Korova Avenue || ONC 2022

Chapter 5

Trigger Warnings: This chapter is the heaviest so far. Mentions of bl00d, de@th, c*tting, kn!ves and nightmares. Please leave a comment if there's anything you need to clarify. Please proceed with caution.

—

Crow didn't sleep well that day. He tossed and turned between nightmares, but there was one that particularly frightened him.

He could see himself standing in front of a heavy door. He jumped back as someone swung it open. Crow peered around the side and saw a teenage boy cackling above him. The boy was tall with neatly combed hair and a devilish grin. The voice he spoke with did not fit him at all. It sounded like a disembodied echo.

"Golden boy," he boomed, "are you ready to face the night?"

Crow gulped and drew a small sword from his belt. His hand shook as he fumbled with it. Even in his dreams, Crow was terrible with a weapon.

He raised the sword high above his head, and a spark of lightning burst through it. Crow jerked back in surprise.

"Even you underestimate your own strength," the boy growled, "Face me you coward."

"But you–"

Crow didn't know what it meant because his dream self cut off.

He caught his first glimpse inside the doorway.

"Raven?" He called.

And suddenly Dominique appeared, but she had blood dripping from her hands as she tried to restrain some sort of monster. It was shaped like a book, but it had large teeth, and a single eye.

The eye swiveled to look at Crow, and immediately flew toward him. Crow tried to peel its cover open to read what was inside, but the book snapped its hungry jaws around his arm.

"No!" It commanded. "You must not read your own fate!"

My fate? Crow wondered.

And then everything went haywire. The book tripled in size and opened its massive maw. Just before it bit off Crow's head, it all disappeared.

Crow plunged into darkness and tears streaked down his face.

—

While Crow slept, Dominique gathered her thoughts. She recounted everything that had happened the previous night, and tried to make sense of it all.

She tried not to take blame for Crow finding out about her world. He could see it after all, and that wasn't supposed to happen.

Obviously, Auntie Rosa thought he was just very special, but Dominique worried that something else might be wrong.

Maybe their defenses were so weak that just anyone could get in. She shuddered at the thought. It pained her to imagine what would happen if the mortals found out.

Images of bloody streets filled her mind. She saw an elven man breathing heavily on the ground. A man who's human aura was overwhelming, took out a small knife and a burlap sack. He slashed the elf's throat, and waited a minute. Once the man had stopped moving, the human chopped his ears off. He stuffed them in the bag and ran off.

Then Dominique imagined a group of fairies. They were lounging on some daisies when a large hand scooped them up. They were squished into a small jar with barely enough room to breathe. She saw them being sold as pets to mortal children. The way these kids treated their fairies was disgusting. They pulled their hair and moved their wings. One girl even covered hers in bright red lipstick.

Dominique shook her head to clear her mind. She was probably just making this all up. In the end, Auntie Rosa would be right, and Crow would save the world. Of course she still had her doubts, but she pushed them down.

Dominique decided to focus on making a plan. The castle was at least two full days away, and since they could only travel when it was dark, it would take even longer.

At this time tomorrow, they could be in a new town if they made good time. Once they were there, Dominique could try to steal some sort of transportation. That would likely reduce their travel time.

Then she had to figure out what to do when they arrived. They would need a way to sneak into the castle. Dominique had never been there before, so she didn't know how. She figured that she could improvise on that part.

At some point, it occurred to her that Crow had no weapons. If they were ambushed, Dominique could certainly hold her own, but what if it wasn't enough? Did he even know how to fight?

She gathered all of the knives that she had on her, and examined them. She needed to find one that would be good for Crow. There were six in total, but she figured that he could only use one at a time.

Dominique pulled out a medium sized one and set it aside.

That one's big enough to cause good damage, but small enough that Crow won't impale himself, she thought.

She gathered the others and stuffed them away, making note of the places she put them. One in each boot, one up her left sleeve, one strapped to her belt, and the final knife stored safely in her bag.

She made her way to the edge of the cave and stuck her head outside. She stared into the sky and tried to calculate when they could leave.

The sun was very high, so she estimated that it would take about four hours before it set. Then, one more hour before it was safe for them to leave.

She looked around for a minute and then decided to sit on the cliff's edge.

She had just settled down when she heard a sharp scream from inside the cave.

"Crow!" She shouted his name as she burst inside. "What's–"

She stopped when she saw that he was still asleep. He was shaking as sweat and tears poured down his face. Dominique rushed to his side to wake him.

"Crow, get up! It's just a dream!"

—

Crow's eyes flew open, and he was startled to see Dominique standing above him.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

He frantically searched her for wounds.

"I'm fine, Crow. It was just a dream."

Just a dream?

What Crow has witnessed had felt so real. He caught his breath and sat up.

"How long was I out?"

"About nine hours."

"Nine hours?!? I told you to wake me when it was my turn to watch!"

"It's okay, you needed the rest."

"Well I insist that you sleep until we leave."

"Fine, but don't you dare let me sleep late. Wake me up when the sun starts to set."

Crow nodded, and Dominique reached for a knife.

"Use this if you need to." She pushed it into his hand. "And if you get hungry, there's a little food in my bag. You could also go look for something, but be very careful."

"You got it."

Crow gripped the knife as Dominique lay down. She rested her head on the floor and closed her eyes. After several minutes, Crow could hear her breathing even out as she fell asleep.

—

A/N: I would love it if you could give me some feedback on this chapter! Was it too violent? Or not scary enough? Is there anything I should do differently?