The Crow: Enigmas.

Prologue:
The Crow.

It was nineteen ninety-seven, though I remember it as clear as if it were yesterday. It was mid July and the skies were black, thick with dark clouds the day I met him. The rains were beating down from the heavens with undying contempt for the world. Something terrible had happened that day and I was soon going to find out what it was. Too soon, for I had only just left the shadows when all of a sudden I saw him staggering out from that dirty, dark doorway dripping with blood. The look in his eyes was not one of love, or of hate. It was a look of mixed shock and fear.

I followed carefully as he stumbled his way across the street and collapsed suddenly on the pavement… He was followed by a figure that had also emerged from the doorway holding a large knife. I got a good look at it as it stepped into the light and saw that it was a fairly slim male. He stared me in the eye then told me to disappear. Slowly, he walked to where the first man lay and quickly ran the knife through his neck. Then he turned and walked into a dark alley down the road a little and faded into the darkness forever.

You may have heard before that crows are the taxi service of the afterlife, ushering cursed souls to the land of the dead, but this isn’t entirely true. The humble crow does not take the soul as such. He is more of a guide for the dead. Though the person who has died sometimes finds it hard to let go of they’re life. Due to certain events leading up to they’re death.

If a person is brutally murdered or witnesses someone close to them tortured before they die then they may want to stay in this world to avenge any wrong doings.

Sometimes when this happens the crow will allow the soul back into the land of the living for a short period of time in order to settle the problems that are plaguing them. Sometimes the crow will try and force the spirit to enter the land of the dead, but in very extreme cases he will not manage to budge the soul from the border and so he will be forced to allow it back.

When a soul is allowed back into the land of the living they are returned to they’re old body and are guided by the crow along a path that will lead them to revenge…


Chapter 1:
The Border.


He stood, day after day staring out over the black ocean that marked the border between the two worlds. Gazing into the emptiness as if expecting it to supply the answers he wanted. I tried on regular occasions to make the man follow me but he was a stubborn one and refused to take even one step from the edge.

One day he spoke, “You.” He said as he looked directly at me. “Tell me something… Tell me where I am.” Of course, being unable to speak in human tongue I was forced to let him know the hard way. I showed him exactly what I had seen the night he died.

His eyes flicked rapidly from left to right, up and down inside his skull as my memories of that night transferred to his mind. His entire body shook terribly and he moaned, in slight pain. I gave everything that I had seen to him, and I watched him, I could see it in the expression on his face. He had no idea of what had happened until now. He didn’t even realise he was dead but he had known something wasn’t right and that is why he refused to leave this place. As he came back into consciousness of his surroundings he slumped to the floor and sat there for a day or two simply thinking. Trying to work out where he is and how I could have given him that vision.

Eventually he climbed to his feet and stood, looking very sure of himself. He gazed at me with a look of interest and spoke again,

“You showed me my own death. This is true, yes? If I am dead then this must be the afterlife of some sort, some kind of other world, correct?”

I simply stared at him, once again unable to answer his questions and this time I had no power that I could show to him that would supply a reasonable answer.

“Ok, here’s the important part anyway… You watched me die in that street back in the real world… So if you where there and you are here. Then you must have some kind of special ability to be able to travel between the two… If this is true then I want you to take me back to that world. Let me return. This can’t be my time to die.”

It is my job to lead him into the afterlife and as a result I wasn’t going to allow his return without a fight. I did nothing but fly up high above him and wait. I waited for him to give up and follow me, but he refused. He still wouldn’t budge. I waited 6 months, flying high up in that dark sky, on the edge of the jet-black ocean for him to decide he would follow me to the land of the dead. Eventually I gave in and realised that he would not move an inch. Allowing his return to the living world to seek revenge would be the only way I could take him to his rightful place.

In an instant I swept down from the sky and flew over his shoulder before disappearing out across the sea. I could hear him screaming for my return as I faded away to become another part of the black wall in front of him.

He became a little drowsy and before long crumpled in a pile on the floor. Still conscious he wearily glanced from left to right and back again, trying desperately to figure out what was happening, before eventually slipping away into a deep slumber.