A Daughter of Light(A Light onto the World)

Chapter 27

Sage

Chapter 27

“What the … happened to her?” I ask staring at Calista, who is dazed and confused — rambling on; “He calls to me.”  She is coated in what looks to be blood and all she has on is a bathrobe.

“Anyone wanna fill me in?”  Mar clues me in.  When she finishes we both turn our attention back to the discussion.  Allan is now in charge since our lead investigator has been taken out and both dumb and dumber declined the job.  Now what are our odds of getting out of here alive?

“Your house is f**ked!” I say without thinking and then I catch Mr. Utt’s eye.  “Pardon my French.”  I smile nervously.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Mr. Utt responds.

“Do we have a plan?”

“Yes.  The plan is that we all stick together.  Lawson, you take care of Calista and make sure she doesn’t wander off.  The rest of us will go ahead with the cleansing.”

“Got it,” Lawson says as he begins towing Calista out of the room towards the front door.

Adelaide blocks the exit.  “No, you don’t.  You have to keep her in here.  She’s covered in blood.  If the ravens catch a whiff of her they might attack.”  He grudgingly listens and brings her back, swearing under his breath.  Chicken-shit, I bet the second he got into the van he would have driven off.

“I think we should start the cleansing process,” Allan says noticeably unsure of himself.  I’d be too if I were in his shoes.  We can all see what befell their last fearless leader.  Allan pulls out a container with something that sorta looks like a small hay bundle.

“What’s that?” I ask.

“This is sage, cedar, and sweetgrass.  I will light them and let the smoke drive out all negative energy.  Who has a lighter?”  Gunner pulls one out and hands it over to Allan.  Allan is just about to light the bundle when he stops. “What’s that sound?” he asks.  Everybody becomes still, listening hard.

“It sounds like —,” Mar begins to say.

Ravens slam into the windows, breaking the glass, letting an endless stream of birds fly in through the broken windows.  Like a dense black sheet they cover us.  The smell of smoke fills the air as they knock over lanterns.  Somehow, over the flapping of the wings, I hear someone howl in pain.  I stumble blindly — desperately searching for Mar — not daring to uncover my face in fear that they will go after my eyes.  The bird’s long sharp claws dig into the exposed parts of my face and they persist at pecking at my ears.  I use one arm to cover my eyes as I swat them away.  “F**k off already!”  I trip over something.  I don’t pick myself up, it’s probably better on the ground where they can only attack my back.  I cover my head with my hands and I grit my teeth as the ravens continue to peck at me and claw my back, ripping holes in my shirt.

Seconds pass, then all at once I stop feeling them.  The flapping of their wings no longer fills my ears.  I look up.  They’re gone just as fast as they had come.  Most of them anyhow; a dozen or so lay dead on the ground.  A red haze illuminates the air caused by the small fires.

I hear a loud moan coming from behind me.  I turn to see Lawson leaning against the wall.  His hand cradles his badly bleeding eye.  I come closer to him leaning in to get a better look.  He seems to be missing a small chunk of his left ear, but he doesn’t seem to notice.  Gunner comes to his side, pushing me out of the way.  “Talk to me, man!” he pleads.

“Dude, I can’t see anything out of my eye,” he groans.

“You’ll be all right, buddy,” Gunner promises.