Shadowed Wings: The Tale of the Silver Raven

A Fateful Reunion

"...3.2.1..We are reporting from the town's top café 'Green Spoons' and with us we have the brains of the café herself Miss Ray Nicholas. Miss Ray, we would not hold you for long but would you like to say something to our audience." . "I would take this opportunity to thank all our customers for their love and support towards 'Green Spoons' over the past 7 years . Remember to visit us and avail our exciting offers exclusively during our 7th Anniversary week . Thank you." Said Ray the young owner of the top café of the with a welcoming smile. Being a hardworking intellectual, soft hearted humble person and having a good sense of the surroundings lead her to the ultimate success. It was the 7th Anniversary of her café , with happy customers and workers Ray was very proud of her progress in life. After ending the busy day at the café, she headed to her luxury which she called 'Home'. A three bedroom apartment equipped with everything to her desire. Her success was defined by this luxury of hers. Growing up alone she always wanted a house of her own, that was success to her.

On her way back home she bought some food and drinks to celebrate , she was having the best time of her life. A free bird who can do whatever she wants , feeling on top of the world. She sat at the couch and adored every wall of her house, every element in the room one by one was feeding her pride .But her session of comfort and pride was abruptly interrupted by the doorbell. She was disappointed and decided to play 'No one is home' but, the doorbell rang again , and again this made her finally give up. She stood in awe as she opened the door. Her eyes widened with disbelief as she laid eyes upon her sister, Vennisa Nicolas, standing there. The shock of the unexpected visit sent a thrill of excitement coursing through Ray's veins. Vennisa was her only family member left after their parents death . She was very shocked yet excited to see her sister.

"Vennisa!" she exclaimed in joy, Ray's day could not get better. Just as Ray was about to hug her, Vennisa exclaimed "Please help me!" and burst into tears and collapsed on the floor sobbing . Ray quickly helped her sister and brought her to the couch and takes her time to calmed her sister down. She brings a warm drink for her sister to help her relax . As she kneels down to hand the drink Vennisa asks with wonder "Do you own this place?" and takes the cup from Ray. "Yes, finally I have a home" Ray nodded proudly . She looked at her sister seeking some praise but instead felt a sudden negative wave. "You have grown so much in the past 5 years."Vennisa adds taking her sisters hand . This made Ray's heart jump , there was finally someone who could tell her they are proud of her, she was expecting her sister to praise her but her imagination shatter as she feels a teardrop falls on her hand. She looks up at Vennisa , her eyes were full of tears trying to hold something back "I could never be as good as you" Vennisa added in a breaking voice. Ray immediately hugged her to console. Vennisa cried her heart out and explained her situation to her sister. Apparently she was working for a firm as an accountant overseas, but was thrown out of the company due to some fraud accusations. She explained how she had nowhere and was in a huge debt. Ray could not imagine how hard her sister's life was, she wanted to help her sister and insisted on her to stay until her situation gets better. She stood up and cheerfully showed her sister her new room and Vennisa started living with her Ray.

As days passed by Vennisa became more comfortable with the house and Ray ,but things were not going uphill. She had developed a habit of intervening in everything Ray did and commented on everything big or small 'why do you always have eggs?', 'who are your friends?' , 'this should not be here' . Ray excused her sister's comments and intervening by tagging them as her way of taking part as a member of the house but things were slowly getting on her nerves . She held back from saying anything ,"she would be gone in some time anyways", she thought to herself every time she was about to loose it. some days later , Vennisa had finally secured an interview with a company in the town . Ray was happy for her sister and positively confident that she can secure the job and would move out. The next day Ray helped Vennisa get ready for the interview . All pumped up they both leave the house and ascend to their ways , while Ray suddenly realizes she forgot to give the spare keys to Vennisa, so she turned around but saw her talking on her phone . She decided not to disturb her ,so she quietly slipped the keys in her bag , winked at her giving a thumbs up. Vennisa turned around to find Ray dancing to songs blasting from her headphones , moving towards the café. All confident she also paced to her interview.

