Black Crow

by Jen Pretty

  Kai took out his phone and held it up. He held it higher. “I’m gonna see if I can get Wi-Fi closer to the front of the plane.” He unbuckled his seat belt and left me with no buffer from Nick.

  Nick took the opportunity and slid across the aisle to sit beside me.

  “I don’t want to talk to you,” I said, moving as close to the window as I could get, so his elbow didn’t touch mine. It was hard to trust my magic when I was holding so much of it.

  “I just want to apologize. It was stupid not to tell you.”

  “Yes, you should have told me,” I said, scowling.

  His eyes turned away. “I just knew there wasn’t anything you could do about it and Nick was in the middle of this case. I thought it would be better if I waited a day and then that turned in to a couple of days.”

  Out the window, people were scurrying around on the tarmac below

  “Please? I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  I scoffed. “Well, it doesn’t matter now. My best friend is dead.” Another passenger glanced at me, and I lowered my voice. “What happened to her?” I whispered.

  “Whatever monster was killing people in your city,” he said.

  I should never have left. I didn’t know what I could have done to save her, but I should have been there, anyway.

  “We can find the monster,” Nick said. A horrifying thought slid into my mind — the idea of raising my friend as a wraith. Tears poured out of my eyes before I could stop them and I started to feel sick. The idea of Georgia screaming, her face ruined like the witch in the graveyard, filled me with horror. I covered my mouth and stumbled over Nick's legs in the tight space between the seats and ran to the washroom. I slammed the little sliding door shut behind me, and dry heaved into the airplane toilet. My face was wet with tears, and my whole body shook as I fell to my knees and wished I was dead. I never thought I would raise someone I knew, it never even occurred to me until now.

  When the heaves stopped, I plopped down and leaned against the wall in the tiny stall.

  The door slid open, and Nick slipped through, before closing and locking it behind him. The space was too small and my magic too heavy for this kind of closeness, but I didn’t have the strength to move.

  Nick crouched down beside me. I closed my eyes, trying to keep from looking at him.

  “I made a mistake,” he whispered.

  My head shook, waving my hair into my face.

  His hand reached out tentatively and moved my hair so he could see my face. I looked up at him, and his thumb brushed the line of tears that were cooling on my cheek.

  “Please, forgive me?”

  I just nodded, and he pulled me off the floor and into his arms. The space was too small for both of us, but he kept my head from hitting the wall as he cradled me for a moment. He set my feet on the ground, his body flush with mine, and the magic was overpowering.

  “Just let go, Selena,” his voice was rough and filled with emotion.

  I brought my hand up and rested it on his chest before I let my magic flow out of my fingertips and into his body. His head tipped back, and the rush filled my bloodstream. Hollowing me out, but giving me a reprieve from my grief as it took my mind away too. The light-headed feeling made me rest my cheek on Nick's chest. His arms still held me upright, and he leaned back against the wall, bracing his feet, so I tipped forward into him. It felt good for a moment. But in my experience, good moments don’t last. This one ended with a bang on the door.

  “We are going to take off in a minute. Get your asses out here,” Kai whispered.

  “Ok,” I replied.

  Nick held on a moment longer and kissed my forehead. He whispered — “thank you,” — then let me go. He shifted so I could get past, his eyes lidded still and I opened the door and left him there.

  When I returned to my seat, Kai was sitting beside Peran, leaving his seat beside me open for Nick. I guess he had a point. If I forgave him and gave him all my magic, I could probably sit beside him.

  The fasten seatbelt light came on as Nick strolled down the aisle. He sat beside me and gave me a half smile before buckling himself in. He took my hand as the plane began to taxi down the runway and I bit my lip.

  Back to reality then. I was feeling drunk, from dropping all that magic, so maybe that was to blame when I silently promised Georgia I would avenge her. I didn’t care what it took, I would find a way to make whoever did this to her pay, and I never broke a promise to the dead.

  The plane jolted, and we were airborne.

  chapter fourteen

  Since Peran was staying in my city to work with detectives on the murders anyway, when we left the airport, we went to my apartment.

