Raven (13 page)

I laughed, finally giving in and enjoying his positive outlook on the situation.

“
So—” He looked around, rolling onto his toes and then back onto his heels. “Where is that marvelous creation you call
Elle?
Oh, and maybe that funny little boy, what was his name—” his face twisted. “Ah yes!
Scott.
”

I tilted my head in confusion. “Scott? When did you meet him?” I was mildly surprised.

A delighted smile grew across Edgar’s face. “Oh, what a wonderful specimen he was! A real dreamer. Right there in my very house, dreaming about me, none the less!” He stood again on his toes and leaned forward in excitement, his eyes crazed.

I let out a sharp grunt. “Scott? A wonderful specimen? I think you may have the wrong kid.”

“
No, no.
Where is he?”
His eyes were wide and his teeth glimmering like a greedy dog.

“
Well, I’m not sure.” I had more important things to worry about than the whereabouts of some mere human.

“
Oh.” Edgar’s face sank for a moment before perking back up. “And Elle?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t get me started.” I turned away from him, picking the broken pieces of clock off the floor.

Edgar’s mouth curled into a half smile. “A lover’s quarrel? How
delightful.
I must say, I do miss those.”

I snorted. “I guess you could say it’s a quarrel.” I was beginning to grow annoyed. “She left.”

Edgar turned his head, glaring at me with one eye. “You lied to her, didn’t you? Oh! It’s the oldest one in the book! Never lie to a woman, mind you.”

He walked away toward the shelf, shuffling his feet along the floor and fidgeting with the books.

His energy was making me tense. “I suppose.”

“
Well,” he barked, twisting back to face me. “You should apologize. The whole world is in an uproar over her. She is
The One
after all. Such a wonderful thing!” he sang. His eyes glazed over in thought.

“
Why are you here again?” I was done playing games.

Edgar laughed. “Oh, well. I was sent here to collect you.”

“
Collect me?
Why? But I haven’t even finished—”

“
Well, time does not wait for procrastinators.” He shook his finger at me before turning to look at the bookshelf, running his hand along the spines. “Trust me, I know.”

“
Who says?” I demanded, letting my irritation come through in my tone of voice.

“
One of the god’s! That really bratty looking woman, gorgeous, but boy she’s a
real—
”

“
Why her? What’s her problem?” I was enraged, remembering the god,
Ariana.

“
My guess is she’s jealous of Elle. Doesn’t want her to succeed.” Edgar shrugged. “She was awful spiteful about the whole situation, really. Dreadfully out of sorts, that one is.”

I lifted my brows. “I know what you mean,” I muttered under my breath. “Doesn’t she know that by keeping me here, that’s actually doing more harm to Elle’s advancement? Wouldn’t she want me to stay, then?”

Edgar turned to me, raising one brow. “Really? Why? Oh, this is a regular ol’ mix-up, isn’t it?” His black eyes glittered.

“
It doesn’t matter why.” I thought hard. “What happens if I just don’t go with you?”

Edgar shrugged. “She’ll want to kill you? I mean, I don’t know. I did my part, so…”

I knew why Ariana was jealous. It was because she liked me. When Elle was taken, Ariana had tried to take her place with little success. She was the one I tried to love but couldn’t, and she never got over that. She could never let go.

I pursed my lips. “She’s just trying to dig her claws in one last time. Ignore her.” I blew it off.

Edgar jumped, throwing me off subject. “Oh, look! It is one of my books!” Apparently he had dropped the subject, too.

“
Will you stay for a while?” I added, being polite, though I wasn’t sure how much I could handle. I was now quickly regretting my earlier statements about missing him.

Edgar pulled the book from the shelf with delight, opening to a random page and reciting the words under his breath with a childish look on his face. When he wasn’t talking he hummed, and when he wasn’t humming, some other form of noise managed to escape his body.

“
Edgar? Did you hear me?” I took one step toward him, trying to discreetly fan the flatulent air.

He waved me away. “Oh,
yes, yes.
”

He slammed the book shut and I jumped.

“
Do you have any
cookies?
” His eyes got wide.

I pressed my brows together, wondering if he had indeed lost his mind after all this time. “Perhaps.”

“
That would be lovely. I’ll take five, with a glass of cream, please.” He began to sing now, trotting to a nearby chair to sit. “I’ll just wait for Elle’s return, then.”

“
Well, you may be waiting a while,”
I mumbled under my breath, walking toward the kitchen. Luckily, he hadn’t heard me.

I exhaled as I walked into the warm room, heat radiating from the fire. I ran my hand along the copper counter as I made my way to the cabinet where Elle hid all her sugary snacks. The very place where I, too, used to hide my sweets that were now no longer something I could enjoy. I rummaged through the boxes, finding half eaten cookies in each. As I rummaged some more, I thought I heard a sound so I stopped, listening with my hand inside a bag of mint chocolate rounds. As I stood there, hearing nothing but my own breath, I then stopped breathing altogether, listening more intently as the feeling in my soul began to burn.

Elle was back.

I dropped the bag of cookies on the counter, abandoning the mess and rushing toward the front hall. I did not yet know what I would say, but I had to see her. Feeling this way was beginning to make my chest grow tight with emotion, and I hated it.

My eyes met Elle’s and she froze. For a minute we just stood there, like two statues in the yard. I watched her breathe, measuring her emotions and wondering what she would say. She was soaking wet, the rain dripping from sodden strands of silky white hair. The water glistened on her skin, lighting her eyes. I was surprised by how much I already missed her face, my need for her reminding me of our inevitable love.

