Page 21 of The Reaper
“In the bible, Noah released a raven from the ark to see if the floods had stopped. He trusted a raven, but you know what? I googled it and found out that some people believe the raven never returned to the ark, because it was too busy feasting on the corpses of all those that had drowned.”
“I thought I was morbid,” I joked, and she turned to look right at me, defiance shining in her eyes.
“Odin was the Norse God of wisdom, poetry, and death. If you search his name online, you’ll see that he’s always pictured with two ravens; one for his eyes and the other for his ears.”
I couldn’t stop myself from smirking. “You’ve really done your homework.”
I had no idea why she was telling me all this, but then she said the words that made my heart still in my chest.
“The reaper and the raven. One can see death, and the other deals with it. They’re a perfect pair.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I was speechless.
“You should google it,” she said, her eyes penetrating right through me. “There’s plenty of paintings of the reaper and the raven. Some people even get tattoos of them both. Where one exists, the other will follow. The scythe and the shadow. A dual reminder that nothing lasts forever.”
We pulled up in front of her home, and she turned to me one last time and said, “There’s a lot of ways you can interpret things if you look hard enough, but my favourite is to see ravens as symbols of transformation. Freedom. Dark passengers setting people on the correct path from one world to another. A bit like the reaper. He gets a bad rap, but he’s only there to make sure you leave this world and arrive safely in the next. He doesn’t visit people unless he really has to. He’s not so scary.”
And with that, she opened the car door and left, walking away and leaving me feeling like I’d just been shot in the chest with an arrow. An arrow that could’ve come from cupid or the fiercest hunter. Either way, it churned me up inside.
What the hell had just happened?
I heard the driver clear his throat, and then with a mocking, derisive chuckle, he said, “Looks like you dodged a bullet there, mate. She sounded like a right weirdo. Less raven more cuckoo if you ask me.”
Fury hit me like wildfire, burning with a hatred from within. Instantly, I lurched forward, grabbing the tie he was wearing and yanking him back in his seat. I pulled tighter to constrict his airways and he started to gasp and gurgle. In a feeble attempt to save himself, he clawed and scraped at the skin around his neck where the tie was choking him, but it was pointless. I had him right where I wanted him, and he knew it.
I wouldn’t let up, and leaning forward in my seat I growled in his ear.
“I didn’t ask you. And if I ever hear you or anyone else talk shit about her again, I’ll string you up with this tie. Do you understand?” He nodded frantically. “You need to learn some fucking manners,” I snapped, and let the tie go.
He slumped forward, grabbing the steering wheel like his life depended on it, but I didn’t stick around. I pulled a few crumpled notes out of my pocket and threw them down on the passenger seat next to him.
“Keep the change,” I sneered, opening the door. “I’d rather walk through fucking hell fire than stay in here with you.” And I slammed his door and laughed as he raced off, his tires screeching from the effort he’d put in to his escape.
I stood on the cobbled street outside her home, feeling like my emotions had been stripped back. I was raw, naked and exposed. She spoke like she knew who I was, and she saw me, really saw me.
Where did all that come from, the reaper and the raven?
Who was this girl who’d crashed into my life this morning, talking about symbols and imagery like she was reading a script torn from my very soul?
Was she the universe’s way of fucking with me?
A dark angel sent to test my resolve, my patience, and morality?
I took one last glance at her house and then turned to make my way home. I needed the walk to clear my head because right now, I didn’t know which way was up and which was down. I was a reaper who worked alone. I didn’t need a dark passenger to guide me, or whatever the hell she thought the raven was.
A shadow?
I had enough of those lurking around every corner. Phantoms from a past I tried to keep buried, but they were always ready to strike. In my life, shadows were always bad news, a darkness to steer clear of. I knew enough to know that anything in the shadows was full of evil intent, and that included me.
ChapterNine
DEVON
Throughout the week, despite my inner turmoil, I found my mind wandering back to the girl with the raven black hair. The girl who seemed to see straight through me and still smile like she’d witnessed a daydream and not a nightmare.
Why was she always there, dancing through my subconscious?
Did she think about me too when she was alone in her room?
