I run my short nails over the rim of the glass of water I have. Officer Davis is filling in my dad and the other officers about Corvus and Ren. Corvus sits outside, on a chair, staring up at Ren, settled uneasily in the cherry tree in the back garden.
They keep asking him the same questions, and he answers the same way. I think they're just having trouble believing him.
"-so we're not really sure what to do." Officer Davis says to dad.
I listen in, flexing my fingers. I wonder where mum is, and I feel tired, wanting not much more than to go to sleep. I feel terrible for Corvus, and guilty for telling the police, even though it was the right thing to do.
"Corvus, why can't you go back to the post office, don't you have a key?" Officer Clarke presses gently.
"I am not the postman yet, and only the Postmaster has a key." Corvus explains patiently, sipping happily at the tea dad keeps refilling for him.
"There must be another way to get in though." Officer Wilson insists.
"I am not allowed to tell people any more." Corvus says, the same thing every time they ask for more.
"Okay, Corvus, do you have anywhere you could stay?" Officer Clarke interrupts.
"No."
"Are you sure, sweetheart?" Clarke presses.
"The only place I could stay is here, with Hana." I nearly choke as he says that.
"Oh? Why's that?" Wilson looks up at him.
"Because Hana has abilities like I do, and being in proximity to her means something magical is more likely to happen." I'm nearly dying in pain. "And her house has a spare room."
That makes me feel much better, I was picturing Corvus camping on my floor, Ren squawking and dirtying everything, though he looks like a respectable raven. Or him in the tree outside, or even closer.
"Hmm. It would make it easier to get you both to safety. We'll have to ask Hana's dad." Officer Clarke mulled.
I finish my glass of water, and tap my feet on the floor, distracted. Ren looks over at me from the tree, adjusting his feathers, and tucking his head under his wing, wholly disinterested. Lucky thing.
"Hana, did Corvus tell you anything useful?" Officer Davis asked me.
"Not anything you don't know." I sigh.
"Alright." Officer Davis said.
A knot re-formed in my stomach. Were they going to force us to move? Away from Layla, and normalcy. I imagined some dingy metal unit I'd be trapped in for the rest of my life, and I might have doomed Corvus to the same fate. No!
No!
The police wouldn't do that. I just needed to ask about where they were planning on moving us. We were still the successors of the only things capable of preserving normalcy. They wouldn't hurt us. We just need to wait until death and the Postmaster return. It's only been a day after all.
"Where will you take us?" I asked Officer Davis.
"What do you mean, Hana?" He asked me gently.
"I mean, where were you taking us to keep us safe?" I swallowed.
"Well, nowhere else would be suitable for the foreseeable future. Because of Corvus, we have decided to keep you here. It might help you connect to your roots better." He wasn't saying it, but I knew what he meant.
As a sort of trade-off of having death and the postman living in Green Hills, this place has one of the lowest mortality rates in the world. And that probably helps avoid Green Hills being overrun with un-dead zombie-people who refuse to die.
So this is the safest place. For now.
It can only be a matter of time before things get worse, and world governments start offering reinforced steel bunkers to lock us in to save us from the approaching apocalypse...
Or to use Corvus and I to get a leg up during it.
"So.. I get to stay here?" I'm almost afraid to say it.
"Yes, Hana, for now. But sacrifices have to be made for your safety." Officer Davis said warily.
"Yeah?"
"You won't be able to leave without an escort. Please don't go running off again. The world... Is changing, and our priority is to keep you safe, okay?" He asked me.
"That's fine. But I can still see my friends, right?" I ask nervously.
"Yes, yes, of course. But please don't tell them any classified information. The public haven't been anything yet, but the news will be out in most countries by tomorrow."
"I guess the governments are all going to break it gently, and you don't want the people of the world to panic." I offer.
"Yes, exactly." He affirms.
I hesitate saying the next thing, and officer Davis notices. "If you say what's on your mind, Hana, it makes it easier for us to keep you safe."
"If I promise to tell you the truth, will you do the same?" I ask, knots tying and writing deep in my belly.
"... Yes. I'll do my best to tell the truth." Davis replied.
"Thank you. How are you going to find my mum?"
"Well, we have hope you'll be able to find her. The special forces division has faith that you can." He told me.
"Thank you." I said, scrunching my toes up in my shoes.
I stand up, and walk over to dad, falling against him. My stomach feels all sick and unsettled. My limbs hurt, and I'm way, way too tired for the crises whirling through my head. I just want to go to sleep, to dream that nothing ever happened. But this feels way to real.
"Hana, do you want to go to bed?" Dad asks, holding me close.
"Yeah. Yeah. I'm not gonna sleep, but I'll read until I feel tired." I swallow.
Dad gestures something, and walks me upstairs. He waits outside as I change into my pyjamas. I let him back in, sitting under my covers, my knees tight to my chest, my head on my knees. Dad hugs me, and I can vaguely smell hints of his aftershave.
"Dad..." I whisper.
"Yes, sweetie?" He replies.
"What if... What if... I can't find mum? What if she's gone?" I croak out, a lump forming everywhere, prickles and ripples of guilt performing a fireworks show over my skin.
"We'll figure something out, I promise. Nothing will happen to you. It's going to be okay. Like your mum used to say; nature finds a way to balance itself out. No matter what." He said.
I let him leave, pulling the duvet over my head, as a single tear streaks down the side of my face like a comet. I don't want to experience the world right now. I'm too done with everything, I just want to sleep.
But sleep won't come, so I let thoughts race through my head like wild horses, unchecked and spiraling. I'm aware of that. I just can't do anything.
The revelation thunders through me again, my heart jarring in my chest. I could be used as a weapon for the world. There will always be people and organizations who want power. And a young, not-yet-death would be an excellent way to do that.
It makes me think. What would someone do if they believed the power to control death was out there somewhere? What lengths would they go to? What horrors would they commit? What practicalities and truths would they ignore?
And how would they be as truly unbiased as nature is?
YOU ARE READING
A Tale of: Ravens, Scythes and Cherry blossoms
General Fiction'All it takes to consult the dead is a pen, some paper, and a secret you've never told anyone else' Hana is the daughter of death, a hereditary position that has existed for as long as mankind has. She lives through each day with the caw of ravens i...
