Black Raven

The Bloody Mystery!

Reign of the Leopard, 12th moon of the 7th

He was walking home, his black hair disheveled.

"Damn you Erin." He whispered, trying to fix his hair. Erin was his best friend who had ruffled his hair most of the day. Sereth was in a couple college classes, investigating what he wanted to do with his life. And Erin had messed up his hair in front of River! He was grumpy the whole way home.

He turned onto his street.

He turned into their driveway, opening the gate.

That's when he looked up.

There was a girl, covered in blood in front of the door. Handprints marked the knob as if she tried to get in but couldn't.

"Oh my god..." He ran up to her, only to realize she was totally naked. He sighed loudly, covering his eyes partly so he could look for her injuries. There was a huge chunk of her left side missing, as if an animal ripped her to shreds. He was about to listen to her breathing when she suddenly in took a lot of air, grasping for life. "Hold on." He whispered as he lifted her up bridal style carrying her into the living room.

"Sereth, what in the world?!" His grandfather yelled, standing up from his chair cane in hand.

"She was on the doorstep."

His grandfather cleared the table as Sereth sat her down. "Cataline." He gasped. Sereth glanced up at him softly. This was someone from his old life that he wouldn't talk about.

"Who is she?" Even then, his grandfather was hesitant to answer. "Cornelius, you need to tell me."

"Her name is Cataline. That's all you need to know for now." Sereth huffed but went to get the first aid kit regardless. His grandfather would never tell him about what his life was like before he found him in the woods. "That won't be necessary, Sereth."

"But she's still alive! You can see her trying to live!"

"I'm not giving up on her, I just meant we don't need the kit."

"But how'll we-"

Cornelius suddenly placed his hands on her wound. The sound of her guts moving made Sereth flinch. He always hated blood and gore. A soft white glow erupted from his hands, slowly healing her. Sereth was shocked, stuck to his place. The skin seemed to spindle back into its place like a web.

Cornelius smirked slightly. "I was worried this wouldn't work. I haven't done this in quite a while."

"You've done this before?"

"Yes." Sereth wanted to ask when but he knew he won't get an answer. "Go get my box."

"Your box?"

"The one I banned you from touching, go get it!" He yelled, pointing towards his room. Sereth stepped back a bit. That's the first time he's heard him yell like that. He ran into the bedroom, pulling back the closet doors. A medium wooden box was fit in the back of the highest shelf. For a reason he didn't know, he couldn't see it but could definitely feel it when he reached for it. He pulled it off the shelf and ran back into the living room. The girl was heaving and had trouble breathing. "Hand me the box boy."

Sereth gave him the box. Cornelius opened it slowly, glancing at everything before finding what he needed. Sereth looked over his shoulder to see pictures of him looking younger than he was. The first picture was Cornelius with a drink in his hands, arms wrapped around another guy who had a familiar eye color. In fact, the entire person seemed familiar. There were a couple girls in the picture he couldn't recognize. The only other picture he saw was Cornelius surrounded by wolves, a pup in his arms. His grandfather closed the box before he could notice anything else.