The Raven

Raven

Author's note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.  

I ran like my life depended on it because it did. 

That dark ghastly creature was haunting me down the misty road. 

Although I was gasping for breath I kept running. I wasn't turning back as I couldn't bear to see that unearthly being once more. 

It seemed as if I was standing and everything else was moving very fast. My feet started aching and I knew I wouldn't be able to run for much longer. I needed to find some shelter, some salvation. 

I could hear the raven from hell chasing me. The sound it made reminded me of a shriek; it was the most horrible shriek I have ever heard. My ears were sore from just hearing that awful sound. 

The weather suddenly changed. Dark and ominous clouds rolled in and I felt as if they were suffocating me and preventing my escape. Was the raven controlling the weather or was it just my bad luck?

Finally, as if a sign from God himself, I saw a candle on a window sill and thought: 'It's my salvation!' 

I used the last atoms of my strength to get to the door and enter the house. I could finally hide from the fiend! 

When I entered the house I felt safe. I was being embraced by its protectiveness, making me feel untouchable. 

I guess that was such a human reaction to have because houses are meant to be safe. After a few moments, I found the strength to look through the window. I wanted to check if my pursuer was still there. 

I approached the window and then a loud scream filled the room. It was a surprise for me to realize that it was me screaming. 

The scream was the result of my close encounter with the black devil - it was standing just outside the window, looking at me with those deep soulless eyes that seemed to hypnotize me. 

All I knew for sure was that I was scared out of my mind. We stood there for some time, I paralyzed with fear and the raven eager to gouge my eyes out. 

I could see that it didn't have any good in its soul- if it even had one.

Then it started knocking with its beak on the window, trying as hard as it could to break it and drink my blood. 

The window started to crack and it sent chills down my spine. 

I frantically started thinking about what I could do. 

I started looking around for a weapon or some kind of protection, but I was so scared that I couldn't think straight. 

Picking up a knife from the nearby table I stood there, waiting. Faced with what seemed to be the last day of my life, I started regretting all the things I didn't do.

Suddenly, the raven broke through and started attacking me. It started biting me and I screamed, waving my knife around, trying to defend myself. 

Unfortunately, the monster was too quick, so I couldn't hurt it. I couldn't defend myself. 

It bit off a large chunk of my flesh and blood started spattering all over the place. 

I was absolutely terrified. I could imagine what my life would have been like if I had survived. 

After a few more sharp pecks on my neck, the raven flew away, leaving me to bleed to death. I guess it sensed a new victim, fresh meat. 

It flew away as fast as it could. It probably thought that it could come back to feed on my flesh any time it wanted and that it would be better to chase after some fresh blood.

As I lay there in a pool of my own blood I thought I could smell the freshly mowed grass and the most fragrant flowers. I guess that in my moment of death I could smell the freshness and vibrancy of life. 

Blood pouring all around me, in my final moments, I thought of life and love. That night, after hours of excruciating agony, I died.

At least one part of me died - the part that believed there was something good in every living creature. 

It died that night in the lonely house, at the end of the city, in a pool of sticky blood. 

That innocence was murdered by the beak of that terrible creature which had no trace of goodness in it.

My life was saved by a passerby who saw the broken window and thought someone had broken into the house. 

There he found my seemingly lifeless body. 

He stopped the bleeding, carried me into his carriage and drove me straight to the doctor where I was saved.

They tell me it was a miracle that I survived losing so much blood, but I am not sure if it was. 

I think everything happens for a reason. I am still alive for a reason. It is only unclear what that reason is. 

Even today I have nightmares of that grotesque bird coming back to finish me off. I wonder if it is just a nightmare or a premonition of what the future might hold for me. 

Maybe I am destined to die by the beak of that fiend, but not yet. I refuse to die until I have lived a full life! 

Maybe that is the reason I was able to survive such a huge blood loss. The will to live is too strong in me. 

I am ready now, ready to fight for every second of my life! After that terrible ordeal, I have realized how important every little moment of life is, and how it should be cherished.

Nowadays, after every nightmare, I try to erase the memory of it. 

I try to erase the raven from my mind. 

I have even started convincing myself that the monster went back to hell it came from and that I would not see it ever again. 

Oh, how I hope I don't see it ever again! 

Nevertheless, one part of me, which I try to keep in the farthest corners of my mind, knows the truth. The raven has not gone back to hell. 

It is still here, somewhere. It is stalking its prey. 

I might become the raven's next victim at any time. 

Although deep down I know this, I keep trying to suppress it because the only way for me to live my life fully is not to worry about the future. I shall live in the now and still be ready to face whatever the future has in store for me.

Physically speaking, I recovered fairly quickly considering the fact that I was on the brink of death, but I still have a lot of emotional scars which are slowly healing. 

As I have said, I don't worry about the future too much; but I am not crazy - I have taken a few precautionary measures. 

I started wearing a weapon and I became more cautious and less trustworthy. 

The thing is, now I know that evil is somewhere out there and I shall stay on guard until we meet again. The next time the raven's blood will be spilled, I can promise you that.