"You cannot die no matter how many times you try," a woman's voice said in the darkness.

"I never asked for this!" the young girl's voice cried."I want a normal life!"

"This is your fate."

It echoed endlessly.

 

My high-pitched alarm tore me out of the trace. I sat straight up breathing heavily with my eyes wide open. My heart pounded so hard that it felt like it was going to explode from my chest. I gripped a cylinder object in my left hand: sleeping pills.

The darkness was gone. Light poured in from the window above my bed. I was in my tiny, plain, pink blue dress hanging on my white,closet door was still there. A spider had completed its web in the corner. My clock read seven o'clock. It didn't work again.

I turned my alarm off and went into the bathroom to prepare myself for school. My round face was the same. I had bags underneath my brown eyes. My sun kissed skin and blond hair looked dull. I turned on the sink and placed my head in the cold water. It was cold. I felt it. I turned it off then looked into the mirror and smiled. It looked fake. Nothing had changed.

After I brushed my teeth, I put on the blue dress. It was an inch above my knee and completely covered my arms and chest. My arms were exposed. I went into the tiny kitchen to find my father eating cereal at the table. He didn't noticed me as I passed him. The yellow paint on the walls were peeling off. There were no doors on the cabinets; he ripped them off years ago. I grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl on the counter and sat across from him. He looked up at me with his blood shot eyes. He ran his fingers through his nonexistent hair. His white tee shirt was stained.

"Did you get the newspaper yet?" he asked in his slurred, Mississippi accent.

"We stopped getting newspapers last week," I informed him.

He got up, leaving his bowl at the table, and walked into the living room while scratching his junk. He burped loudly from the other room. I finished my banana, threw the peel out and put his bowl in the sink. The clock on the wall read seven-twenty. My bus was coming in ten minutes. I grabbed my backpack and went to my bus stop at the corner of the street. It was all the same.

It arrived a few minutes early. I was the last stop. Only one empty seat was open in the front. It was loud. A few paper balls landed next to me. One bounced off my head. I ignored them and stared out the window.

A crow flew next to the bus. It followed. When we stopped at a red light, it perched itself on a street sign across the road. A truck passed by it. A pale woman appeared underneath the sign. She slowly turned her head towards me and grinned. Another car pass her and she faded away. We continued moving. It flew off.

 

"Samantha, run faster! You will have to repeat this if you don't!" Mrs. Pierce screamed at me.

The heat was was beating my body. Sweat poured down my body. I sped up. My legs felt the burn. They began to feel heavy. Before I knew it, I crossed the finish line and walked once around the track. I breathed heavily and my heart raced. It slowed down by the time I finished a lap.

"Sammy, you're not running well today" she comment. "Are you feeling sick?"

I nodded.

"Go shower and rest up. We need you for the meet next week." She smiled. "You did good today though."

She slapped my back and I smiled back.

A crow landed on the bench behind her. It stared at her.

Caw!

My knees felt weak. I collapsed to the ground. Hot tears flowed down my cheek. I slapped the ground. Things never changed.

 

Mrs. Pierce left the school on foot at sunset. The crow continued to stalk her however she never noticed it. Its menacing eyes glared at her. Cool air was settling itself. She stopped to put on her sweatshirt and to check her watch.

5:38. It was going to be dark soon. She had to hurry to cook dinner for her husband and daughter. She began jogging.

5:46. She stopped at a street corner. Cars sped by her rapidly. Someone threw a cigarette butt out his window and it landed by her feet. She swore.

5:47. She crossed the road. A truck mirror missed her head by an inch. Another car narrowly missed her as she jumped onto the sidewalk.

was completely dark. She was half way home. There were no street lamps lighting up her way; it was a cloudy night and pitch black. She could barely see. Her jogging turned into a brisk walk.

6:12. She had reach her street; it was a dead end. A twig snapped behind her. She immediately broke into a sprint.

6:13. As she ran onto her front lawn, a knife impaled her throat. She attempted to scream, but words would not escape her mouth. The hand twisted the knife before it pulled it out. He ran off.