  Walking into the lobby and smelling the kind of funky odor that permeated my whole building was the biggest relief. I didn’t care that the elevator didn’t work or that the guys wouldn’t all fit in my tiny apartment.

  “Hey, Selena.” I turned to find my building superintendent, David with a smile on his face. A woman was standing beside him holding a set of keys. She must have been a new tenant. She was slim and her hair was long and black, hanging halfway down her back. She smiled at me and I smiled back.

  I slid my eyes to David who was grinning at me.

  “Hey, David. How’s it going?” I asked.

  “Good, I haven’t seen you for a few days, I was getting worried.” He eyed the guys with their suitcases.

  “Yeah, I was visiting family.” I didn’t know how to introduce the guys, so I didn’t. I just waved and headed for the door to the stairs.

  “Glad you’re back!” David called as the door swung shut behind us.

  “He was creepy,” Peran said in a hushed tone as our boots echoed up the stairwell.

  “He’s nice,” I replied.

  Peran raised an eyebrow at me.

  “He is a warlock,” Nick added

  I glanced at him as we climbed the last set of steps.

  “I didn’t know,” I said. “Look, my place is tiny and probably super messy. Don’t judge me.”

  Kai snickered; he would probably judge me.

  Nick took my hand and squeezed it. I thought of the irony of the last time I saw Georgia at the nightclub where I had first laid eyes on Nick. Then took a deep breath and shook away the memory. I wouldn’t be able to help avenge Georgia if I was an emotional mess.

  Finally, I pushed open the fire escape door and unlocked my apartment door. Stagnant air hit me in the face. Yeah, I had left some food out somewhere.

  Coughing, I ran to the window and slid it open, then ran to the bathroom and grabbed the air freshener. I sprayed as I walked out and checked the counter for the source. It was a hamburger from work still in a paper bag.

  Shit.

  I dropped it in the trash and then tied the bag and ran it to the garbage chute.

  When I returned, Nick was pouring a glass of not-tomato-juice, and Kai had parked on my futon, watching the TV. The bathroom door was closed, and I could hear the shower running. They had already made themselves to home, and none of them seemed to care about the mess.

  I stood in the middle of the room, wishing I had more furniture or something. Nick threw his arm around me, his other hand gripping his glass and pulled me to the tiny kitchen table with two stools.

  “We should talk about the plan,” he said.

  I nodded, taking a deep breath. This was it. I had to do this for Georgia. “I guess it would be best to go with Peran to talk to the officers? What else does he do?”

  The TV flicked off, and Kai came over to lean against the counter. “He raises the dead,” he said.

  I nodded, but my mouth went dry. A loud caw at my window startled me. Crow hopped through the screen like it wasn't even there and jumped onto the top of my TV.

  “Oh, don’t-” I said as the sound of ripping tape proceeded the crash of my TV falling through the old cardboard box it was sitting on. Crow jumped and fluttered across to land on the small table in front of me. He cawed like it
was my fault his weight was the straw that broke the cardboard. Kai disappeared and reappeared beside my TV looking down at it through the ruined box.

  “I think we will stay at a hotel,” he muttered, confirming the bird broke my TV.

  Shit.

  Peran came out of the bathroom with a puff of steam, filling the room with the fresh scent of soap. He glanced at Kai and the depressed look on his face and then the TV.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “The fat bird broke the TV,” Kai said, sounding dejected.

  Crow let out an ear-splitting caw and flapped his wings a few times.

  I tried to hold back the laugh, but between the stress and the sadness, I lost it. I laughed until I wheezed and tears ran down my face. Nick snickered, but Kai and Peran stared at me like I had lost my mind. I crumpled to the floor as my laughter died, taking deep gulps of air to catch my breath.

  That was the moment I saw Georgia’s dress. It was in the pile of dirty laundry waiting by the door to go to the laundry room. The sparkles shone and glittered like fireworks. I reached over and tugged the dress out of the pile. Clutching it, I rose and walked across the room to collapse on the futon. I pulled my legs up and set the dress across my knees. It was just a week ago that I was dancing with her. The dress smelled like alcohol and perfume.

