Little Raven

Chapter I

"I miss you, little Raven," a calm, deep voice whispered, carried by the chilly breeze of the late November night. As I sat by the fire, I heard it. He would always speak to me in the late hours, beckoning me to join him in the other world. Believing myself to be delusional, hearing things that weren't there, I sought help from my therapist. She prescribed pills for me to take once daily.

Rising from beside the fire where I had been sitting, I reached for the nightly medicine I habitually take before sleep. As I extracted a single dose and began to ingest it, the pill unexpectedly slipped from my grasp and tumbled to the ground. It was then that I caught the faint echo of his voice, carried to me on the breeze.

"Little raven, why do you seek to banish me?" A shiver coursed through me at his voice, laden with sorrow and anger. "Because you're not real! You're just in my head!" I yelled, as the ring on my finger started to glow red and sear my skin. Desperately, I tried to remove the ring from my blistering finger, but it was immovable, not budging an inch. "Stop! Please, it's painful! I apologize!" I pleaded, hoping for relief.

"You may think I'm not real, but you will be my princess. On your 18th birthday, I will come for you, Hazel." Then he left, and the ring on my hand stopped burning. Relieved, I sat on my bed, pondering his reality and whether he would actually come for me. Lying back, I tried to organize my thoughts, but all I could focus on was my birthday, which was tomorrow.

Sensing my distress, my cat Nala climbed onto my bed and nestled beside me, her soft fur brushing against my face. As I stroked her head, she purred contentedly under my touch. Drifting into sleep, lost in thought, I hoped that nothing would happen, that he wasn't real, and that it was all just a dream, a voice in my head. How could I possibly be a princess?

As an average teenage girl clad in T-shirts and jeans, far from the princess-like image, I wondered how a man could be speaking to me every night. If he wasn't real, then what could explain the burning sensation in the ring on my finger when he was angry or upset? And how could my medicine spill onto the floor by itself? These questions swirled in my mind until I finally drifted off to sleep with Nala by my side.

A crashing noise woke me up, and Nala, puffing up, jumped and stared at the now dark and unlit fireplace. I rose and cautiously approached the wall to flick on the light switch. Turning to the source of the disturbance, I saw what appeared to be a raven.

What was a raven doing in my room? As I looked at the bird that had just tumbled from the fireplace, it sprang up. "You poor thing, are you alright?" I asked, moving toward the bird. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking," the bird replied. I recoiled in shock upon hearing the bird speak. "I know you're astonished," it said, "but you must listen to me. The man you hear in the wind is real, and he is coming for you."

"Who are you?" I asked, gripping the bed for support.

"My name is Asher, I'm your brother from the world he's going to take you."

"I have a brother from another world. Is the voice real?" Questions swirled in my head. The raven gazed at me, and it seemed to read my thoughts.

"Yes, brothers and sisters, we all inhabit the other world, and soon, you will too. You are a raven, Hazel, just like me. You lack wings only because you dwell in the mortal realm."

The raven gazed at me with eyes full of concern and darkness as I attempted to absorb the information my "brother" imparted.

"How can I be certain to trust or believe you?"

"I'm a damn bird. How much more proof do you need?" He wasn't lying; indeed, he was a bird, and a talking one at that. Feeling lightheaded, I sat down. My cat Nala, who had been puffed up on the bed during the bird's presence, walked over and settled beside me. I lifted her into my lap and turned my attention back to Asher, who was still eyeing me with those dark, penetrating eyes.

"That's all the information I can provide, sister. I hope you can come to terms with and understand it. Goodbye, sister." With that, he soared up the chimney and departed. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. A talking bird had just entered my room, claimed to be my brother, and declared that the prince of the wind was real. And now I'm to live in the same realm as them?

I inhaled deeply, attempting to quell my rising panic. "The bird speaks the truth, little raven; he is indeed your brother, and I am on my way to retrieve you. Just wait until dawn. You will be mine, little raven, and there's nothing you can do to change that," he declared. His profound, commanding tone sent shivers through me.

Fear gripped me, and uncertainty clouded my judgment – was he really going to take me away? Tears streamed down my chilled cheeks as I collapsed onto my bed and sought refuge under the covers. Eventually, I succumbed to sleep, undisturbed by the talking bird or his voice this time.

It was a relief; my head throbbed, my face was marred by tear tracks, and I was overwhelmed with fear and confusion. Sleep seemed like the only respite at that moment, so I embraced it, pushing aside thoughts of what the morning might bring.