6:14. Mrs. Pierce collapsed on the grass. She was soaked in her blood. Her thrashes became twitches and her twitches became nothing. Her chest stopped rising. She stared blankly at the sky.

6:15. Mrs. Pierce died.

 

I stepped out from behind the car. The crow landed on her chest then took off with a white light in its claws and disappeared into the darkness. Tears poured from my eyes again.

I had killed her.

2: death shall follow

The news of Mrs. Pierce's death was announced on the television and over the school morning announcements. Her killer was her husband. His motives were unknown. Every teacher, every administrator, every staff member, the entire track team, and many of the students wore black. The nurse's office was filled with sobbing people.

I couldn't cry anymore; I knew it would happen.

 

"Hey Sam!" Abdul greeted as he ran up to me during lunch.

Abdul was a little dork, but my best friend. He was a short and Arab. He wore khakis and polo shirts. Today, he had his contact in his eyes. They were hazel. He was cute though.

"Hey!" I hugged him.

He didn't release me and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess," I shrugged. He started to stroke my hair.

"Do you wanna hang out after school? We can go walking in the park and eat ice cream."

"That shit will go straight to my thighs,but sure."

 

"We have to be quiet," I told him as we snuck in through the from door. "My father doesn't want me to hang out with boys. We'll drop our bags off and leave."

I slowly opened the front door. We tip toed down the hall. I peeked in each room. The last room before my room was the kitchen. My father sat the table, drumming his fingers on it. He shook his head.

"Introduce me to your friend," he ordered.

Abdul stepped out from behind me boldly.

"Get out," he yelled and threw an apple at him.

It missed him. He ran out. I was going to follow him, but my father screamed, "Stop!" He grabbed my wrist. I tripped over my feet. He dragged me into my room and locked the door. I sighed and crawled into bed. What an ass.

 

Caw!

They had chosen their next victim. There was a mother, a father, and a ten-year- old daughter. The mother had dark, tanned skin and long flowing blond hair with brilliant hazel eyes. The father was tall and muscle, but bald. His eyes were also hazel. Their daughter looked most like the mother.

The father was the driver, the mother was in the passenger seat, and the daughter behind the mother. He was driving a red minivan. He stopped at a red light.

Outside the local bar, a teenage boy stumbled to his blue Toyota Tercel. He put the key in and sped out of the parking lot.

The light turned green and the father continued to drive. The boy hit the side of the car where the daughter was sitting at fifty miles per moved ten feet before another car rear ended them. Airbags didn't go off. The daughter hit her head on the seat in front of her. She was dead.

The crow pecked at the window. It couldn't take her soul away.

 

"Mommy! Daddy!" the child's voice cried in the darkness.

 

She woke up in darkness. It was cold. It was cramped. It was pitch black. She banged on the walls and screamed. Light appear at her feet. She was dragged towards it. It blinded her. Hands grabbed her. She struggled against them. She thrashed. She bite anything near her could only hear her screams.

They pushed her down into something soft. Restraints replaced the hands. They were tighter. Her wrists and ankles began to bleed. A needle pierced her arm. Slowly,darkness consumed her once again.

They watched her. Her chest was rising. She felt warm like a living being. They took off the restraints and wrapped her wrists and ankles in bandages.

She was dead for three days.

 

Two crows appeared at her window as she slept. They knocked on it with their beaks. She was deep in her dreams. After a few tries, they gave up and flew away.

 

They snuck in uniformly through the back door. The house was dark. They couldn't see anything. It was a risk to use their flashlights. Silent talking came through a door. Light sneaked out through the crack. Chemical fumes and pot burned their noses.

The leader leader held up three fingers.

Three…two…one…BAM!

"Nobody move! Put your hands in the air!" he screamed.

Everyone in the room scrambled. The officers grabbed the nearest person and slammed them against the wall or on the floor. One man exchanged blows with the leader. He threw bleach onto the leader's face. Fortunately, the face mask protected him. The man ran to the corner of the room. He put a woman into a head lock and pointed a gun at her head.

