The Good Neighbor's Daughter

Chapter 15; Atwood Fairweather

My throat was dry and I spoke hoarsely. "She's my best friend," I said. "One of my best friends." Deer's warm eyes came to mind.

"She's crazy," Erin said. "If she's your best friend, then why did she just attack me?"

I took a deep breath. "Give me your gun," I said.

"What?" Erin demanded. She was at least a half a foot shorter than me, but she stood so imposing that I felt shorter.

"You want to know why she attacked? Give me your gun," I repeated.

Erin grumbled and pulled her gun back out. When she placed it in my open palm, she gritted her teeth, disgusted that she had to give away her only weapon.

"You might want to stand back," I said as I knelt down next to my quivering Crow. Erin took one giant step back and folded her arms.

I tried to be quick about it, but the knife had cut into her birdlike bones. The more I pulled, the more dark blood pulsed out of her and onto the floor. When it was out, the blade was covered in not just blood, but pink chunks of soft tissue clung to the blade. I coughed and wiped it off on a towel in the sink.

When I stood up to separate Crow and Erin, she had stopped shaking but made no move to get up. Every beat of my heart echoed like the ticking of a clock for every second she did not get up. I nudged her gently, but stayed down. Without even noticing, I was crying. Tears dripped, mixing with the blood on the ground as I wished her awake.

"Crow," I whimpered. "I'm sorry I hurt you, just wake up."

Slowly, like syrup spreading from one end of a plate to the other, Crow started to move. Then, she started to get up onto her knees. She didn't look at me or even at Erin. Instead she was staring at the pool of blood on the tile. I could see her reflection in the smooth surface. Black eyes stared down. Her raven hair hung around her face blocking out the world. Her pointed ears twitched. I had betrayed her.

"Crow, what's going on?" I demanded. "Where's Deer?"

"Atwood," was Crow's only response.

I leaned down toward her. Had I missed something? I didn't know why Crow was acting so strange. Sure, she was strange in her own way, but this was different. This was very unCrow.

"Atwood," she repeated. "That was his name. Atwood Fairweather."

"Whose name?" I asked.

She turned to me with a jolt. Hair flipped in her face, covering half of her pure white skin. Her eyes was big and shiny, like she wanted to cry, but couldn't. My breath hitched as she stood up straight, tall, and beautiful. Something was very wrong.

"His name hardly matters anymore," Crow croaked. "It means nothing."

I grabbed her shoulders, but suddenly she was out of my reach. She was a bird again. When she turned back into a human shape, she was crouched next to a black body bag. I could only assume it was Spoons or this Atwood she was speaking of.

"What happened to Atwood?" Erin asked. "Was he killed?"

Crow hissed. "Don't you dare use his name! You have no right!"

I stepped closer, taking care to avoid the puddle. I stopped when I was across from Crow at the table. I could tell she was looking at me, but I didn't look at her. I stared, instead, at the zipper of the body bag.

"I have missed you," Crow said. She ran a claw through my tangled hair. "But I knew you would be fine."

"Did you know this was going to happen?" I asked. "The Siren Bounty. Did you know they were coming?"

Crow cocked her head to the side and clicked her tongue. "I wish I had. I would have taken you away. I would have saved you."

I nodded and took the zipper. I pulled it open carefully and found Spoons, lying still dead in the bag. He looked cold and lonely. Why had Crow come to him? Who was Atwood?

"Crow. Why did you come here? Is this Atwood?" I asked.

Suddenly, there was a gasp. Spoons blinked his eyes open, breathing in a gulp of air even though I knew he didn't need it. The color came back to his cheeks even if that wasn't a lot. The bruises at his neck disappeared as he stared up at me.

"Halfling," he gasped. "I told you she'd kill me."

I opened my mouth to say something, but Erin beat me to it. "Didn't kill you yet, douchepire."

"I think the word you're looking for is vamp bag. I'm already a vamp in a bag," Spoons pointed out.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I helped him out of the body bag. He kicked it off like a shoe as he got to the ground.

"I'm..." He stopped as soon as he saw the blood. "Not the Siren's. I'm assuming it's yours." He pointed at Crow. She snapped at his finger and he pulled back just in time.

I bit my lip as Spoons eyed Crow. Who was Atwood? Why was Crow here? Then, an idea hit me and I gulped a breath. I couldn't be right. I had to be wrong. If what I thought was true then...

"Crow. Who's Atwood?" I asked. "Who's Atwood Fairweather?"

"Pen," Crow squeaked. "Deer is dead."

My heart stopped. My Deer. My friend. My father. I wanted to cry. I couldn't. I feel to my knees.

"It was the Siren that killed him. It was her," Crow bellowed. She pointed a bony finger to Erin.