In the evening Ray comes home , surprised to see that the door was left open and vase kept at the entry fallen to the ground. She carefully makes her way through the gate, considering there may be a burglar in there . As she slowly moves into the house she hears plates breaking in the dining area. She moves towards the diner table to find her sister completely wasted laying on the ground breathlessly. She hastes to pick her up , looks at her, face as red as a cherry, whining loudly. Suddenly she hugs her and cries out loud "They kicked me out. I will never get any job. I am blacklisted. He blacklisted me from being hired by anyone.".

Ray calms her down , pours her some water ,helps her sober up and sends her to take a shower. While Vennisa was showering she brought her clean clothes to change in and made her some hot food to recover. At the dinner table Vennisa explains how she was framed for a fraud in her previous organization due to which she was kicked out and now her Ex-Boss had managed to blacklist her name from all the organizations. "I will never get any job now" she starts crying and repenting her decisions while her sister tries consoling and comforting her. Vennisa sleeps after crying her heart at the dinner table ,her sister carries her to the bed , tucks her in as she was about to leave , her eyes are caught by a shiny brooch of a raven. The next day, her sister apologizes for her behavior last night while she comforts her by saying "Don't apologize, we only have each other after all". Ray holds her sisters hands , looking at her with sparkle in her eyes says "We will do it , just follow my lead , don't worry. I believe in you". Vennisa nods with tears in her eyes and a soft smile on her face.

From this day on , Ray helped her sister to live a healthy life , she took her for early morning workouts, taught how to organize oneself, took her to the café, taught her to make some pastries , helped her find new light in her life. After a week of strict schedule Vennisa had improved a lot , she was transforming into a completely different person from what she was a week ago . She started landing new interviews for different roles she could be hired for. Finally Ray gave her a golden key to stress-free life "Meditate for 7 minutes and take additional 3 minutes to release all the days stress before bed. Never go to bed stressed." Vennisa was developing a liking to this lifestyle she would follow Ray's instructions at the end of the day , she would spend 3 minutes in the balcony for some fresh air and let out all the stress before bed.

Everything seemed to get into place, Vennisa was growing into a better version of herself, Ray was very happy of her sister's progress. Vennisa had prepared dinner for both of them this made Ray realise that her dream of getting a home was now fulfilled. She walked up to her sister , took her hand and with eyes full of pride, she said "Ven, I am so proud of you , I always was. You know even though there was everything, this house always had some emptiness and now I realised that it was you that was missing. A family to turn this house into Home." Vennisa was shook by these words but before she could say anything Ray adds looking at the dishes "I always loved it when you would cook for me while we played pretend. Can I ask you two favours?" . Vennisa nods in shock "Tell me , what is it?" . Ray looks at her sister with trust and softly adds "Could you stay with me forever and not leave? As my family?" Vennisa could not believe her ears, she smiles and nods in agreement as tears roll down her cheek "You look exactly like our mom. Besides how can I say no to something that makes you happy". Ray jumps up and starts dancing in joy , celebrating her ultimate victory . Vennisa laughs as her sister dances around. "That's one, what else?" Vennisa intervenes in the celebration. Ray turns around and says "I have to go to a party my friends have organized in celebration of the 7th anniversary of Green Spoons . Can we have this dinner tomorrow?". Vennisa laughs at her sister's innocence and tells her to go have fun, after all she would be there for her when she returned home. Ray leaves the house, happily and reaches the club.

A few hours pass by , Ray was partying hard to celebrate her ultimate win. She was on top of the world, there was a new reason to celebrate. She was enjoying her time dancing and drinking , when suddenly, she feels a bit uneasy . She leaves for the restroom , but she was taking longer than expected , so her friend decided to go check on her. "I think she drank too much. Ray are you okay?" her friends knock on the door to get some answer but all they could hear was sounds of her throwing up. Ray finally comes out and her friends immediately call her a taxi and send her home. All dehydrated she reaches her home. She struggles on her way to the elevator and finally reaches her apartment gate. She struggles to find the keys of the apartment as she was about to unlock the door, she realized the door was already open . She walks in with caution, and was surprised to see a group of people standing there. She squeezed her way through everyone and saw the most dreadful sight of her life. She shouts in despair "Vennisa!" at the lifeless body of Venissa Nicholas laying in a small puddle of blood. Ray could not handle the horrifying scene and collapses on the floor next to her sister.