"Don't move or I will kill her!"

BANG! BANG!

The woman and the man collapsed. The bullet came from another officer's gun, but it wasn't quick enough. The officer rolled the man off the woman. His shirt was completely soaked in blood: her blood and his blood. He let out one final breath before passing on.

 

I woke up because I felt something wet on my chest. I turned on the lights. I screamed.

Blood.

3: Fate is so unkind

A knock at my door woke me up. It opened and my father entered. I pulled the covers over my cold, naked body. He stared at me with his blood shot eyes; he drank again last night. He wore the same shirt from yesterday. It had vomit stains. He smelled like booze, shit, and vomit. He shamelessly walked around in his boxers.

"I'm going to the market," he slurred and burped. "If I catch that boy in here, I will kill him. Don't leave this room."

He farted, sniffed the air, and left the room. He locked the door. I opened up the window to let out the smell. A cool, fall breeze wrapped around my body. It was gentle and pure. The rancid smell evaporated. I went into my closet and slipped on a cotton, black dress with spaghetti straps. The skirt stopped an inch below my knee.

There was a three foot drop to the ground from my window. I pushed the glass to the side and jumped onto the dead, long yellow grass. It crunched beneath my feet. Most of the plants in the yard were dead, except for an untrimmed bush. Behind it was a bowl and a bag of bird feed. I filled the bowl then hid the bag and returned to my room with the bowl. I left it on the window still.

A couple of crows came after ten minutes. They may have given me horrible predictions, but I couldn't hate them; they were beautiful birds. I stroked both of them. They didn't mind it.

"Please don't let anyone die today," I told them.

"The crows can't stop death," a woman's voice said from behind me.

Morrigan. She stood in the middle of my room. She was ghostly pale and had the blackest eyes and hair. The goddess was stunningly beautiful. Intricate celtic symbols flowed from her arms to her neck and gracefully onto her face. Her jaw was round and her nose was flat. The skirt of her black dress flowed onto the floor. It was strapless.

The crows flew onto her shoulders.

"Thank you for feeding my children. Not many people like them. Why are you sad, my daughter?"

"I want to be normal."

"You must suffer before you become happy."

"Why do you need me?"

"That will be answered in time."

"But then tell me!" I ordered frustrated. "I will do whatever it takes to get rid of this curse."

"It is a gift!"

"Then tell me why it is a gift? Tell me what I must do that is so important!" Tears rolled down my cheek. Rage burned inside me. "Tell me!"

The room was consumed in darkness. All the warmth was sucked out. It was bitterly the goddess was visible. The crows were gone.

"The times of the gods are not over neither are the times of our enemies," her voice boomed and echoed. "When the time comes, we will kill you. My children will tell you when."

My body was shaking however I found the energy to ask, "Will I ever be free?"

"In your next life, you will be free. Do not attempt to destroy your body; it will be my host. I need it to battle the enemies of the gods. They are growing stronger. If we do not stop them, your kind will become extinct. Light will become darkness, land will become ocean, life will become death and the soulless dead will live.

"This world will be consumed by chaos before harmony returns. You will be born into the next world."

"How do you know all this?"

"Beings with a soul fates are written in the stars, but fate of the gods and our enemies are obscure. My children can't take souls to the fields if the enemy collects them are stealing souls. They can control the bodies and use them for an army. They break fate. I will be sending you back to your world soon. We are between life and death.

"By the way, have you check the news recently?"

She disappeared. The warmth blew back like a hurricane. I protected my face with my arms.

Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw!

Hundreds of crows were inside my room. Thousands were sitting in my backyard. Each of them stared at me and cawed. They funneled out the window. Their claws scratched me. The last one out left a mess on my bed. Feathers were scattered everywhere.

My father entered the room. He had a bottle of whiskey in one hand. His eyes widened in shock and anger. He chugged the whiskey down then threw the bottle at the floor and left.

Death is liberation.

