Killing the Wolf

21. View

Hey lovelies!

Just a friendly warning, this chapter contains a gory scene. If you don't want to read it, ignore the part that is marked with !!!! WARNING !!!!

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Serafina followed Henry Cage to the elevators. She watched as he pressed the button. The doors opened and Serafina realized she would be in that closed box with him alone. 

Henry stepped in and held his hand on the doorway to stop the doors from closing. He didn't say anything nor even looked at her. But she knew he was waiting for her to step in with him.

"Let's just get this over with," she thought and stepped in. She walked to the far end of the metal box as far away from him as possible. 

Henry pulled his hand away and the doors closed. He stood his back to her. His legs were slightly apart and shoulders were relaxed. He had his head up and eyes on the narrow digital panel over the doors which told the floor numbers. Serafina let her own eyes linger on his back. He was physically strong. Could I take him down? she wondered. She could attack his neck - she had the access. But it was unlikely that he would have his back to her nonchalantly if he was not able to defeat her. He saw no threat in her.

"Why do they call you ravens?" she asked and lowered her eyes back to his back. "Do you..."

"Do we what?" he asked not turning around. 

"Grow feathers... fly?"

"We don't grow feathers."

"Ok... Fly then?"

"Why do you want to know?" 

He still didn't turn around. 

"Hah. Just small talk,  I guess," Serafina sighed. 

They were going high. She wondered why.

The doors opened and they stepped into a small corridor that led to metal doors. With both hands, Henry pushed them open. 

"The roof?" Was he going to push her down?

Finally, Henry turned to face her. The emptiness in his eyes, that Serafina had become accustomed to, was gone. There's no word for what Serafina saw in them, but it absorbed her mind and body. His cold and confident aura was cracking and Serafina could see glimpses of what was hidden underneath. Without a warning, Henry took her hand and didn't let go though Serafina tried to pull it away. Instead, he changed his grip to keep her fingers straight. He lifted her hand and her fingertips touched his temple. 

"You wanted to know why they call us ravens," he said and looked deep into her eyes. 

"What are you d-" Serafina started, but the sky and the roofs of New York disappeared. She could still feel his skin against her fingertips, but she couldn't see herself nor Henry. 

!!!! WARNING !!!!

The city gave room to a forest. An old forest with trees reaching high in the sky. Everything was green and the air was pure with a subtle scent of earth. First, everything was quiet, only few lazy birds sang in distance. But the silence was quickly gone and replaced with moans of agony. A young boy lay on the ground. His clothes were covered in mud and blood. The blood had also stained her face and hands. His eyes flickered searching for something a dying mind longs for. As they could not find that something, crackling sounds escaped his lips. It sounded like he was drowning. Slowly his eyelids closed and his body started to go limp. Serafina felt the need to help the boy, but she wasn't really there. Helplessly she watched as the small body fought to breathe. 

She also couldn't do anything as black birds appeared and started to gather around the dying body. She wanted to chase them away, but all she could do was watch. One by one the birds jumped closer and closer as if they were dancing around the boy. 

"No!" she cried out as one of the birds sank its beak into the boy's flesh. The others followed. The body quivered, but the boy was unable to defend himself. He was still alive, but the birds were eating him alive. Piece by piece they were peeling his skin with their beaks and claws and tearing his flesh. She felt sick and dizzy. But most of all, she felt rage. Her body wanted to shift, but before she could, her fingertips were moved from Henry's temple. 

The forest was gone.

!!!! SAFE TO READ !!!!

Serafina's knees gave out and she collapsed. Henry remained standing in front of her. 

"Who was he?" Serafina asked after catching her breath.

"The first Raven. A boy who lived in the 13th century Holy Roman Empire - today's Germany. What you saw was how it all began. The boy was left to die in the woods by a group of bandits. Someone found him just before the birds reached his heart. So he didn't die, though it might have looked like it."

Serafina blinked her eyes rapidly trying to get the image off her head. 

"The birds infected him with a virus. It altered him and his genome."

"You're not German... You're Vietnamese."

"My dear, like most people on this planet, me my ethnic heritage is a mix of different parts of this world. Sometimes and somehow during those 800 years that German boy's virus-altered genes mixed with the Trinhs'. Every Raven carries that boy's genes."

Henry offered his hand to Serafina to lift her up from the ground.

"Are we done with the small talk?" he asked. Serafina ignored his hand and stood up without his help.

"If this is your take on small talk, then hell yes," she mumbled. 

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There you have it! What do you think about the Ravens' origin?

And OOH! I'd still love to know who is your favorite character?

Thank you for reading, voting and commenting!

M