2 2: Crowe

Rice

Something kept banging hard on the window. I flinched every time it banged too hard that slipping and scratching noises could be heard.

Is this the afterlife? Will there be someone coming for me?

The banging stopped after I heard a man's deep voice saying 'Give me ten minutes and you'll have all the time in the world with her.'

Shivers ran down my spine.

"Khy, sweetie, I know you're asleep but I know you can hear me. It's time you heard the truth about your mom. She didn't really die of a rare fatal illness, she was murdered. And now, your mother's murderers might reunite you with your mom soon. But there is a way for you to flee from that fate." He breathed out deeply.

"As much as dad wants to prevent this from happening, I really can't. I'm so sorry. You've been delving on who you might become extensively for so long. I believe you can survive The seven deadly scenes of The Triadeths. You have to." I heard the man sigh with the hint of sadness in his cracking voice.

"I know that it was wrong of us to have you and drag you into this mess. Gruns and Shifters shouldn't be together but I loved your mother so much, and she loved me." I tilted to my side, facing my back at him with eyes still closed.

This man really sounds like my father.

"We were so happy living in peace until The Dómstóll new about you.

They tried taking you and your mom away. But they could not prove that you weren't a shifter until you've come of age, so they got rid of only your mom by ripping her into atoms in front of us both. Since you were a child by the time it happened, The Dómstóll erased your traumatic memories so you wouldn't have to live with it."

I listened and felt my nose flaring up as a tear crept up from my tear ducts. I thought I finally had a complete family in this life, I was wrong. I kept pretending to be asleep and continued listening.

"They knew from the start that she was a grun. I couldn't do much to stop that. They were the most powerful shifters in our country. Oh God, I already lost your mom. I cannot lose you this time. Not on your birthday. I hate that it needs to come to this but it has to happen. They'll eventually find us even if we run away."

I flinched as I felt the man move closer. He was sobbing. If he really is my father then this isn't the time for me to have doubts. I've long waited for this moment but I could not fully understand whatever he was saying.

Will I be dying again?

I took the courage to take a small peek and saw a picture of me, a man and Dr. Holloway hanging on my bedroom wall.

I realized that I'm still alive and it just occurred to me that I recognized being Rupert's and Dr. Georgia Holloway's child. Georgia Holloway- this man's wife, was the doctor who was assigned in the Intensive Care Unit in the hospital I was admitted in.

It turns out the my doctor is my mother in this alternate reality.

I lost control of my emotions, pretended to rub the sleep in my eyes and wrapped the man that sat on the edge of my bed in a tight hug.

"What's the worse that could happen? I have you, dad!"

"Khyrisse, I have high hopes that you took after me. I feel it deep in my bones that you are a shifter. But I'm just scared if you turn out to be so much like your mom," he reached out.

"I don't want you to see dad crying like this. Alright. That's enough. Happy birthday, dear. I've already ruined your day quite a bit. I'll be back in a jiffy, I just need some fresh air," he sadly smiled.

Dad already walked halfway out the door when he looked back and remembered what he forgot to say.

"Oh and you can let that loud bastard in already when you're ready. Here, happy birthday again! I'll meet you at Lycaribrux. I'll do everything I can to help your friends save you if it happens. I promise," He says, approaching me once more to place a quaint whiskey bottle-like glass receptacle in my hand with a note tied around its neck.



He planted a kiss on my forehead and finally vacated my room. I stayed there, dumbfounded, grinning with tears still streaming from my eyes.

I may not have the mum I always wished for, but I have a father! A crybaby for one too. But it was more than I could ask for. I had a ton of questions but that could wait later.

I read the note attached to the bottle and this is what's written:

This is a bottle of Weresudor. It's werewolf sweat. Lather your whole body with it when you most need it. I hope you find my present conveniently 'life-saving'.

After I finished, the banging resumed and this time, it was louder. Is that the bastard's doing?

I wiped my tears dry with the sleeve of my sweater, ignored the banging and decided to explore. This might get me ready for I don't exactly know what. My pupils widened after marvelling at the entire space of my small but oddly heavily ornamented room.