 

4: Holy Sunday

On Sunday, he allowed me to leave my prison. It took me hours to clean up the feathers. They filled up an entire large trash bag. I dragged it outside. People who walked past me waved and smiled; they were going to church in their Sunday best. Holy Sunday.

    I wasn’t raised religiously, but I wanted to go to church. My mother became religious after the accident. She took me to church every Sunday, had our home blessed, and went extreme sometimes. Her frenzies frightened me. She forced me into exorcisms, praying, and fasting. However, church sermons were peaceful. 

    God isn’t real. 

    I returned the waves and walked in the opposite direction of them towards a local park. A breeze gently persuaded trees to dance and felt like a silk blanket when it touched my body. Shadow from trees kept temperatures low. Sunday was a happy day. 

    The park wasn’t far from my house. Bright, colorful flowers bloomed along the stone paths. Many trees provided shade. Several children played on the playground. The swing set wasn’t occupied. There were three swings and I sat on the one in the middle. My feet kept me still on the ground. 

    A crow landed in front of me. It had a fifty dollar bill in its beak. I took it from its beak and placed it in my pocket. I held my hand out and it jumped onto it. There were red celtic symbols on its wings. Morrigan’s personal crow.  

    It leaped onto the swing next to me. It began to clean its feathers. I pulled out a loose one. It faded into dust. My finger tips were covered in black. I wiped it off on my denim shorts. 

    “Get that nasty thing away from here!” a woman screamed. 

    She swung her purse at it, but it hit me in the face. I grabbed the crow and stormed off before she could say anything to me. I set it down underneath a tree far away from the playground. It didn’t leave. It stared at me. It looked confused and cocked its head to the left. 

    “It’s not your fault,” I told it. 

    It jumped onto my shoulder. I decided to let it stay there. I continued to walk around the park. People gave me funny stares and a few walked on the grass to avoid me. One person called me a freak. A child asked if it could talk, but the mother who had struck me earlier dragged him away. I could have cared less for their opinions. It wasn’t normal to walk around with crows, but it wasn’t a reason to abuse or to kill them. 

    My stomach growled. I didn’t eat breakfast; I was avoiding him. The fifty dollars were enough to cover many meals. 

 

    The lunch rush hadn’t arrived yet. No one was there. A waiter seated me near the kitchen door. It was a pretty simple restaurant. Walls were painted orange like a sunset. Elegant tapestry with arabic written on them hung on the wall. It smelled like lamb. Every table and chair was wooden. 

    Abdul came out of the kitchen doors with a menu and sat at the wooden table with me. It was his family’s restaurant.

    “Hey, how are you?” he greeted with a huge smile.

    “O’kay. I’m sorry about the other day,” I apologized.

    “It’s alright. We can eat ice cream together another time and not go to your house. What would you like to order? I’ll pay for it.”

    “No thanks, I can pay for it myself. I’ll have a fish curry and a glass of water.”

    “As you wish.”  

    He went into the kitchen and returned after a few minutes.

    “My shift ends in an hour, do you want to get some ice cream after?”

    “What is it with you and ice cream?”

    “I love it! So do you?”

    “No, my father tends to wonder around town during the weekends. He’s usually drunk or hungover. I saw him while I was walking here.”

    “We can go out another time.”

    “Abdul, come back in here,” a woman’s voice ordered from inside the kitchen. 

 

    The crow found me again in the park. It decided to ride on my shoulder again. The sun was setting. No one was walking on the paths. A few children were playing on the playground. It began to caw wildly. 

    Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw! 

    A humanoid figure stepped out from behind a tree. Its body was draped in a brown cloak. Its face was narrow and the jaw was sharp. The chin was pointy. There were no eyes. Its nose were two openings above its smiling fang mouth. Its skin was grey. 

    “Morrigan!”

5: Death's Messenger

Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw!

    “So this is death’s messenger?” the monster asked sarcastically in a deep, low voice. 

    It circled around me. My pulse was racing. Every stare sent chills down my spine and every hair on my body stood up. The air around us became icy cold. A claw touched my shoulder. It drifted down to my waist. It stroked my back.

