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Having my sister's name on her lips should be heartwarming. Her question should be seen as genuine curiosity and shows that she truly wants to know me... but I'm not a normal person and my sister's name on her lips sets something off inside me.
I drop the bag off my shoulder and grab her by the nape of her neck, intending to shove her chest to the nearest tree but Ronny is no weak little hummingbird.
Before I can do as I planned, she uses my hold on her as she runs up the base of the tree before kicking off and backflipping over my hand.
She lands against the trunk of the tree across the path with her feet bracing her weight and her hands gripping it behind her back. She lets out a feral hiss followed by a low groan like the fucking exorcist. Her eyes are fully black but along with the anger in her eyes there's... hurt?
"Don't speak her name!" I yell instead of allowing her to worm her way into my little bitch of a heart.
Ronny stares at me, completely still like a creepy gargoyle guarding a castle. She looks frozen as if time suddenly stopped but when I move backwards, keeping my eyes on her at all times, her head moves slowly, tracking my movements.
I lean over and pick up the bag and walk past her as she continues to perch on the tree but her sad voice creates a series of cracks in my armor and her words stab at my heart.
"I'm not William Crow, Drug but you certainly are Merelda's grandson. Let's find this fucking talisman and be rid of each other."
I ignore her, trying to act as if her words didn't beat the shit out of me. Didn't we tell Draven the same shit? Yet here I am, acting like the same barbarian.Asshole!
I'm about to turn back and apologize like a man but I hear the flap of her wings before she flies over my head. It would be well deserved if her crow took a shit on my head but she doesn't.She's a classy bird.
We walk for hours but my mind doesn't seem to notice the time passing until the temperature drops. Memories flood my mind even as I look for a place to stop.
Why am I hot then cold? Granted, I've never once had any type of connection with anyone and throughout my three hundred years of existence, I've accepted that it wasn't in the cards for me to find a mate. It's been okay with me for centuries. Now that I've found her... I don't know what the fuck I'm doing and I'm blowing it.
My heart, body and mind are on different pages. Every emotion and reaction is on opposing ends of the spectrum in my being. Every one of my embers, the coals of my soul, burn for her, beg for her. My body reacts to her as if it’s known her since the beginning of life but my mind hasn't quite caught up.
The idea of a mate has never been very appealing to me but the idea of Black Bird as my soul's perfect match? I want it, yet I fear it.
Growing up, I knew my mother and father had a loving bond. Although, at that time, being naive to the supernaturals outside of witches, I didn't know there was such a supernatural bond. I simply thought my mother and father were deeply in love.
They could never stop touching one another in some way. Whether it be father's arm wrapped around mother's waist while walking side by side or mother caressing his face as he slept in his favorite chair.
Looking up at Ronny as she lazily flies, I start talking, speaking the thoughts of my troubled mind. I know she can hear me, "They were madly in love, my parents. I remember wanting that for myself one day thinking that there could be nothing greater than to have someone who knew you inside and out yet loved each and every crack and flaw." We continue on the path, making good headway even with twilight upon us.
"Nothing seemed to ever bother them; jealousy, bitterness, envy... nothing could come between their love for each other. Then grandmother showed up. At first everything was nice, Merelda was kind and attentive towards us and began to tutor us in basic healing potions and wanted to teach us more but mother forbid it."
Ronny continues flying but she speaks into my mind.
Not that I agree with your cunt bag grandma but why did your mother forbid it when it's a part of your culture?
"William Crow was on the hunt. Mother was afraid to even hum while out in the market and be accused of witchcraft. Merelda wasn't hearing it though. We loved our mother so we did as mother said and soon we were hated and loathed. Many times Merelda tried to come between mother and father but their bond was too strong and mother became pregnant with Elsie."
The path becomes engulfed in blackness as the sun kisses the horizon for the final time before dipping low. I turn off and head into the forest, stepping over fallen trees and large stones before finding a small spring. I toss the bag down and cup some of the freshwater and drink deeply. Hmm, not as fresh as it once was.
Ronny swoops low and hops over to the water on the other side as she quenches her thirst. She stays in her crow form and when she's done drinking she flaps up to a branch.
"Why don't you shift back?" I'm fairly certain she's still pissed with me, not that I blame her. Holding someone's sins on your shoulders as if they're yours to bare is unfair and I loaded her back with William's like a complete jackass.
I don't particularly like you right now, you're lucky to even be graced with my crow. What happened next?
I sigh and make a very uncomfortable pillow with the duffle at the base of a tree and stare up at the stars peeking through the treetops. The crickets serenade the birds as they fall asleep, forgetting they're the morning snacks for their hatchlings. Momentarily, the prey and hunters are at peace, giving reprieve to their daylight feuds.
"Elsie was only eight months old, Ronny, but she was everything to us. She brought light where Merelda brought darkness. She was also born with extremely strong powers. We had to keep her inside at all times or she'd expose herself and even then it was lucky we lived secluded deep in the woods because she would cause winds and fog to come in without much effort. We had no choice but to have Merelda teach her as best she could to control. Just like you would teach a baby to crawl or roll to their tummies, grandmother taught her to control her gifts."
I change the story abruptly because Elsie's story ends in tragedy and I'm sure Ronny already knows the ending.
"After my brothers and I became the Hellish creatures we are, I gave up on having what my mother and father had. In the underworld, bonds are spoken of and rumored about but no one down there has ever had one. Maybe it's because they're not topside often enough to find their mates. Whatever the case is, it's been centuries since I've thought of that love so forgive me when I fuck things up."
Ronny drops from the tree and shifts as she lands on the bed of dead leaves below.