It seems that I have been learning a lot about exotic plants and animals for there were a handful variety of well preserved leaves, roots, branches, skulls, teeth, bones feathers and furs hanged on the edges of my ceiling wall. In the middle of it dangled an old-fashioned lamp with seven bulbs of dim light that emanated a dandelion flower petals' hazy reflection.

I studied my bedroom wall and I saw different pinned sketches of magnificent animals I've never seen before, on aged parchment papers. But unlike other sketches, they moved like it was enchanted. If you stare at them quite long, you'd even hear what they sounded like.

I wonder if I was the one who drew them all. I wonder if I had magic.

Could I be a botanist-taxidermist? Or some sort of sick zoosadist? I hope not.

The banging wouldn't just stop and it was annoying the hell out of me. Don't we have any neighbors around to tell him to piss off? That is, if the one creating all that noise is a person. I presume it might just be some squirrels fighting or bats who got blinded by street lights and lost their way only to hit my window while trying to find their homes.

But that couldn't be. It must be a person. If it isn't, why does my father want me to go with it? Whatever or whoever the bastard is, though it mostly scares, it definitely needs to stop.

I was going to approach the windows covered by velvet blood-colored drapes to uncover what was creating all that ruckus but the windows suddenly broke. Shards of glass scattered all over the floor and a huge black Raven came crashing in.

The shards of glass got sucked into his feathers and now that the evidence of the windows breaking just now vanished into him, it is as if the windows were already broken the whole time.

It was odd enough to see a Raven this enormous. What more, a black Raven with sheer black diamonds for feathers that could absorb sharp things without hurting itself? I took the first thing I saw nearby- a bottle of perfume. I tried to shoo the black bird out of my room and accidentally hit its head that it fell unconscious on the ground.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!"

I crouched down to inspect the bird. I poked it around, retrieving my finger quickly after, just to check if it was dead. If it isn't, I'd be glad to keep myself far away from it. The bird wheezed at my last poke and as it regained consciousness, I watched it's feathers slowly deteriorate as if they were shedding to reveal new skin underneath.

🎶 DNCE- Blown ft. Kent Jones 🎶🎶 DNCE- Blown ft. Kent Jones 🎶

Just watching in wonder, the black bird evanesced and transfigured into a 6'3 tall, slim young man with pale ivory skin, peach tainted cheeks, green eyes and platinum locks of hair that fell just above his collar.



He wore a leather jacket over a black tank top. So this was the bastard. Quite attractive and interesting. He ruffled his hair, lightly patted the side of his head where I hit him and grunted. Soon after, he fixed his hair back in place.

"Ow?!?" He ballistically retorted.

My eyes widened in disbelief. I could not understand what he is. I do not know who he was. All I know is that everything was freaking me out.

"I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to. I-"

Before I could even reach out to check or get up from crouching, the crow-turned-man slammed his hands on both sides of my arms, yanked me towards him and locked me into an uncomfortably tight embrace while squealing like a child who's just been given a new toy after years of being deprived of the luxury.

Attractive? I think not. Childish and foolish? Maybe.

I immediately broke away after feeling a quick surge of awkwardness take over my body. I frantically ran and searched for the bathroom, locked myself in and tried to process what the hell was happening.

I washed my faced with cold water and stared at myself in the mirror blankly for a few minutes. It was a great relief to know that I still look like myself. I stood 5'5, had glazed hazel eyes, thick brows and long auburn waves.

These features of mine are something I would definitely would not want to get rid off even if I had to live another life, as it would always be a reminder of my biological parents- people I would keep searching for even if I had to leap through different lives and voyage the world just to find.

I had an oversized worn out old white cotton sweater with matching pajamas and brown fluffy house slippers on for sleepwear which I assumed were my favorites. I stared at my reflection longer, but the more I did, my image started distorting and there, I saw the blind grandmother's face again. She stared at me intently, with ghastly faded eyes. I screamed.

"GET OUT OF HERE! OH MY GOD!"

"Oh come on, drama queen." I heard the guy outside commenting unnecessarily.

"Hey, that's not very nice. Can't I at least, introduce myself?"

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" I flailed ballistically, throwing off water at the mirror from a bucket near the sinj, but failed at shooing the poltergeist away.

"GEEZ WOMAN! EASY WITH THE SHOWER! YOU'RE GOING TO DROWN YOURSELF," the useless jerk outside scolded. Is he not hearing this?

