The Little Crow

Chapter Three - [Nothing Good]

Thea was sitting in her room and flipping through the classifieds sections of the days newspaper with a look of distress on her face. She was beginning to feel hopeless, certain now that she was never going to be hired anywhere. To make matters worse, the classifieds section she was looking through was from the Elorian Times, and somehow she felt like the newspaper was mocking her.

So sure that she would get the job at the Times, she hadn't even thought of any backup ideas. She also had never considered the fact that she would now have to hide that she had a graduate degree. If looking into her thesis was going to prevent her from getting a job, then she had no other choice than to hide it... even if she believed that everything she wrote was completely and utterly right.

Frustrated, she slammed her pen onto the desk and leaned back, running her fingers through her very long, black hair. It was summer and the heat was sometimes overwhelming during the day, so the feeling of air cooling the back of her neck as she knotted her hair into a bun relaxed her a little. Of course, that relaxing sensation was temporary and almost immediately after, she was reminded yet again of her interview yesterday.

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her desk as she ran her thumb a little absentmindedly over a scar she had on her left ear. The thought of the two soldiers then filled her with a rush of annoyance. Of course the Times would fear hiring someone like her if there was a soldier in the room.

But really, why were they even there to begin with?

Was it an intimidation tactic?

Wasn't it illegal to try and suppress the media?

After a moment, that thought made Thea chuckle to herself at her own ridiculousness. It didn't matter if it was illegal or not. That Aiverian State Military did whatever they wanted... she knew that just as well as any other Elorian did.

So she stared rather bitterly at the paper for some time before she picked up her pen and reminded herself that none of that mattered now.

What mattered was her finding a job. A good job.

However, just as she began to read through the pages again, something grabbed her attention from the corner of her eye. She turned, looking out the window that sat just to the right of her desk, and saw a man push their front gate open and walk in.

The sight of the man almost instantly caused her heart to stop as she easily recognized the black uniform with the gold accents and the black hat with the gold band around it. It was the same uniform she saw yesterday... though most certainly not the same person.

It was a State Officer.

A massive one at that.

Whoever this man was, he was easily well over six feet tall... a giant, really.

She watched the man cross through her front yard, her mind racing with both curiosity and fear before the thought of her brother flashed through her mind. The thought made her stand just before hearing the ringing of their doorbell, a rush of panic filling her as all the possible scenarios rushed through her head.

Had her brother done something crazy?

Had they killed him?

Or worse, had they captured him?

Or were they here to take him?

Thea considered rushing downstairs to her mother in an attempt to stop her from opening the door, but by the time she reached the top of the staircase, she heard the door open and her mother's voice greet the officer. "Officer..." her mother started cautiously.

"Ms. Rhaanan, I presume?" The man said. She could not see him from where she was standing, but she noted that his voice was deep and rather emotionless.