The Raven

Chapter One

Dreamcatcher

The thing about the moon is it's never completely hidden. Everyone on this godforesaken planet knew everything there was to know about it. Everyone knew it had a cycle and a lifespan, a death and a rebirth. Willow Rain knew there was a secret in it though, something that not everyone could see. And she was deturmined to know about it.
What everyone didn't know, though, is that the secret wasn't physical, but a mental game. As was everything else in life. Wasn't it? Willow sighed and turned her face from the window in her room, the moonlight playing across her features, highlighting the very face that hid so many things. Thoughts. Ideas. Memories.
Dreams.
Willow shuddered at the word. Here, in the small town of Secretum, dreams were nothing more then distraction. Those who did dream, said nothing in fear of what they may bring. They always spoke of dangerous times. Always, always, always. And they came true if verbally shared. The only thing that kept them in check was the silence of the story spoken in sleep.
Willow was good with silence. But that talent only came after. After the Rain. After the mind became so open, and things were discovered that the world apparently couldn't know. After Chase Rain dragged Willow by her wrists, through the forest and mist, through the storm and wind and lightning, and begged her, demanded her, that she spoke of nothing. Not the lab. Not the vial. Not the birds. Never the birds.
She promised him--despite the drenched clothes that hung off her eight year old frame, chilling her to the bone--that she would not speak a word.
Chase Rain was an astounding Scientist, a creator, and a designer. But he wasn't a father. At least not to Willow.
So when the Beast came, crawling up from the earth with long limbs and the face of death, Willow didn't understand her father's sudden urge to throw her behind him. She didn't understand why it seemed to pause, to hesitate, to stare at the two rain-soaked figures in the night. Her father spoke, almost kindly to it, before her mind suddenly silenced. Chase Rain smiled sadly, but also, almost feral, before pushing her into the mud. The darkness crowded her eyes, crashing into her senses, her body fuzzy and her thoughts like glue. The last thing she saw before it overcame her, was the needle in her neck, and the Beast walking beside her father, away from the only daughter he had.

That was the death of her dreams. Willow's body was cold, her heart already racing the more she thought about Chase Rain. And the more she remembered his cold stares, his dead brown eyes, his vacant lack of expression, the more her anger grew. Her anger brought out her voice, and her voice brought her own self to the surface. That, she knew, was vulnerability. And in Secretum, vulnerability got you killed.
At least, that's what Chase Rain said. God, why did she even listen to that man? Willow turned back to the window, and focused her attention to the meadow, and beyond that, the woods. They were dark, and silent, but not quite fully asleep. That's what was strange about them. They seemed to breathe, to have a separate life. They seemed to have a mind, and an opinion, and a shadow.
Wait. That was actually a shadow. Willow leaned forward, her breath fogging up the windowpane, her mind jumbling together. If it was the Beast, she was sure that she could reach the cellar, and beneath that, her escape route. If it was her father.....no. Chase Rain was dead, and that's where he would stay. Dead.
She shivered and swiftly got to her feet. She pulled her jacket off of the seat beside her, before sitting on the open nook again, surrounded by the windows.
The woods were silent as a dream.
Willow leaned forward again, her short bobbed hair framing her face; which was a deep brown, chocolate as cocoa. It didn't take long for her to find the shadow. It was a figure, a person, and they were running. Willow's heartbeat thumped harder and harder, her eyes widening as she leaned closer. Closer. Her nose brushed the window as the figure leaped across the grassy meadow in their soundless struggle. Straight for her giant ancient home. Straight for her.
But what were they running from?
The figure stumbled, and paused before regaining their footing. They twisted their head to what was behind. Willow and the figure caught sight of it at once, and she felt her stomach drop. It had been years since she'd seen it, years since it came.....she remembered it being so much bigger. But it was so small, a speck against the sky, and a single cry across the meadow. The figure picked up pace. The dot dived. Willow teetered off the nook, before grabbing her flashlight and racing down the steps, out the door, and into the night.
She wasn't sure why she was out here, or what she was doing, but she knew that this is where she needed to be. If Chase Rain dragged her out once, he sure as hell wasn't about to keep her locked away forever, in that fucking house. A cool breeze blew, the entire night was just silent, just so damn peaceful, but the world was wrong.
The air was thick, the moment almost frozen, as Willow ran toward the figure. Her eyes squinted, but she kept her light off. The figure faltered, frozen at the sight of her. And that was his downfall. The dot circled above them, as they both fell short before each other. The grasses bent softly in the night, kissing Willow's shins and thighs. The figure, a full grown boy, stared at her. But his eyes, his eyes.......they were aburn and glowing. Glowing. Willow's breath caught, and the dot continued to circle, and the world seemed to expand before the cry of the dot, which now morphed into the bird. The boy sighed at the same time she did, as it felt like a great pressure was lifted from both their heads. Their eyes locked. Her hands were sweating, and his heart was beating very fast.
It's okay, she thought, I'm not going to hurt you. The boy's head tilted to the side, his eyes seeming to brighten in the darkness. The bird circled and circled, watching, waiting, listening. Finally, he responded, his voice deep enough to rumble his chest, but almost weak. He was weary, and tired. But the voice had hope. Hope that she thought did not exist.
Help me.
The bird's feathers ruffled, and Willow stared at his mouth. The boy's eyes seemed to darken. Swiftly she flicked on the light, begging his mouth to have moved, but she knew it didn't. She raised the flashlight to the bird, and it cawed, aggrivated, before lurching forward into the woods.
Slowly, Willow's eyes landed on the boy. He didn't say a word, swaying, the lids of his eyes drooping into nothingness.
"Are you okay???" Willow jumped at her own voice in the darkness; it was so much louder then she thought. The boy, once again, stayed quitet. Suddently, his knees buckled, and Willow felt a lightness in her own head. Nonetheless, she yelped, taking the force of the boy as he collapsed onto her shoulder. "FUCK!"
He was heavy, all broad shoulders and a fit enough frame to survive. His hair had leaves weaved into the locks, and he smelled strangely of pine needles. Unable to support his full weight, Willow fell to her knees, attempting to lower him onto the grass as softly as possible. She panted, her own head spinning widly, and she curled up beside him for warmth. His chest rose and fell in shallow breathing, and Willow placed her head on his bicep.
She didn't know this boy. But her head was reaching out, out, out, and so far, his touch was the only one that seemed to keep her somewhat grounded. Willow stared off into the woods, and felt her body drain to ice. Sitting on the branch, on the closest tree, was the Raven.