled and people laughed in the crowd. "You are really a girl of mystery aren’t you?" I laughed. "You stole that line from a kids’ TV show. I only know that because you used to watch it when we were kids." The bell range.
I know I wasn't talking about pie. Before I left I stole a glance at the window that once held the raven. Once held.
***
"I'm telling you. Something is going on." I was telling my sister what had just happened. We were at our lockers putting our stuff away so we could go to lunch. She slammed her locker. "You’re telling me. You should have seen what I painted in art." I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. "It wasn't a clown again was it?" She shivered at my mention of it. "No it was weirder than that." I closed my locker and asked, "What can be creepier than a clown?" She hooked her arm through mine. "I wouldn't think that when you hear this. I was painting like always, and you know how a zone out when I do? Well when I came out of it what I painted scared the crap out of me." I glanced at her waiting for her to tell me already what she had drawn. "Well, what is it?" Her eye brows frowned in concentration. "It was a feather. A black one. Its stem, you know the part that is a attached to the skin, was sharp like a quill and had blood splattered. Well it wasn't really blood but the color red represented it." My eyes widened and she looked up at me. "That was the same look the teacher had on her face. She was so scared the she stopped the whole class and left the room. It was creepy, very creepy."
I pushed open the cafeteria doors when I said. "Yes that is creepy. And the poems... I know they weren’t about pie but I needed a distraction. And the raven was watching me the whole time. The weird thing was I didn't feel scared more, like, safe." Kayla unlaced her arm from mine to get a tray. "You know it seems like your poems and stories are more like prophecies." I too got a tray and held it out so I could get my food. The lunch lady gave me looks the seemed like, get-out-now kind of look. We got our food then found an empty table and sat. "You might be right. But if they are prophecies, then we have to figure out what it is they're talking about."
"You know you could always sit with me, right?" I jumped at Parker's voice in my ear. His cold breath was on my cheek and my neck. "Parker! Don't do that." My sister gasped. He pulled up a seat turned it around and dropped his plate on the table, sitting down. "Sorry. So what are we talking about?" Me and Kayla took turns telling Parker what we thought and what we just discus a moment ago. His eyes darted back and forth to Kayla and me. "What is the other poem that you wrote J? The one before you got on stage." His eyes finally rested on me. I bent over and fished out the poem from my backpack, humming a tune while I did. "Ah, there you are." I said as I found it. I handed it to Parker who already had his hand held out to take it. As he read it, I thought I saw something cross his face. "Do you mind if I take this to look at it?" I studied Parkers face. I reached out and touched his face so he could look at me. "What is wrong?" I asked as I looked deep in his eyes. He placed his hand on mine to pull it away and still held it as he spoke. "I just want to look over this to make sure you aren't in danger, that's all."
I shook my head. "Parker, please do me a favor and don't act like you’re the big bad wolf. The poem says that the raven is trying to protect me, not harm me. Plus if it does I got little tricks up my sleeve." I smiled and winked at him. He too smiled. His fingers laced with mine giving me his cold heat on my palm. "I know you do but I still like to make sure you are okay." I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine just a little freaked. That is why I'm going to go for a run today to get my mind off of it." They looked at me like I was crazy. I sighed. "Like Parker said before. My mind isn't clear, and running helps me." Parker raised his eye brows and let go of my hand. "Fine. If you say you can protect yourself, then fine." He got up and left. "What's wrong with him?" I asked Kayla. "Your being stupid that's what." and with that she too got up and left the room after Parker.
***
After my classes I walked by myself too me and Kayla’s dorm. Like I thought she wasn't there. I walked in my room and threw my stuff on the floor of my room. I peeled my clothes off and in a pile in the corner, and then pulled n my running cloths. I grabbed my MP3 from my bag then headed out the door once again.
***
I found a path at the edge of the woods. I studied if for a moment before turning on my MP3 and began jogging on the worn crumbled path. My breath became in short pants with the form of a tiny cloud before rushing in my face. Dogging broken limbs of trees, I pumped my body harder. The fiery sensation of my moving body filled me with pain, but I kept going. It was then I saw a human shape take form in the corner of my vision. Considering it an animal I turned my attention back to the path. The song switched to Three Days Grace's Animal I have become. Feeling the beat in my head and spread down my body making my heart rate beat faster and my speed picked up with the tempo. Everything was a blur now. Passing so fast I didn't see the log the rested on the ground soundlessly. Before I knew it the ground was rushing at me faster than I was running. I didn't have time to brace myself for the searing pain that I knew was going to come. But it didn't. Time to seem to slow down. I was falling, falling deeper to the ground as gravity took its hold on me, but it was slowing down. When my nose was an inch from the ground, everything stopped. Warmth was