Sticking with Raven and Pepper this week.
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Raven tried to lift her head from the table to look for Pepper. It’d been three days since they’d been left inside The Room for Raven to recover from her latest round of surgery. Raven was worried for the girl. She’d never been in an operating room before, that much Raven had been sure of before Poe had anesthetized her. It was the look on Pepper’s face as Raven slipped under that had her worried as she woke up. Pure horror, that’s what she had seen on the girl’s face.
“Miss Raven? Poe said I was to clean your new stitches. Will you try to turn over?” Pepper said in a small voice. Raven smiled and it took all of her strength to roll on to her left side.
“Pepper you can stop with the ‘Miss’ crap. I’m no Miss,” Raven said. “at best, I’m an it. Especially to him.”
“My Momma would say you’re a Miss and I listen to my Momma.” Pepper said, sounding way too old for her age.
Raven let out a surprised laugh, knowing it would be a weak argument to protest against Pepper calling her Miss. If it made her feel better and normal, who was Raven to take it away? Pepper had lasted longer than the rest of her companions anyway. Nearly a week this time, Raven thought as Pepper rubbed the clean cloth over her back where Poe had transplanted the latest harvest from his victims. She was nearly covered in the flesh stolen from the dead, and the thought of being like Frankenstein’s Monster made Raven laugh.
“Why are you laughing, Miss Raven?”
“Because I’m a monster, Pepper. Stitched together from the flesh of the dead or dying.”
“You’re just colorful.”
“Dear Pepper, your sass and outlook on life is something I wish hadn’t been taken away from me.”
“So take it back. It’s yours, isn’t it?” Pepper asked with eyes wide, like Poe had stolen her most precious possession.
The Hungry Silverfish 