The Demon In The West - An Original Work In Progress

Chapter Eleven: Eye Of The Storm

Hell had been let loose.

At least that's what it had seemed, on the outskirts of Oakstead Hollow, the land before the town of Oatstead. The rapids that used to be calm cranberry bogs would now injure some. If they had lost their footing, which happened to most, they'd crash against ridgid rocks and tree stumps. They wade through the flooded streets in the cloak of night and hide from the guards inside. The tempest floods the valley outside, and raises the water level of the quiet marshland they tend to settle, causing Raven's gang to cower inside a rustic manor or they'd risk dying from exposure or drowning.

Once inside the manor, their tendons and muscles were all sore from pressing on against the current and the heavy downpour, but they persevered. Only a handful of people wondered where Raven was out of the dozen or so gang members, everyone else was too fixated on saving their own skin to let their thoughts wander to their leader was absurd at a time like this.

Viktor was crowned king of the thieves and took over the manor after Raven was deemed missing in action, pushing the fair maidens and guards out into the harsh wilds of the twilight mixed with the hailing rain pelting down from the sky and the gale of wind. Viktor's limp had gotten worse since the storm and the longer he stayed in it the more he would be swallowed by his past. By the war.

When the house is all but still, I wander outside in the storm. I could see the silver lining the moon cast on the haunting clouds, across the deep navy colored sky. It had finally stopped raining but only time could tell when it would let up again. It was a constant, agonizing storm that split trees from lightning, curious that it had not started a fire. Although even if it had, the storm would put it out from the dampness.

My palms are damp with sweat and a bead of sweat drips down my neck in the cool air. My thoughts are racing and yet I can't pin a single one. I ran as fast as I could to the police station, and it once again began to rain. At the back of the police station I found an old wooden crate shoving it out of the way, letting the moonlight glisten on a metal grate with slits from a crevice at the bottom of the foundation. It led to the cellar of the station. Getting down on my knees, I look through the dark crevice.

The rain had begun to make it's way through the grate, flooding the floor with a muddy wetness. I can barely make out the silhouette of Raven as he is curled up on a cot. I toss a pebble in to wake him, and it lands silently next to him. He looks at me and his sorrowful, tearstained face lights up like gold.

He turns away from me, unspeaking and shoos me away from the grate, as the sound of a guard stirred and echoed in the room below.

On nights like these, there's only one guard, since there's no way to exit the cellar from below. No prisoners can escape that way.

I've pretty much had an idea on how this would go. Entering the station it smells like must and a burning candle remains on the desk I rummage through where I've seen the sheriff leave his keys before. I pick the lock with a bobby pin from my hair and snatch the gleaming, bronze keys in my hands and scurry off.

I toss the keys into the grate after the guard returns to his post upstairs, and he thanks me quietly, unlocking the door to his cell.

I swing around to the front and call the guard out of the station. "Sir, please... you must help me!"

The guard quickly exits and asks, "What's wrong?"

"There's some sort of creature in my house. A type of bird I say. It must've got in when the roof caved from the storm," I lied and faked a western accent, "It was as big as a medium sized dog I tell ya."

My hair was messy and covering my face now that the bobby pin was out and he must not have recognized me, because he just responded with, "Fool. There's no such thing as a dog sized bird. Not in these parts at least."

"I insist you check it out." He locks the door to the station and I lead him down the street and turn to face the officer, facepalming when I see Raven run out of the station and into the forest.

"What's the matter now?" He sighed awkwardly, the two of us now drenched in rain.

"I realized 'tis was but a dream, a nightmare if you will. Sorry for your time."

I wandered my way back to Gray's as fast as I could and fixed my hair up before falling fast asleep on his couch. I couldn't just let Raven die. At that moment it were as though I had to free him.