  “We are going to go,” Kai said as he and Peran grabbed their bags. There wasn’t space for them here, anyway.

  “Yeah, I’ll send a text in the morning, and we can meet up,” Nick said. I could feel his eyes studying me like I was a bomb ready to go off.

  “Sorry about your TV,” Kai said as he walked out the door. I heard the soft click of the door, and then it was just me, Nick and the stupid bird who was pecking at my fridge door.

  Nick opened a cupboard and grabbed some crackers for the bird. Crow jumped up on the counter and noisily pecked at them.

  The futon cushion sagged as Nick sat down beside me. I sighed as his arm slid across my back and he pulled my head onto his shoulder. His warmth seeped into me, as the sounds of Crow continued to fill the silence.

  “Do you think she…” I bit my lip. “Suffered?”

  Nick’s hand slid up and down my back. His head turned into mine, so his breath rustled my hair. “No,” he said.

  I wanted to take him at his word, but it felt like he was saying it for my benefit. As if he thought I couldn’t handle the truth, and he was probably right. I probably couldn’t.

  I fell asleep there, wrapped up in Nick and covered with Georgia’s dress, on my smelly old futon, with a giant bird in my kitchen. My life had gone weird.

  When I woke up, the sun was shining. It burned through the window, making the tiny space smell warm like spring. The breeze from the open window rustled my hair, blowing a few strands across my cheek. I was curled up on the futon, still gripping Georgia’s dress, but covered in a blanket.

  I sighed, remembering everything that had happened in the last week, but felt rested finally, having slept in my familiar space.

  “You know, your bird is an ass,” Nick said. I looked at him sitting on the small stool at my tiny table. He filled the room. My apartment wasn’t big enough for two people. Or two people and a crow who right now was hopping on my counter, trying to open the cupboard door.

  “Yeah, he’s pretty though.” My voice was scratchy. I cleared it a few times, then watched the silly bird flapping his wings to hover in front of the cupboard. He poked his beak into the cupboard then the rest of him disappeared inside. The cupboard closed behind him with a slam. A laugh slid out of my dry throat.

  Bird fed, I pulled the blanket back and staggered to the bathroom. I pulled some clothes from my clean pile before flicking on the shower. My face was pale in the mirror, and my eyes were red and puffy. Magic coursed through me, snapping as it jumped off the ends of my fingers. I took a deep breath and gave myself a little pep talk. It was time to be strong — no more of this wimpy, hiding Selena.

  I showered quickly and got dressed in some tight jeans and a black tank top. I brushed out my white hair and tied it up in a smooth ponytail. I looked like a warrior now. Like all those super tough chicks on book covers and movie posters. I put my fists up in the mirror and made a serious badass face. It was believable.

  I walked out, to find Nick pulling on his shoes.

  “Hey, you look better,” he said.

  “I feel better.”

  “Peran called. He and Kai will meet us downtown.”

  Crow cawed from the cupboard and then pushed his head out through the closed door to peer at me.

  “You ready Crow?”

  He cawed again and then burst out of my cupboard. I didn’t want to know what kind of mess he had made in there, so pulled on my boots and laced them up. I chose the tall boots and tucked my pants into them, so I looked like a super badass. Nick's eyes followed me. They burned into my skin making me shiver. When I looked up, he didn’t look away. Instead, the corner of his lip ticked up into a crooked grin.

  He was wearing black jeans and a tight t-shirt that said “rock” across it in faded letters. He popped his fedora on his head and opened the door with a flourish. Crow flapped out the window, and I grabbed my keys, locking the apartment door behind us.

  Downtown, the cab Nick had called stopped in front of the police station. I took a deep breath and stepped out onto the busy downtown street. Peran was leaning against the brick front of the three-story building. His white hair almost glowed in the sun. I wondered if mine looked the same.

  “Hey, guys,” Kai said from where he sat on the front step to the station.

  Nick and Peran spoke for a minute, but I tuned them out.

