Raven (12 page)

“
Well, who told you?” Sarah’s face was white as a ghost.

“
One of the gods I had told you about. He came to see me. Told me I had to save the world or he would kill Edgar before the Universe could.” I looked down in my lap with shame.

“
Again? Well, that’s not very nice. I thought you said they were going to leave you alone?” Sarah continued to control the conversation.

“
That’s what I thought. And now Edgar is lying to me too! He kept this truth from me, or else I would have known sooner and it probably wouldn’t have gotten so bad.”

Sarah’s face began to grow angry. “What an
arse!”

I couldn’t resist a chuckle.

“
Why would he lie to you?” Sarah continued to look appalled.

I shrugged. “That’s what I don’t understand. I just don’t see why he hid it from me, other than the fact that maybe he’s jealous, but that’s absurd! This is the end of the world we’re talking about! I feel like telling him to get over himself, and grow up, but he’s centuries old! I can’t tell him to grow up.”

Scott laughed uneasily. “
Men
.”

Sarah glared at him and Scott cowered.

“
So, I’m left in the same predicament I started with, saving him to save
them.
But I don’t want to save the gods.” I wished there was a way to let their world die, but I didn’t want that either. I loved Edgar A. Poe, and all the angels. I couldn’t do that. Plus, that was Heaven, and it was beautiful.

Sarah thought for a moment. “Well, why don’t you bribe them in return?”

Her response was so simple and yet profound at the same time. She was right. I had bribed them before, and in return, they did something no one had ever seen them do before. They had brought Edgar back from the dead, made one of our kind into an angel when we were never meant for that kind of duty.

“
Sarah, you’re right. But with what?” I began to think. I had already given them the dagger so I had nothing of true value left.

“
Well, you said you wanted the gods dead, but what about
banished?
” Sarah looked at me with hopeful eyes.

I shook my head. “That’s what I did last time, and it didn’t work.”

Sarah stood to her feet. “I know that, but that’s because you never made them sign a contract.” Her legal instincts were taking over.

I rolled my eyes, growing tired of that line.

“
Make them sign something—something unbreakable.” She jumped in the air. “A spell! Put a spell on it.”

I laughed. As absurd as she was, she was right again. What if I promised them that the only way I would save this world was if they vowed to leave it forever? Even me, I would be glad to give up the surface to the human race. Banish all magic to the center of the Earth, to a place you can only dream of, literally.

“
Yes, no more magic, no more—” Scott frowned.

“
No more
angels
.” Sarah finished his sentence, her tone sad.

I licked my lips. “But you could survive like that. You don’t need us. I have you two to spread the word when I’m gone, to follow through with the new world.”

Sarah nodded. “I would gladly take on that responsibility.”

“
The god’s have ruled over the human race for long enough. It is your turn to take the reins.” My voice was full of power and strength.

Scott looked frightened but strong. “I could. We could. All we needed was an eye-opener, and I believe this is it. It’s a worldwide famine, a worldwide flood. Everything is knocked out of balance, and as much as we’d like to deny that, it was our fault. We know it’s true. If we make it out of this, people will change.”

Sarah nodded in agreement.

“
Alright.” I felt rejuvenated and alive. I hadn’t felt this full of purpose since the day I entered the caves. “Then let’s do this. Let’s make a plan.”

We talked for a few more hours and well into the night. The storm raged on outside, racking the house with all its might. Unable to sleep, we talked about the things they would do after I was gone, after I had used whatever power this prophecy had in store for me. They talked about rebuilding, and politics, knowing full well that it was one of the things that had gone wrong with the world.

As the light began to return outside, Sarah yawned and the conversation reached an ending point.

I yawned, too, finding it now contagious. “Well, I better get back. I need to find this prophecy that the old man told me about.” I stood, leaving my now-cold mug on a nearby table, still full of lake water.

“
Will we see you again?” Sarah grappled my arm.

“
I’m sure you will,” I reassured her. And I would. I could never bear leaving them without a goodbye.

Sarah smiled and Scott gave me a hug, leading me to the door. We stood there staring at each other for a moment, hearing a crowd of voices outside.

I pressed my brows together. “What’s that?”

Sarah tilted her head, moving to the sidelight and pulling back the drape. She gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth as she let the drape fall back into place. Scott grabbed the handle of the door, and as we opened it, Scott and I gasped as well. The tree outside had nearly doubled in size now, surrounded by neighbors, all staring at it as though it were God himself.

“
Look at it.” Sarah’s eyes were fixed, the tree reflecting in her pupils.

The tree was even more brilliant than it had been when I had given it life. Big pink flowers bloomed all over every branch, the leaves a vibrant green. Whatever power I had managed to gain over the past few months, was much more powerful than anything I had experienced before. What was I becoming? I looked down at my hands, remembering how I’d thrown Edgar across the room with little effort. I thought about what Nicholas had told me, about how I was the last,
The One
. Perhaps I had gathered the power of all my kind and all the souls killed off by Matthew. Their empty shells had been left to roam the earth, looking for a place to hide and live. That place had become me.

The wind still howled, though the tree stood still. “It’s a sign. I have to do this.” I reassured myself. My fists were clenched at my sides.

Scott patted me on my back. “You will, Elle.” His gaze never left the tree.

I stepped out onto the porch, walking down the path. The crowd parted as I approached, wondering who I was and why this tree, in front of this house, had bloomed so beautifully.

