Crow

Ch. 22

Click.

Refusing to remain dumbfounded any longer, Echo flicked her hand across the light switch in a flash, and in the same instant, her opposite hand swiped a tarnishing pair of scissors from her desk, to provide her with some means of defense.

She braced herself for a violent reaction, but was surprised to find only empty space before her, and a glimpse of dark clothing disappearing through her open window. Cautiously, she hurried to the window, and discovered that the person in question was now nowhere to be seen.

Her arms trembling slightly from her previous adrenaline surge, she abandoned her scissors and swiftly closed the window, locking it tight. Perhaps she'd forgotten to correctly do so the other night? She let out a heavy sigh.

That didn't matter right now; obsessing over the cause wouldn't change the effect at this point. So, rather, she took the moment to take inventory of the damage. Peculiarly, she found that though everything seemed carefully gone through, it had all been returned just as carefully, to the point that it could have all gone unnoticed, if not for her witnessing the event herself.

Besides that, the only real disturbance to her bedroom's usual layout, was an overturned pile of clutter in the middle of her room that hadn't originally been earlier. It was then, that she noticed the faint scuffling emanating from within it.

Piasa.

In seconds, Echo had thrown aside the miscellaneous books and the single thick quilt that obstructed the bird's cage, gently maneuvering Piasa out of it to assess his well being. To her relief, besides seeming badly shaken, he didn't appear to harbor any further ailments.

Tucking the slightly ruffled crow to her chest, she rose back to her feet and withdrew her phone from her back pocket, her thumb hesitating over the dial screen. It would be no use to contact the police now, when the burglar was already long gone, and especially when she hadn't even seen enough of the person to discern their gender alone.

With a resigned sigh, she prepared her explanation, and dialed her mother's number instead.

---

In the end, her mother had completely freaked out, as expected, and had rushed home immediately, abandoning the paperwork that what would have kept her working for the rest of the night.

Upon arrive at their house, she'd rushed in, and almost had another emotional breakdown when she saw that both her house and her child were perfectly well, though after meticulous inspection. With seemingly no other action to take, her mother had decided to have all the locks changed as quickly as possible, and to promptly invest in a security system as well.

Afterwards, Echo had shooed her mother back out of the house, insisting that she hurry and return to her work, as to not get into more trouble than necessary with her boss. Although, of course, only after reaffirming several times over that things were indeed alright.

Dismissing her rambling thoughts, Echo hovered busily over her latest distraction; a kitten with a broken ankle, which had been dropped off at the clinic just an hour before. The owner had decided to come pick it up later, after she finished her shift at work, leaving it in their care for the day.

By now, the kitten had already been patched up, its bones set back in place, but she fussed over it even still, feigning obliviance to Tom's uncomfortable stares.

She had no idea how to face him now; she'd been conflicted to the point that she'd even considered staying home that day, though her conscience won her over with images of injured animals in need of her help.

The kitten purred in her lap, its eyes glinting mischievously as it eyed the large black bird perched beside the two of them. She smiled slightly, rubbing it between the ears and slowly rising to her feet. She couldn't just idle around like this all day, and she knew it, so she reluctantly made her way to the back of the clinic, and found an empty kennel to deposit the kitten in.