Page 2 of The Raven
A whirlpool of dread instantly swirled in my stomach when I met his gaze,and an ominous feeling settled in the marrow of my bones. Something bad had happened to me. I didn’t know how I knew, but I knew, without any uncertainty.
His statement didn’t answer where I was, though. Or who he was.
Reaching me, he stopped and towered over where I sat in aquiet stupor, desperately trying to remember…anything.
Now he was closer, I could make out his features in more detail. Dark spotsmarred his face like he’d sat out in the sun for too long, and bushy white brows matched the same tone as his short hair. A light smatter of silver stubble graced his cheeks and chin, and the skin around his eyes was wrinkled with age.
But his eyes captivated me. Deep brown eyes with light flecks of pure gold stared down at me, piercing me with such intensity, it was as if the man was peering into my soul and watching every day that I had lived.
In that moment, I couldn’t tear my gaze away from him. I was trappedunder his scrutiny, helpless but to expose my deepest, darkest secrets to him. After what felt like an eternity, he blinked, releasing me from his hold. My body slumped in relief, my muscles aching more than I thought possible.
“Raven.”
My brows furrowed. “How…how do you know my name?”
“I know many things, Raven. But our time together is limited, andthere are more important things to discuss.”
Summoning strength from deep within, I slowly got to my feet, nauseaswimming from how much it hurt to make the simple move. “At least tell me your name,” I said when I was face-to-face with him.
“My name is Osiris, but you can call me Oz,” he replied, bowing his head.
In the darkest recesses of my brain, the name sounded familiar, but Ididn’t know why. I couldn’t remember ever meeting him before now.
“Oz. Please tell me what’s going on.won’t lie, I’m beginning to freak out a bit.”
He gave me another sad smile, taking a step forward and closing thedistance. “Raven, I want to help you, but you need to know that for me to help, it will mean facing more suffering than what you are already experiencing. Are you sure you can handle that?”
Frustration swamped me, adding to the myriad of emotions my exhaustedbody was already drowning in. “Please stop talking in riddles, Oz. Just tell me what is going on.”
He exhaled deeply, his eyes visibly turning a shade darker while the goldflecks grew brighter. “I can’t tell you, Raven. But I canshowyou.” He reached up and placed his hands on either side of my head, holding me still. “And once you’ve seen the truth, you will have a choice to make. A choice as to whether you go back or move forward.”
Boogie
The Raven
Boogie scurried across theroad, his surroundings blurred by thetorrential rain as he darted into the mini-mart. Murderous rage swept through me, a rage so powerful that it almost took my breath away.
Scratch that.
I didn’t have breath to take away. To have breath would imply onewas alive and breathing.
I wasn’t.
Funny really. I always believed that when you died, you went to abetter place. A place where loved ones who had died before you went, and were waiting to spend all of eternity with you.
According to Oz, that place did exist. Those who died peacefully intheir sleep, or surrounded by friends and family, went straight to the place in the sky… or you know, wherever Heaven really was. Those who died after living a life of sin went straight to hell to spend eternity as the devil’s plaything.
And then there were those who couldn’t pass on to the next worldbecause they had unfinished business.
Like me.
No, I didn’t believe it either. Until Oz proved me wrong.
Truthfully, I was still coming to terms with the recent revelation, buttime wasn’t on my side. I had less than a week to finish my unfinished business, or I would spend eternity in limbo, a place where only pain and loneliness existed.
I didn’t want to spend eternity in limbo, but that wasn’t the sole reasonwhy I was waiting for Boogie to exit the shop so I could stalk him back to his flat.
I wanted vengeance.