The crowd whispered around me as I placed my hand on the trunk of the tree, its branches reaching toward me out of appreciation. The bark shook like a wet dog.
“I will be back for all of you.”
I leaned close to the tree and whispered before releasing my hand and walking away down the street. The crowd watched me as I turned into a raven, spreading my wings as I turned and looked back at them. The crowd stared in silence, their hands at their sides in amazement. I allowed them to witness it out of hope. One of the last miracles they would see here, and a symbol of their last hope for freedom: the white raven.

ALONE

Edgar

I sat in the quiet of the library, my hands folded on my lap and my eyes staring forward. I hadn’t felt this alone since Estella had been taken from me, since before I had ever met Edgar A. Poe. I wish I knew what to do, I wish I had someone that could see where I was coming from, and most importantly, where I needed to go.

I heard a dull ticking and my mind wandered to the sound, wondering where it was coming from. Taking a moment to leave my worries behind, I opened my ears, listening intently to the sound.
‘Tick, Tick, Tick.’
I leaned down toward the chest we used as a coffee table that sat right in front of me. Putting my ear to the wood, I listened again.
‘TICK, TICK, TICK.’

Surprised, I brushed all the books off the lid of the chest and to the floor. They landed with a heavy crash. I fiddled with the old lock, unfastening the metal hook and placing my palms against the wood. As I lifted the lid, the ticking sound became clear, no longer muffled by the thick mahogany.

“
There you are.” I lifted a blanket, uncovering a collection of clocks that had been placed inside. When I had come home, I was not surprised to see them gone. Elle had always hated my obsession with time, and considering all the uproar since I’d been back, I hadn’t bothered to look for them.

I looked to the wall where they used to hang, seeing the spot was now occupied by Elle’s obsession: the painting. I stared into the faces of our happy group, remembering everything and how far all of this had come. Elle had known about the end then, kept it as our little secret. In that, she knew we would be safe.

I never wanted to believe in the prophecy, and I always doubted it could ever come true, especially when she had been taken from me. I thought that was the end of it. I thought I’d never see her again. I no longer trusted magic after that, but it seems that now, my faith has returned.

I have lived many lives, each one spanning a decade of time, each a reinvention of myself. This new life felt strange, though, the first where I have been forced to hand over the control and give it all to Elle, instead. It was a hard transition for me, but the last true test of my will.

I wiped my mind clear and turned back to the clocks. I carefully looked through the stack, remembering where I had gotten each and treating them with a care Elle hadn’t. Toward the bottom of the pile, one clock caught my eye and I slid it from the stack. I brought it to the top before taking it in my hands and pulling it to my face. I sat back and admired it, watching as the second hand ticked in a counterclockwise direction. With a small smile on my face, I remembered Edgar Poe for a second time. He had made me this clock as a sort of joke, saying that it was the one clock that would defy time all together. “Put it next to all your other clocks,” he had said.

I jumped then.

“
Here you will stay in the same time forever!”
A voice in the corner of the library finished my thoughts.

Shocked, I looked up but saw nothing.
“Edgar?”
Was I hearing things?
“Edgar?”
I repeated. I knew the voice well but could not believe what I’d heard. I cursed myself, blaming it on stress and loneliness.

An insane but light laughter filled the room then. “You know me too well, dear friend!”

For a second time I scanned the room, still seeing nothing. There was a crash from the railing above and my eyes shot to the source. I heard the voice again.

“
Blast!”

My mouth hung open, my hands on the clock becoming numb. I tried to blink away his image a few times but it didn’t budge. “
Edgar?
How did you—”

He brushed himself off as he stood, looking down on me from over the rail. “I was trying to make that a little more graceful, but—I failed.”

I was frozen on the spot, still doubting this was really true. “How are you here? You were,
dead.
”

The aged figure of Edgar threw his hands in the air like a crazy old coot. “Oh, everything is in an uproar. No one notices when an old retired man like me leaves Heaven anymore.”

He threw his hands down, circling the upper platform and making his way to the ladder. He struggled as he turned himself around, walking backwards down each rung, having a difficult time finding his footing. Once on the ground, he took one triumphant breath and exhaled.

“
There’s nothing quite like the air of Earth, eh? Makes me wish I could breathe again!” He walked toward me with a little trot in his step, his wings dangling from his back. “Come on, then! Stand and give your old pal a
hug!”

I was still stunned as he yanked me from the couch, the clock falling to the ground with a crash. The face cracked. He slammed me against his chest and I grunted. I suddenly found myself engulfed by the smell of burnt bacon and strawberry jam, tickling my nostrils and making my stomach growl with jealousy. “Edgar, I—” My voice was muffled by his wool coat.

“
I heard you talking about me, and I figured twice in one day means you are all out of sorts! What’s wrong, my little raven?” He shook me. “Why so
doom
and
gloom?”

I pulled myself out of his grasp, not able to handle another whiff of bacon. “I uh—well.” I looked outside. “It
is
sort of doom and gloom, so—”

“
Meh!” Edgar bellowed, throwing his hands in the air yet again.

I jumped, forgetting how eccentric and socially inept he really was.

He scratched his head, causing his pitch black hair to frizz further than it already had. “Don’t mean to scare you there, old boy, but I frankly don’t care about the weather! I figure I’ve lived much longer than I ever should have, what will come is just another beginning to me.” He stood tall, hooking his fingers into the lapel of his jacket with pride.