I saw pieces of cloth block the small gap between my bathroom door and the floor. The jerk might've cleaned up after my mess. I attempted to break the mirror but the poltergeist spoke again.

"WAIT! I won't hurt you or anything like that. I am Neraeda- a Deszorious," I huffed.

She smiled at me as if she was a clown unintentionally inflicting trauma on a coulrophobic child with her supposedly 'silly' acts.

"If you're wondering what that is, Dezoriouses are spirits about to cross over from the earthly realm to the other but they could not yet cross because their lives caused someone else's death. Because of that, they are cursed to serve a lost case- people merely existing with a whole part of their lives missing, to give these lives justice and earn their way a ticket to the other side."

"And you are here because?" I rudely raised a brow at her. I've had a long day and I'm not putting up with another headache.

"I've been given a case and that's you. You haven't figured out who you are yet, haven't you? I am sent to help you to right my wrongs and finally be able to cross over. So think of me as your personal fairy godmother. You could ask me absolutely anything you want. Anyway, do you like my first present?"

"What present?"

"This. Today, you are Akhyrisse Holloway, a shape shifter who's yet to discover what animal you could turn into. The guy you just hit in the head with a perfume bottle outside was Klave Awrick Crowe, who, according to you, is the most annoying person on Earth a.k.a your long time boy bestfriend in this life," She showed a reflection of him in my mirror as she spoke.

"Well, not really that bad. There are some amazing qualities you'll find in him. He's quite adventurous and- aesthetic." SlThe old woman chuckled and waved her eyebrows up and down in a flirty tone.

"I can only give the 18 lives you imagined to be living, back when you were younger, and 18 wishes you would want to make in the present. You have to survive the lives you would be given to keep them. If you think you'll be satisfied living as who you are in your current life, then you have to do everything in your power to stay."

"Can I live all lives first before deciding?" I asked, my mind still boggled.

"You'll only find out all the lives you could be living in if you decide to die at the end of everyday till the last life. You'll be given a day more to decide which life you would keep. You would have to relive that life and try to survive it. If you do, that life would be yours. If you can't remember those 18 wishes..." She paused, scratching her head.

"Hmm, let's see. Places, things and events in the lives you would be given will remind you."

"So, that means I'll keep dying at the end of every day. Unless-"

"Unless what?"

"I make 3 wishes at once or at least five wishes in a day whenever I get in trouble. Wait, how often can I wish again? What are the rules? How exactly does this wishy thing work?" I held my chin.

'I think surviving would be easy. I mean, what lives could my younger self dream of having? Probably a great one- with a house, a family and a pretty, smart, crazy rich version of me. Ain't it?" A hundred questions started to swarm in my head.

"Are you sure about that? Believe me. The younger you was far more imaginative than you think. And I can only grant a single wish per life- no more, no less.

Rules are:

1.) I cannot reveal some mysteries that's for you to uncover without the help of magic.

2.) I cannot bring you to the past, present or future. But I can show people you've been with, you're with or you'll be with, in your dreams. You can choose to reveal yourself to them in their dreams as well.

3.) I cannot kill someone for you or bring them back to life. And I can't make you immortal.

4.) I cannot turn you into a higher dimensional being such as a god or goddess, angel, demon, genie, and other powerful or magical creature similar to those that were mentioned.

5.) You cannot wish for more wishes or redo any of the wishes once they're granted.

What will be happening to you today is completely out of my control."

"Granny, for a fairy godmother, you've got so much restrictions that cancel out the cool and fun stuff," I bluntly admitted.

"Imy sorry, what I really meant to say is- What if I get tired of living?" I chuckled, sulking at the same time.

"No negative thoughts, dear. Why don't you just enjoy your day for a little? Hit me up when you need me and think about your first wish already." Fairy godmother disappeared in a flash.

I don't know when will I ever get used to this but it's better than not living at all. I just have to get through with it and see how things play out.

After taking a quick shower, I went out with a white robe on, then I saw Klave preparing some things on my dresser.

After doing so, I sensed my inner animal wanting out and that the Raven in him is trying to lead it.

I know that he's a stranger but my instincts suggest that it is safe for me to entrust everything to him.

Could I really trust my instincts this time?