Chapter 80 I'll Be Waiting...

Chapter 80 I'll Be Waiting...
Raven's POV

I rushed toward her. Adrian moved to stop me, but I dodged him and crouched beside my mother.

I couldn't believe she was lying in front of me. Though lifeless, seeing her still felt like a reward after mourning her for months, believing her staged death was real.

“Someone help her!” I shouted, looking between everyone in the room as I placed her head on my lap.

Adrian slowly approached me.

“Adrian, help her,” I sniffled, tears trickling down my cheeks.

“Wait.” Adrian whispered as he crouched beside her. He pressed two fingers against her neck.

“She’s breathing,” he stated.

My heart nearly gave out from relief.

“She’s alive?” I repeated.

Adrian nodded. “Barely.”

I stared at my mother. After everything we'd been through, we had finally found her, but something was terribly wrong. Someone had been here. Someone had attacked her, and judging by the state of the room, they hadn't left peacefully.

I slowly looked around. “What happened to my mother?” I asked sternly, but none of the guards answered.

My eyes narrowed on the scientist, who quickly raised his hands in surrender.

“Don't look at me. We got here together, remember?”

I scoffed and looked away from him. He disgusted me.

Drew stepped closer, reaching for my mother. I sent him a stern glare as I held her closer protectively.

“Relax, Raven, dear. I just want to lay her on the bed,” he assured me, but I still stared at him skeptically.

Adrian came to my side, turned my head toward him, and wiped my tears with his thumb.

“It's okay, baby. Drew just wants to make sure she's comfortable.”

I felt my heart skip at his words. This was the first time he'd ever called me “baby” in front of others.

I liked it.

I slowly nodded as Adrian helped me up, giving Drew space to pick my mother off the floor and carry her to the bed.

I watched him gently place her on the bed before running a hand through her hair. His eyes softened as he looked at her.

It seemed like something really intimate had happened between Drew and my mom.

“Good. You've seen Rebecca. Now it's time to go,” the scientist said.

My hands clenched into fists as I glared at him. “We're going nowhere until my mother wakes up.”

The scientist sighed impatiently and rolled his eyes. “Ugh, fine. But don't say I never did anything for you.”

We all ignored him and focused on my mother as Drew tried to revive her.

After a while of Drew sprinkling water on her face and cleaning her with towels, her fingers suddenly twitched.

My breath caught.

“Mom?” I breathed.

Her eyelids slowly opened, and her eyes met mine. She smiled softly.

“Hey, darling.”

I don't know when my legs moved on their own, but before I knew it, I was beside her bed, holding her hand in mine.

“Hey, Momma. It's me, Raven,” I told her, squeezing her hand.

She smiled warmly. “I know, baby.”

A sob escaped my lips as I leaned closer, pressing my forehead against hers.

“I thought you were dead.”

“I know... and I'm so sorry for making you feel that way.”

“You have no idea how much I cried.” My voice broke as everything I'd kept buried for months came rushing back. “I mourned you. I stood at your grave and cried until I couldn't cry anymore. I thought I'd lost you forever.”

My mother reached up weakly and touched my cheek. “I'm so sorry.”

I pulled away and looked at her.

“Sorry?” My voice hardened as tears filled her eyes.

“Yes, baby,” she whispered. “I never wanted to hurt you, Raven. I thought pretending to be dead was the only way I could keep you safe.”

“But you left me,” I whispered.

She shook her head weakly as she looked away, tears flowing down her cheeks.

“I know.”

“You left me believing my mother was dead,” I cried.

“I know, baby.” Her voice cracked. “And I'll regret that for the rest of my life.”

I stared at her, feeling the anger I'd carried for so long slowly giving way to something else.

Relief.

She was alive.

That was all that mattered.

I pulled her into a hug.

“I was so angry with you,” I admitted.

“And you had every right to be.”

Silence fell between us.

“But I missed you more,” I finally said.

She raised her head, placed a kiss on my forehead, and smiled through her tears before pulling me into a weak embrace.

“I missed you too.”

I wrapped my arms around her carefully, terrified that holding her too tightly might somehow make her disappear again. For the first time in months, I felt whole.

After a few moments, Rebecca pulled away.

“Raven, there's something you need to know.” Her expression became serious.

I frowned and nodded. “What?”

She opened her mouth to speak but suddenly stopped. Her eyes shifted toward the others in the room.

“Can I speak to Raven privately, please?” she asked.