  I raised a hand in a silent wave. My stomach was churning. Good thing I hadn’t eaten. Now I was here, my nerves were on fire. My magic boiled, sensing the dead that were within. The coroner's office was in the basement of the building. I knew this only because that was where my magic wanted me to go, like a rope tugging me that way.

  “You ready?” Nick asked, his voice breaking through my distraction.

  I nodded and followed the guys up the steps. Crow swooped down and passed through the open door as we entered, landing with a flap on the front desk inside. The woman behind the counter grabbed at papers that went flying.

  “Sorry,” I said as Crow hopped down off the desk.

  “No animals allowed,” the woman said.

  “It’s ok, Officer Deval. They are with me,” a graying man in a suit said from a doorway halfway down the hall. “Hey Peran. Thanks for coming.” He held out his hand, and the two men shook.

  “This is my partner, Kai,” Peran said.

  “Nice to meet you, Kai.”

  “And this is Selena and Nick. They are new, but a very talented team. They’ll take point on this case.” That was news to me, but I shook the man's hand and felt my magic recoil. Human and alive. My magic wanted no part of him.

  “Good to meet you. I’m Detective Andrews. You can call me Tom. I’m the lead detective on this case. They have filled me in on your skill set, so no need to explain. Let’s just get this guy.”

  Tom had a kind face — the type of smile that put people at ease.

  “Sounds good,” I said. He turned and led us to an elevator. The door made a soft ping as it opened and we rode down to a sub-basement.

  The walls down there were white cinder block, and the heavy commercial tiles under our feet echoed our steps through the corridor. Crow hopped along beside me instead of flying in the low space.

  When Tom stopped at a door, my magic flared. Crow ruffled his feathers, drawing my attention and reminding me to breathe. The smell of cleaners burned my nose. Another scent lingered just beneath the chemical. It made my heart beat ring through my ears. It was the smell of death, and my body wanted me to turn and run. Biologically programmed to avoid that smell, it was a struggle to stand my ground. Nick put his hand on the small of my back, and I found the courage to step forward into the bright white room.
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  In the center of the room was a steel table with wheels on the bottom. And on that table was a form, covered in a white sheet. Something my magic wanted so badly, it was pressing against my skin, trying to leak out through my fingertips, and I clenched my fists.

  Tom greeted another man who was sitting at a desk in the far corner of the room. I couldn't hear them speaking. My own blood pumped too fast in my ears. My eyes kept focusing on the white sheet, despite my efforts to look away. My feet carried me forward against my will, and my shaking hand rose towards the shape on the table.

  My magic was racing now, like a million bees buzzing inside me trying to get out.

  Crow flapped down to light on the narrow bed., his stark black feathers a complete contrast to the bright white of the sheet.

  There was nothing between me and the corpse. I couldn’t deny it anymore. It was a corpse, and I needed to raise them.

  I took one deep, rattling breath and let go. Like Nick always said, just let go. So I did.

  A woman sat up from the still sheet. A wraith. It wasn’t Georgia though, and the breath I had been holding flew from my lungs in a deep gush.

  The woman's mouth was open in a silent scream. Her face wasn’t bloody like the woman in Canada. She looked normal, just dead and screaming.

  Crow cawed, breaking me from my silent study of the woman. I stepped forward and the woman's face cleared into a serene mask of calm like the small step forward flipped a switch. She blinked at me, and Crow bobbed his head.

  I felt something cold and heavy slip into my hand and looked down to find a pocket knife there. I glanced beside me to see Nick’s face, a peaceful grin pulling the corners of his mouth. I may have been in a raging storm, but Nick held me in place. When our eyes met, a sense of calm pushed in, the bees in my stomach slowed, and I felt time collapse into a bare moment.

  When I looked back at the wraith sitting on her corpse, I nodded. It was time — no more hiding. Unfolding the pocket knife, I examined the edge and then laid it on my bare arm and slid it quickly across my skin. I hissed at the burn and then held my arm over the white sheet and let a few drops fall, marring it with the bright, gothic red.