How To Capture The Crow

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

"You have to trust me" She whispers softly in my ear.

"Raven?" I say and I turn around quickly.

My eyes look into hers then to her clothes that are torn and saturated with blood. My eyes quickly go to the floor where Olivia's body lay lifeless and my stomach falls to the floor and I feel my world twisting and turning.

"Wha..." I look at her and I hold my stomach "what did..."I look at the massive pool of blood and I feel myself floating away as my feet begin to fail to hold me and I fall onto the floor.

I see her for brief moments fading in and out of consciousness.

She drags Olivia to the altar.

The altar is on fire.

I'm outside staring at the stars.

I blink my eyes slowly and I turn my head to the side looking at the church. Raven is sitting on the steps. I see the bright cherry of her cigarette burn as she takes a long drag of it. Then she gets up and walks back into the church. I swallow hard and turn on my stomach crawling at first until finally I get my strength back and I start running as fast as I can through the cypress trees. I run for what seems like hours with tears pouring down my cheeks until finally I stop and I grab my phone frantically trying to call 911.

"Fuck!" I scream as the phone notifies me that it can't get a signal.

Suddenly I hear a faint noise of leaves rustling in the distance and I hide behind a large cypress tree with a crevasse just large enough to press half of my body into it. My heart is beating out of my chest and my breathing is out of control. I hear the rusting noises getting closer and closer. I control my breathing until finally it's quiet again...

Slowly I peel my back off the tree and I turn looking for her. Walking backwards I try to see if she has been following behind me until I feel the branch of the tree brush against my hair. I grab to move it and realize it isn't a branch at all. It's a boot.

"Oh my god!" I scream falling back into the leaves and looking up at her.

One of her legs is dangling off the tree while the other rests on top of it making a perfect triangle silhouette against the pale moon.

"I didn't see anything..." I say crawling back slowly in the muddy leaves.

"Please" I plea "I won't tell anyone... Please just let me go I promis..."

"You shouldn't lie" Raven says in a raspy tone cutting me off.

"I won't!" I scream my voice breaking from fear.

Raven swiftly jumps onto the muddy leaves beneath her and slowly walks over to me holding her hand out for me to get up with. I stare intently at her and then I grab her hand getting up.

"What did you see?" Raven asks staring in my eyes.

"Nothing" I say quickly.

Raven runs her slender fingers through her short choppy hair as she pulls her bottom lip into her mouth slowly rubbing her teeth on it to moisten it.

"The truth" she says taking a step closer and staring intensely into my eyes.

"You... You killed her!" I say breathing harder and looking at her hands covered in blood. "You killed someone!"

Raven looks towards the ground and then back up at me and I see the sorrow on her face.

"I didn't have a choice" She says and then pauses. "It was her choice for it to end the way it did"

"What the hell does that mean? Are you insane!?" I scream at her. "I can't... I seriously just can't even... Who are you?!" I push her shoulders back away from me hard.

Ravens grunts as she feels her stomach wound slightly tear apart. Her eyes turn into a pale glowing silver and she clenches her fists.

She grits her teeth and turns away from me. "I was protecting myself!" She finally says exhaling loudly and walking away.

I stare at her as she grits her teeth and holds her stomach. It's hard for me to believe anyone anymore I think to myself, but Raven saved my life. I don't understand it, but I have to try.

"I believe you..." I say softly.

I grab her fist and it slowly relaxes into a callused but flexible hand.

"Why was she trying to hurt you?" I say still confused.

"She's sick" Raven says "We're both sick..."

"Then we'll go to the hospital" I say pulling her hand a bit to follow me.

"No" Raven sits on a log and grunts from the pain in her stomach. "They can't help us there..." she says slowly pushing on her wound. "There's only one cure... and it can cure only one of us."

"What do you mean one of us? There's more sick people?" I say confused.

"Only my family... and the people who get to close to them." Raven says looking up at me.

"What do you mean? Like who...? Your friends?" I say backing away a little.

"No" Raven says shaking her head "Only the ones who dare to be loved"

"So you and that girl..."

"Olivia" She interrupts.

"You and Olivia... were lovers?" I ask curiously.

"Once, and that's when I discovered that anyone who dares to love a monster will turn into one."

Flash back

*******************

Raven speaks-

There once was a witch who lived deep in the swamps. The paths crowded by cypress trees and thick poisonous vines with thorns as long as fingers. They say she was born from the dirty depths of the swamp itself, clawing her way out of the earth. Her hair was matted into clumps, her eyes a misty white, and her teeth rotten and sparse. She lived in the swamps for hundreds of years and as time passed she became increasingly lonely and even more so powerful. Until once day, she devised a plan to share her powers and her home with someone who she deemed worthy. She carved a dark violin from cypress wood, used the poisonous vines for her strings and lastly used her hair to make the bow. Each night she would play the most enchanting and haunting melody. It would stretch out through the dark forest across the barren and desolate swamps to a nearby village. Young men would disappear into the swamps and would never be seen again. Until one day a man named Edward decided to search though the swamps and destroy whatever was taking these men from the village. He plead for hours with the rest of the men in the village, but no one possessed a heart as big and brave as Edward to go into battle. Defeated and alone he went home and told his wife of his decision, his pride as big as the full moon leading his way. He kisses his wife and children goodbye and leaves into the dark forest searching.

Days pass as Edward struggles though the deep muddy swamps until on the third night he hears something. It's so beautiful... Haunting... Intoxicating until finally his body refuses to resist its temptation. Slowly he walks with ease, vines and trees making a perfect path for him to follow. Sharp thorns turn into beautiful white flowers, the mud becomes a thick luscious grass, and the sky becomes bright and sunny. In the distance he can just make out a beautiful cottage, the smell of a freshly baked pie. Outside walks a woman dressed in a long flowing white gown. Her hair is a light blonde that reflects like gold under the sun; her eyes a green like an emerald and her smile more divine than a thousand pearls.

"Edward" She says with a smile holding her arms out to him. "You're finally home"