The others slowly began filing out of the room, but Adrian remained.

I glanced at him, silently assuring him I was fine. He seemed reluctant to leave, but after seeing the look on my mother's face, he nodded.

He stepped outside, leaving only my mother and me inside the room.

Rebecca waited until the door closed before speaking.

“The scientist who brought you here... why are you with him?” she asked.

“He was the only one who could lead us to you,” I explained.

My mother sighed and shook her head. “What did he ask of you?”

I swallowed and looked away. I didn't want her to know.

“Raven.” She called my name in that same authoritative tone she always used when she knew I was hiding something.

“He intends to take us to the facility,” I confessed.

“Us who?”

“Adrian, me, and Dael.”

My mother sighed as I glanced at her from the corner of my eye.

“Good.”

I frowned. That was definitely not what I expected.

“Good?” I repeated, and she nodded.

“Listen to me carefully, Raven. You need to go with him.”

I frowned. “What?”

She nodded.

“Mom, are you serious?” I scoffed, staring at her in disbelief.

“Yes.”

She reached for my hand and held it tightly.

“There is something inside that facility that I need you to find.”

I arched a brow expectantly.

“A room,” she stated.

“A room?”

She nodded.

“It's where they stored things that were connected to the Origin.”

My heart began pounding. I finally got to ask the question that had been eating at me.

“What is the Origin?”

Rebecca looked around cautiously before lowering her voice.

“I still don't know exactly what the Origin is.”

I stared at her in confusion. “But you talked about it in your holographic message.”

She nodded. “I spent years trying to understand it, but even I never had the complete picture.”

“Then what is it you want me to find?”

“I don't exactly know yet, but I know you'll get some answers in that room.” She held my hand tightly. “But there's one thing I'm certain of. Whatever the Origin is, Noctrix and Aster believed it was important enough to kill for.”

I swallowed.

“How will I know the room?” I asked.

She paused.

“The room is hidden somewhere in the old facility. Look for a storage section beneath the main research wing. There should be a door without a name or identification number, just a symbol. Do you still have my ring?”

I nodded.

“Good. It will glow once you're face-to-face with the room.”

I nodded slowly, committing every word to memory.

“What's inside the room?”

She shook her head. “I have no idea, dear, but I know it's connected to the Origin.”

The task was risky, but if it would help me find answers, I would take the risk.

She looked directly into my eyes. “And Raven... don't tell anyone about this. Not even Adrian.”

My heart skipped.

“Why?”

“Because I don't know who we can trust yet.”

Her words sent a chill through me.

“Mom...”

“Promise me,” she insisted.

I hesitated before nodding. “I promise.”

Rebecca smiled faintly and squeezed my hand.

“There's something else I need you to know.”

“What?”

“I love you so much.”

I smiled and pulled her into a hug.

“I love you too.”

A knock at the door interrupted the moment.

My mother looked toward it.

“You wanted to see me?” Adrian asked as he entered.

“Yes. Please, come in, Adrian,” she requested.

I slowly stepped aside as Adrian took my place beside her.

My mother looked at him for several seconds before smiling.

“Thank you, Adrian.”

Adrian looked confused. “For what?”

“For everything you've done for my daughter.”

His expression softened. “I'd do it again.”

“I know.”

She reached for his hand. “And I'm sorry for what they did to you.”

His face hardened slightly.

“You mean Aster?”

Rebecca shook her head.

“No. I mean what I did.”

Adrian stared at her.

“When you were younger, I helped erase parts of your memory.”

Silence filled the room.

I watched Adrian's expression change.

“I know.”

My mother lowered her head.

“I thought it was the only way to protect you. I thought if you couldn't remember what happened, they couldn't use those memories against you.”

Adrian looked away.

“I'm so sorry, Adrian.”

He nodded.

“It's okay. You had a reason for doing it, and I understand.”

My mother smiled sadly.

“Please keep looking after Raven.”

Adrian looked at me, then back at her.

“I will.”

My mother squeezed his hand before pulling him closer. Then she whispered something into his ear. I couldn't hear what she said, but Adrian's expression immediately changed.

His eyes shifted toward Dael through the doorway before he nodded.

“Of course.”

My mother released him.

Adrian walked back toward me.

“What did she say?”

He gave me a small smile.

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“That's not an answer.”

“Come on, Raven.” He gently pulled me toward the door.

I looked back at my mother one last time.

“I love you,” I whispered.

She smiled and waved goodbye.

“I'll be waiting.”