Murders And Conspiracies (BOOK 1)

3

It was evening in Kyoto. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The Crows and Ravens were pretending to fight, as humans thought their fighting was normal behavior. Some children were pointing at them, but they didn't pay much attention.

"Josephine, see that one with the fruit? That one's the target for tonight." A small raven said to a  larger one. "Ah, yes. As far as I've observed, she's an important part of the industry. Getting rid of her will certainly help us."

Josephine was one of the observer Ravens. As their title suggests, they fly around without much notice, figuring out who to take out next. Josephine was also one of the best observer Ravens known.

Lyra, the Raven who was talking to Josephine, was a informer and murderer Raven. She basically acted as a pocket news reporter, her size helping her spread the news even faster. Her size also acted as a stealth bonus when she went in for a kill.

"Well, I've gotta go. I need to tell a couple others about the target. See ya later tonight." Said Lyra. "I will be awaiting your next arrival." Said Josephine in her deep, calming voice. It was almost hypnotizing to listen to her sometimes.

Josephine didn't particularly like 'fighting' with the Crows, so she stood on the back of a bench, carefully watching the crowd. She'd find herself amused every time she heard another insignificant human say "That's normal, leave them be."

She decided she had seen enough in this area and left. A Trust Raven was standing on a young woman's arm, gently clinging on. As a Trust Raven, he had to gain the trust of humans, giving the Corvidae a light alibi if something went wrong.

The young woman was joined by a man, who gave him some seeds. He enjoyed the attention, sure, but every now and then, he'd wish he was alone, doing a duty other than his own. At least he had a job.

A Time Raven twittered a call on a nearby lamppost. He twittered eighteen times, signalling that it was Six P.M. All of the Time Ravens used the twenty-four hour clock. A little boy was walking with his Father on the sidewalk, admiring the Time Raven.

The scenery was nice and calm after the Ravens and Crows stopped pretending to argue. A Murder of Crows hopped about on the ground, eating little bits of scraps. One of the few things the humans thought about them that was true, they would eat almost anything.

Time dragged on and on, until finally, the streets of Kyoto were empty and everyone was asleep. A small number of Crows and Raven flew swiftly to the home of the lady. This was the home of the target Lyra spoke about earlier.

Josephine and Lyra nodded to each other and worked together to quietly pick the front door's lock. All of them went in and shut the door. The strongest Raven, Nathan, flew up onto the counter and motioned for another Corvid to open the freezer.

Adonis latched onto the handle with his beak and slowly pulled the door open. Nathan got a small bag of ice and closed the freezer. Lyra flew around the house, looking for more people, before zooming back. "It's a bigger night than we originally planned. There are two." She squeaked.

Josephine nods. "I'll look for something that will help us with that." Adonis looks through a window. "Um, guys...We have a problem. There's a CAT." Nathan sets the bag of ice down carefully on the counter top.

Josephine flew back into the room with a small package of numbing cream in her mouth. "Josephine, there's a cat. We need a plan." Josephine flew quickly to the window, setting the cream down next to the ice.

"Hmm, Munchkin, female, about a year, and there's a collar, it must live here." She pauses for a quick moment. "Lyra, fly out and distract the cat. Don't get caught. Nathan, drop that basket over there on top of it. Then put something heavy on it." She says, gesturing to them both.

They started working on it immediately. It only takes them a moment before they're zooming back in. They all went into the room with the sleeping target, bringing their items along with them, some of them getting collected along the way. 

Nathan makes a few lines of ice on the ground, letting them slowly melt so that anyone that might try to come in would slip. Josephine spread the numbing cream on the small amount of exposed skin that the lady had. This would be how they would carry her away without her waking up.

Lyra makes a few different symbols with her wings, telling the others she's going to get assistance. The others nod. After a few minutes of quiet sign discussion, Lyra comes back with eleven birds.

Josephine gives a quick look over the streets, making sure no one is there to stop them. She goes over to her part of the lady, and several of the birds start lifting her up. Once she's slightly off the bed, the rest of the birds assist by pushing her up from the bottom, and there they went, out the window.

The Ravens and Crows had a secret meetup spot underground. It was cliche, sure, but it was one of the best ideas out there. This is where the dead people, or people waiting to die, would be taken. 

If they were taken there alive, they would be killed there because there weren't many good things to use at their house. The paring knife wouldn't work well because it was too short. There were a lot of things much better than that.

There was a short execution of the target, and the birds began to nibble at her. Nathan went back to the lady's home to free the cat, and as soon as he did, he got out of there faster, he felt, than Lyra ever could.

After they ate, they all went to sleep in their nests, except for the ones who lived near the lady's house, who went to stay in other birds' nests. This happened on several other nights as well, but they wouldn't always let the humans go missing.

Tonight, she was eaten.