    “Are you death’s messenger?” it asked and walked next to the tree. “I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you. What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue? Pity! Pity! Pity!”

    A crow landed in front of me then another one came and another one. They kept coming. They flew in the air. They landed on the ground. Some sat in the trees. There were so many that the sun was blocked. However they were quiet.

    “Pity! Pity! Pity! I would expect more from Morrigan than a weak  female. She was much more fun in the olden days. All her warriors were large, strong men. Nowadays they seem to be impossible to find.”

    My father stepped out from behind the tree. His pupils were white. He stood strongly like a sober soldier. My blood was boiling. I was numb with anger. 

    “I see a resemblance here! Can he be your father? Oh yes I believe he is!” it giggled. “This is so much fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Can we play together? I found him drinking the other night and was dying to play. Play! Play! Play!”

    My father’s head twitched. His hands shook violently. A low moan escaped his throat. He arched his back like a cat and stepped forward. Crows flew around him like a hurricane. He swung his arms. Everyone of them evaded his attacks. A few scratched his head and peeked at his body. He let out a scream of rage. 

    “This is fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!”

    They flashed by me. Another person tried to assault me from behind. A woman’s scream of pain came out from the second hurricane of feathers. 

    “Morrigan!” 

    CAW! 

    Every single crow shrieked. I covered my ears, but my eardrums felt fried. A massive shadow appeared between my father and me. Huge, black wings made of crow feathers appeared then a female human female figure emerged in a black dress. A black mist lingered around her. She was floating. Morrigan. 

    “Oh fun! Fun! Fun! Morrigan has arrived! Let’s play! Play! Play! I really want to taste your blood!”

    She rises her arm and shadows rushed to it. It formed a spear. She threw it into the ground. 

    CAW!

    Crows bolted into her shadow mist. They emerged from it as humans in brown loincloths holding silver spears. They charged at my father and the woman. More people came out from behind the trees. The warriors engaged them. 

    My father was the first to fall. His entire body twitched and bended in all directions. Blood oozed out from his ribs. 

    “Morrigan, you’re no fun! I want to play with your messenger! Sam! Sam! Sam!”

    Each repetition of my name sent chills up my spine. How did he know my name? 

    “Come on Sam, don’t you want to play? She’s so boring! Boring! Boring! Boring! Show me what you’re made of, death’s messenger! I challenge you!”

    Morrigan snapped her fingers and everything stopped. The crows went into trees. Her warriors formed a circle around us. 

    “This has gone on far enough,” Morrigan said. “This ends here!”

    “How scary she threatening me!” he mocked. “Scary! Scary! Scary! If she is your daughter, let her fight for herself and prove herself. Fight! Fight! Fight! Death’s Messenger, I challenge you!”

    “You will not touch her!” 

    “You have no control over me!”

    “Enough! I accept your challenge!” I yelled.

    Her head whipped around. Her stares pierced my body. 

    I can do this.

    She nodded and moved aside. I stepped forward. A warrior gave me his spear. 

    “Hail the Morrigan, crone of war!” the warriors screamed and pounded their chests. 

    “Oh this is going to be fun! Are you ready to die? Die! Die! Die!”

    “No, I’m not the one dying here,” I responded.

    I charged at him. 

    A sharp pain engulfed my shoulder. His claws were in it and my spear was through his chest. 

    “Die! Die! Die! Isn’t dying fun? Fun! Fun! Fun!”

    “You have forgotten she is my messenger,” Morrigan informed. “She cannot die, but you can. Today is the day you will pay for your sins.”    

    “Not fair! Not fair! Not fa…..”

    A warrior from behind thrusted his spear into his skull. The monster was dead. Ball spheres levitated up from his body. The crows snatched each of them and flew away. Moonlight was revealed behind the black mass. The pain in my shoulder faded away. The people collapsed to the ground. They were dead. All the warriors transformed back into crows. 

    “Death, in all forms, is just.”