Page 1 of Darkened Wings
Chapter One
The semi rattled off down the road, leaving me at the edge of a small town that looked like it was out of some kind of a movie. The highway route had been changed a decade or two ago to skirt the place. According to Leroy, the driver of the green-cabbed truck towing two full trailers of pumpkins who had given me a ride for the last leg of my journey, that had driven the town of Two Falls off the map.
Oh, it still existed, and still had a population of a couple thousand people, according to theWelcome to Two Fallssign I stood in front of.Population 2,201.Suspended from the sign were a number of plaques, each listing a church that a visitor could attend while in town. There were at least two dozen of those. Sounded like the folks of Two Falls were a devout group, and like Sunday morning was the best time to rob just about any non-church building in town.
Not that I’d do that. I wasn’t an upstanding citizen, per se, and had done things I wasn’t proud of to survive these past couple of years since my parents died, but burglary wasn’t going to appear in my memoirs. If I ever wrote any. Who would read them?
I would not, however, be attending any of these churches. My parents had not been into institutionalized religion. We found peace and connection with nature.
To the best of my knowledge, I had no living relatives at all. Mom and Dad had done their best to raise me and give me a comfortable life, but neither of them had high-paying jobs, and we’d pretty much lived paycheck to paycheck before they passed.
I wasn’t sure where to go from here, exactly. Another sign, a few yards on, had listings of local businesses like The Bakery Brothers and Dine-in-take-out, whatever that was, but of the academy, there was no sign.
The virus that took my parents came on fast. On Friday, they were fine. We had pizza and a movie at home as always, followed by ice cream sundaes. Saturday morning, they were both burning up. Sunday night, they were gone. No longer hot with fever but cold and dead in their bed together. Shocked and shaken, I’d been sitting on the chair by their bed when the two men came in with the gurney and bundled them up and took them away. No explanation at all… One moment they were there, and the next, the wheels of the creaking gurney were carrying them away. I chased them to the curb, shaken from my stasis, and down the street, but they never turned back, and left me standing there, tears streaming down my face.
But two years had taken me quite a ways from that girl who had no idea what to do or how to survive. Yet, I’d done that, and now I stood at the edge of the town that was the only address information on the business card I’d found in my mother’s dresser drawer.
The Raven Academy
Two Falls
They’d mentioned the school, a few times, while I was growing up. It was both of their alma mater, and I’d kept waiting for them to tell me it was time for me to get signed up, but they never did. And when they were gone, I’d been too busy figuring out how to make the little money I had last and avoid being picked up by the system to pursue higher education.
I started forward, onto Main Street, hoping that I would find someone who could direct me to the academy. It wasn’t terribly late, still, but the buildings I passed were all dark except for security lights on in some, and it wasn’t looking too good for my getting someone to help me with directions to the academy.
In my mind, those who went to such a school would have been provided transportation, but of course, nobody was expecting my arrival. Which was why I’d ridden with such a variety of people just getting here.
I passed a little boutique with fancy-dressed mannequins, a drugstore, and a few other stores before coming upon a yellow taxi cab. It looked just like the ones in films, and the man standing next to it could have come from central casting.
“Ride, miss?” he asked, opening the back door.
“I don’t think I can afford it. I’m sorry.” I absolutely knew for sure I couldn’t afford it.
“Going to the school?”
“Y-yes.” Although I wasn’t sure I’d be staying. They might send me away.
“Then no fare needed. I run people out there for them; we have an arrangement.”
I climbed in without asking any more questions, and the driver whisked me out of town, along the highway for about twenty minutes then up a long drive to the Academy of Ravens.
Chapter Two
The looming castle-like building with two corner towers made me shudder as I stood before it. Those towers made me think of horns. This might be the devil’s keep or school, but I had no other choice, or none that I was willing to face.
Moss and winding vines made vibrant green snakes that slithered from the bottom of the walls, some growing all the way to the top and others penetrated the brick walls, maybe trying to get into the academy like me. Unwashed gargantuan, rectangular blocks covered with moss and vines made the place appear abandoned. Maybe that was the look they were going for. A squawk from a crow in the distance made me jump.
Crows…I didn’t think they hung out with ravens much.
It was now or never. Never was as dreary as this place.
Thunder rumbled from behind me. I turned to face the dark clouds now pushing their way into the space right above me. Good thing I didn’t believe in omens.
I blew out a long, weighted breath and swiped the remnants of my journey from my worn jeans. Probably not appropriate apparel for storming the keep of my enemies, or my parents’ enemies, but it was the hand I was dealt. I tucked my shirt into my jeans for neatness and making a good impression and retied my sneakers. They were going to look for any fault in me, that much I knew. And even with the untucked shirt and untied shoes, they would have found plenty. Still, I had to try to look the part of a legacy.
Another caw of the crow somewhere in the trees forced me into action. I put my hand on the antiquated bronze handle and pressed the button with my thumb. My luck, the damned thing would be locked and a hundred guards would emerge from the surrounding bushes to challenge my presence and maybe my life.
I knew they didn’t want me here, my parents or the people inside. The thing was, I wasn’t giving them a choice.