“
Elle, I—”

She pursed her lips and turned then, running up the stairs and leaving a trail of wet footprints behind her. I watched as she stormed away, my eyes never leaving her. The door to her room slammed shut and I winced, my shoulders sinking as I finally looked to the floor.

“
What was that? Was that, Elle?” Edgar shuffled from the library.

“
Shut up, Edgar.” I turned to him, fury burning in my eyes.

Edgar did not react the way I wanted him to as he jumped with delight. “Oh,
anger
. I love your anger.”

I gave him a strange look, giving up on him. I shook my head and let my shoulders relax.

Edgar stopped smiling and stood tall, smoothing his coat in an attempt to collect himself, looking as though he had finally realized how crazy he seemed. “Do you want me to talk to her?”

I brought my hand to my forehead, smoothing my hair back. “Sure, wouldn’t hurt, I guess.” I let my hand fall limp at my side.

“
Perfect!” Edgar sneered and I wondered what it meant.

“
Just don’t—” I tried to apply a few ground rules, but before I could say another word, Edgar was already halfway up the stairs, a strain of laughter trailing after him.

“
He is so
weird,
” I uttered, turning to resume my position on the sofa in the library where I could stare into space and wallow ever deeper into my misery.

PROPHECY

Estella

There was a knock on the door of my room and I was quick to assume who it was. “Go away, Edgar.”

“
Oh, alright,” a voice replied, but it wasn’t what I’d expected.

Trying to think and recognize the tone, I quickly stood from the blue velvet chair that faced my bed. “Wait!” I yelled.

“
Oh—I. Uh—
yes?”
There was a shuffling outside in the hall.

“
Edgar?”
I asked, slowly walking toward the door and placing my hands against the wood, my ear just inches away.

“
Yes! My dear. It is me!”

I screamed, launching backwards as the voice bellowed through the crack and into my ear like a trumpet. I fell to the ground as the door handle twisted, opening a crack. A head popped in then, and my shock turned to happiness. “Oh, Edgar!”

“
Elle, darling!” Edgar Poe swung the door wide open with his hands in the air, his fingers splayed.

I crawled up off the floor and jumped into his arms. “Oh, Edgar! What are you doing here?”

Edgar laughed as he spun me. “I’m here to help you, my dear.”

I leaned away. “To help me? With what?”

Edgar laughed and clapped his hands together as he dropped me. “Oh, this is so delightful!” He took a deep breath and regrouped. “Well, I told Edgar, down there,” he pointed at the floor, “that I was here to take him away, but really I am here to help you find your
prophecy
,” he crooned.

“
My prophecy? How did you—”

Edgar put his hand up to my mouth, silencing me, crushing lips against my teeth. “I was sent here by that old looking god,
Santa Claus.
”

“
You mean, Nicholas?” I snorted.

“
Yes, yes.
Saint Nick!”

“
I hardly consider him a saint,” I chortled.

Edgar continued, unfazed by my comment. “He told me I was to help you! Of course, I was delighted when—”

“
Nicholas sent you?” I felt overwhelmed by the fact that now they were sending people to assist, whereas my Edgar wouldn’t.

“
Oh, isn’t this fun!” He jumped again. “I love hunts. Perhaps that’s why they picked me.” He brought his finger to his chin in thought.

I put my arms on Edgar’s shoulders, pressing his feet firmly to the ground. “Okay, calm down, deep breaths. Can’t we just ask Edgar where it is? Doesn’t he know?”

Edgar Poe shook his head. “Oh, well. He knows about it, but it hides itself. So, he doesn’t know where that is. He just knows that it’s here somewhere.”

“
In this house?” I asked. I was confused as to why I wouldn’t have found it already.

“
Yes, darling. Here!” He shook with excitement under my grasp.

“
Well, why didn’t I know that?” I felt deceived.

Edgar stuck out his bottom lip. “Well, I’m not really sure why no one ever seems to want to tell you anything. I feel sorry for you. So much unnecessary drama!”

I let one exalted laugh leave my lips. “Finally, someone notices.”

“
Of course, dear. I see everything. So!
Shall we?”
He motioned toward the door.

A smile crossed my face. This was so sudden, so unexpected. “Yes, Edgar. We shall!” I went along with his free nature and embraced the game he lived everyday. I took his arm. “Okay, let’s go.”

Sam came to the door then. “What in the world is going on in this house?” Sam was grabbing his head in agony.

Edgar looked at Sam. “Oh! The big guy is here
too!
Positively delightful!”

Margriete popped her head around the corner, as well.

“
Ah!” Edgar sounded as though he was about to pop with emotion.
“And you too!”

“
Edgar!” Margriete sang, pushing past Sam.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Really? This again?”

Margriete jumped into Edgar’s arms, toppling me to the side as Sam caught me. “Edgar! How did you get here?”

He laughed. “I was sent on important business.” He made it seem as though it was top secret, although, at this point it was anything but.

“
They all know, Edgar. It’s okay,” I assured him.

Sam looked at me with a disgusted face. “He’s supposed to help? How can he possibly help? It seems more likely that he’ll foil it all instead.”

I gave Sam a playful slap on the arm. “Oh, come on. He’s innocent enough. Besides, he helped us last time. He’s good with this stuff.”

Sam grumbled. “They could have just asked
me
to help.”

I snorted. “I doubt that.”

Sam looked down his nose at me.
“Whatever.”

Edgar and Margriete were squealing at each other with excitement, like two school girls.

“
Okay,
okay.
Break it up.” Sam stepped between them. “Can we re-group and act normal about this? Please?”