A young man with sandy brown hair and dark brown eyes dressed in an argyle sweater and white shirt walked down the street holding to his notebook tightly. The wind had gotten cold so he was glad it wasn’t raining. It always rains here. The sound of a car honking behind him alerted him that he needed to get out of the road. He turned around to face the source of the noise and stopped in his tracks. The car screeched to a halt and the door opened before any of them could say anything about it. 

“Hey, kid!" The man yelled. 

A woman wearing a crimson red leather mini dress and witch hat came forward with her hands on hips as she stood at the other side of the car. Her blonde hair was tied up into a bun on top of her head, and several bags were attached to her back. Her dark eyes were narrowed in annoyance.

 “You are late, what took you so long?” She smiled. 

‘A cosplayer? I have no time for this. I gotta get home!’ The young man thought. 

“You better get going,” She winked. 

Handing him something that looked suspiciously like a debit card from the vending machine at work, she gave him another hard push, making him stumble slightly in surprise.

He stared down at his pocket watch for a moment, “I don’t have enough money to buy coffee,” He replied honestly.

When he got far enough he gawked down at the card. His face lit up with a grin as he quickly shoved it into one of his coat pockets and hurried back to the vending machine listed under the name ‘Black Cola’.

What came out was a pendant shaped like a raven's beak, The Raven’s wings spread out from both sides of the object. The bird was carved in ebony, with small gold accents lining the wings. It reminded him somewhat of the owl he had seen on the sign outside of the bookstore last night when he passed. 

“Why is there a raven pendant in the vending machine?” He asked himself. 

He paused before running the rest of the way home He had been thinking about this ever since

he got off work yesterday afternoon. Something was bothering him but he couldn't put

his finger on it. When he got inside and dropped his things, he went straight upstairs to his room and sat cross-legged at the desk. Closing his eyes, he let himself drift away.

“SIM!” A voice chimed. 

It woke him up out of his trance. His body tensed and all thoughts of the raven pendant disappeared in an instant. He jumped out of his chair in surprise and dashed over to the window to his friend. 

A young woman stood in front of his house. Her hair cascaded down her back in waves of light honey-colored blonde with hints of silver. Her dark green eyes were bright and expressive. There was a playful smile plastered across her full pink lips. As she stepped forward, his mind reeled.

‘She kinda reminds me of the cosplayer earlier…’ He pondered. 

“A string of businesses caught fire including my fathers!” The woman yelled. 

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“W-What happened?” Sim shouted. 

“Check Luton Town feed on the Fed It site!” She responded angrily. 

He quickly pulled out his laptop and logged into his account. Sure enough, the feed from Luton Town was showing flames running through the streets. ‘Luton Town is just west of our city and is a suburb of Virginia. I haven’t heard of any trouble in the area. Why would anyone want to set fire to a perfectly good town?’ He wondered.

He watched the video feed for a while until the fire was completely quenched. Turning his attention to the woman, who stood watching him, expectantly, he questioned, “Is there anything else I can do to help?”

“You gonna come with me or not?” She shouted. 

“Do you need me to come, Della?” He asked unsure. 

“He would really appreciate your help!” Della replied. 

“Okay! Be down in a bit!” Sim yelled. 

Sim gets up from the seat immediately after saying that and rushes downstairs. He grabs his coat and wallet before leaving the apartment. Once he reaches the door, he turns his head back towards the door that leads to the hallway, “Don’t get haunted!” He shouts to the empty apartment. With a deep breath, he opens the door.

He heard something drop behind him. When he turned around he saw a worn-out book fall onto the floor, “Sorry. I didn’t see where I dropped it. My head is kind of messed up right now.” He apologized. He bent down and picked it up, setting it gently back onto the bookshelf.

He then turned and left the apartment. 

 When he reached outside of the building, he noticed that the weather had changed. The sun seemed to shine brighter and hotter which was odd since it was still quite early in the morning.

Della got the car ready and they drove off. After several minutes of silence, Della broke it again by asking if everything was alright. Sim nodded silently and she continued driving along the road. They arrived downtown within twenty minutes of walking there from his apartment. The place had two main roads that split in the middle of town. 

One road led down towards the river while the other headed up into the forest. Both roads split off in an alleyway that led to shops and apartments. The streets leading to shops were lined with trees and flowers, and signs pointing towards places that sold food, drink, shoes, clothing, jewelry, and even some games. In between the stores, there was a large open park area filled with various animal enclosures.  Sim thoughtfully scanned the area. Nothing seemed dangerous, besides a couple of kids playing baseball with soccer balls.

They could see the black smoke rising high in the sky. As they approached the area, they became aware of the smell of charred wood burning. It was thick and strong, almost choking Sim. A few houses had been hit and it was easy to see how this was possible considering that this part was only located at the bottom of an incline.

Sim saw Della’s father waiting outside the chaos. Her father looked tired and worried. His face was covered by grime and his gray hair had started to fall out from his comb and tie. A bandage was wrapped around his arm. 

 “Dad?” Della called hesitantly. 

Sim gawked around the damage that had been done. Buildings were in pieces, fires raged everywhere and smoke hung low in the air. Sim felt his heart sink. Something felt wrong, the scene before his very eyes made him nervous.

“Sim, come quickly.” Della’s father spoke up, his voice strained and hoarse. He grabbed Sim by the arm and pulled him along.  “We have to hurry.”

He saw something out the side of his eye. A figure standing amongst the ruins of a house and looking directly at them. It was humanoid, but there was no mistaking what it was. Its arms were spread wide, and its long fingernails were sharp like claws. The being had skin the color of blood.

The being had skin the color of blood. Its face was covered in ash, and yet it remained eerily beautiful. There were black tendrils that stretched out from its head and trailed behind it. Its black eyes pierced through his soul. 

It felt impossible to breathe. His chest was constricted by the sudden fear of death. He

could feel his legs trembling from shock. All he could manage was a weak whimper escaping him as he desperately tried to escape the creature's grasp.

“Sim!” Della yelled. 

He came back to reality her gaze. Della was staring at him wide-eyed with fright, her body shaking in fear. Sim quickly tore his eyes away from the creature as it slowly was gone from view. Looking back at her dad, he saw him struggling against his grip. Della ran past the pair of them without uttering a word. Sim followed after her, hoping she didn’t see it as well. His feet moved automatically as if it were his own will. He followed the sounds of Della’s footsteps.

Sim assumed he was just seeing things due to the fact that his hands were trembling, but he kept following Della nonetheless. They were nearly at the end of the path when he finally found her. She was standing at the edge, staring into the darkness beyond the clearing. There was no way he could see past her silhouette.

“Wait for us!” Della’s father yelled. 

“What is wrong?” Sim asked. 

“Where am I?” A voice asked. 

Turning they spot a young man standing in front of them. His white shirt was covered with dirt stains with blood dripping from a wound. He wore torn jeans and combat boots. His black hair looked damp and matted. The stranger had pale skin. His clothes were dirty and stained with soot.

Sim noticed the dazed look on Della’s face followed shortly after by she turned and faced the stranger, “Who are you?” She demanded.

“Roman, why?” He asked.