Page 4 of Collected By the Crow

“Sorry about that, bud. Where were we?”

She hadn’t made it back to the mattress when she heard a loud caw. Irritation bubbled in her veins until she felt the thump, thump on the blanket and saw Zero sitting upright, his tail weakly wagging, tongue hanging from his panting mouth.

“What is it?” She scratched his ear and followed his gaze. “You need to go outside now?”

The tree was entirely blacked out now. The sound of wings and caws carried through her bedroom.

Zero jumped from the bed gracelessly. He barked and panted.

Cass gawked at him. When was the last time she’d seen him this animated?

What the hell is going on?

Zero barked again.

“Okay, okay. Let’s go.” No quicker had she spoken the words than he was off, waiting for her at the front door. She slipped on her house shoes and heavy shawl.

On the doorstep was a red envelope, the wax seal broken. Cass recognized it immediately. Her pulse gained a beat as she snatched it from the stoop. The beat of wings and the blur of black in her peripheral made her dizzy.

“What kind of paranormal bullshit is this?” she asked Zero, but when she glanced to her side, he wasn’t there.

He was up ahead, trotting with a limp, trailing behind two crows. They were dancing around each other like they were lovebirds instead of the birds most commonly associated with death and darkness.

“Zero! Wait!”

She chased after him. He paused, barked, and kept on.

I guess we’re doing this. Whatever this was, she couldn’t find it in herself to pull Zero away. Was he friends with crows now? Could crows and dogs communicate? Her brain, always inquisitive, couldn’t find a logical answer. So, naturally, she was intrigued.

They walked for a while. Long enough that the paved road turned into gravel, with the tree line right up against it. Cass shivered, worried about Zero overexerting himself. They would need to turn back soon.

“You know we have to walk all the way back, right?”

They reached trees where the road curved slightly left. Their soaring guides flew into the branches and disappeared.

Disappeared? That can’t be right—

“Zero!”

He ran headfirst into the woods and straight up vanished.

“Zero!”

Cass sprinted after him without hesitation. Branches smacked her face, stickers and spiky leaves attacking her calves. A puff of wavy heat swept over her, like diving for a pan of cookies without letting the heat waft from the oven first.

A mansion appeared.

Looming above her was a tall, run-down, haunted-looking Victorian mansion. The windows were either wide open, busted apart, or full of cobwebs. There were at least three visible spots where the roof was caved in. Wooden boards were missing from the foundation, and the latticing was decrepit. Two massive gargoyles depicted with angry glowers, vicious fangs, and crudely disproportionate cocks perched on either side of the steps leading up to the porch, where a wooden love seat swing had collapsed in the middle.

She’d been to some very convincing haunted house displays in the city, but those were all popular Halloween hot spots. This was too realistic, too lived-in, too rural.

Cass reached down to pat Zero’s head. He nudged her palm and licked, panting. He was ready to collapse. She turned back to the door and sighed.

“We’re here now. Let’s at least take a moment to rest. I am not sleeping here, though. I mean it, Zero.”

They waded through overgrown grass. Crows eerily lined the rotten porch, the entire roof of the entryway covered in beady black eyes and glossy black feathers. A caw rang out from the door handle.

“There’s no way someone lives here. Right?” she wondered aloud as she thunked the brass door knocker against the peeling red paint of the door. When no one answered, she turned the handle. The door squeaked open. “Hello?”

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