The Demon's Crow

In case you didn’t know this about me, I’m prone to twisted evil dreams. Believe me, you don’t want to see what I see when I close my eyes at night. So, I had a dream last night that is a perfect example. In all seriousness, this was fairly average for me.

Stepping out of the car, I looked at the scene. A couple of miles back, on the main road, the sun would soon be up, but there in the thick of the woods, the grey before dawn was just barely perceptible through the canopy of the trees.

The small home was flanked by nearly a half a dozen police cars, their lights still flashing. Uniformed officers milled around, their hands in their pockets and their breath visible in the air. They had arrived less than a half hour before. There had been a frantic 911 call. There had been screams and sounds of violence.

The house, as best as I could see it by a few sets of headlights, had originally been a trailer, but had since been expanded upon. It was an old, dirty place. As I approached, a detective in a trenchcoat walked up to me.

“Glad you’re here. There was some sort of fight. When uniformed officers arrived, the parents were gone,” said the detective.

“Yeah, they were attacked by vampires!” shouted a uniformed cop, evoking a round of laughter. It was obvious that this wasn’t the first round, by any stretch.

“I’d tell it,” said the detective, “but I may as well let the kids. They saw the whole thing. They’re inside.”

Saying nothing and ignoring the further comments that we had better bring crucifixes and garlic along, I followed the detective inside. Once there, we entered the sole bedroom, which was clearly where the entire family of seven slept. There were blankets and pillows throughout the room.

Officers were talking to most of the children. As the detective began to offer more information, I knelt down and spoke to a little blond girl, about five or six years old.

“Hello,” I said. “Is this where you sleep?”

“Yes.” The girl glanced around furtively. She avoided looking me in the eye.

“Were you sleeping here tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Did you see where your parents went?

“Yes.”

“Where did they go?”

“The dark men took them. They came in through that window,” she gestured to a small window near the ceiling, about two feet by three feet. “They got in a fight with my mommy and daddy, and then they took my mommy and daddy with them.”

Just then, the detective tapped me on the shoulder. “You should come see this.”

I followed the detective into the living room, where a crow sat perched on the back of the couch. It remained still, and seemed to be watching us. I knew the crow immediately for what it was. A calling card, of sorts.

I also now knew what I was dealing with. It was no vampire that had visited the house that evening, but a demon. Or two, if little Emily had gotten it right. It had left the crow behind, in part, to send the message that it had been there, but also, like a killer returning to the scene of the crime, to watch the resulting mayhem. It could see through the crow.

I reached out gently. The crow took a step back, flapped its wings once, and cawed loudly. I lunged and snatched it. It immediately panicked and began cawing more, and louder, while still flapping its wings wildly.

“What the hell are you doing?” cried the detective. “Let go of that thing!”

“No.” I said loudly, over the crow’s cries. “It can tell me something.” And then, more softly, to the crow, I said, “I know what you are. Tell me what you will tell me.”

At that moment, the crow stopped cawing and moving. It seemed to look directly at me again, and slowly, fully spread its wings. Then, almost inaudibly, I heard a whisper that seemed to come from the crow. Its voice was an evil, malicious hiss. “Yes, I see you. You won’t get them back!”

At that moment, the crow began to thrash even more wildly, and snapped at my hands and arms with its beak. I tried to squeeze it or ring its neck to kill it, but it was useless. The thing seemed indestructible. Its fit was becoming more intense, though.

I ran out the front door with the crow, hoping to find a stick or rock to hit it even harder. As I got just past the police cars, I tried one more time to break its neck, and as I did, its whole body suddenly crushed under my grip.

Blood began to spew out of the crow. More blood than it could have ever held in its body, even if it had contained nothing else. The blood gushed from it over my hands and down my arms, and though I tried to, I couldn’t let go.

I heard a scream. I knew immediately it belonged to the little girl. I turned toward the house and saw her in the window. Somehow, I knew it was just a vision, and that I was not truly seeing her. She was pale, like death. Her eyes were bleeding down her cheeks. She screamed again, “Wash my eyes with blood! Wash them with blood, and then I’ll see!”

She vanished and I looked at my blood soaked hands, which had dropped the lifeless crow. I laughed. Somehow, I knew - I had to go back into the house, to the girl, and rub the blood over her closed eyes. That would give her the power to track the demon, using the same connection that the crow had had with it.

I knew she would be able to help me find her parents.

Effed up, right? Sleep tight, kiddies. I know I will, after that one.