3

Catching Ravens

Daisy sat on her bed with a sigh, her back slightly aching from walking to and from the library. She melted into her pillows that were leaning on her bed frame. The wall behind her was covered in horror movie posters and paper cutouts of books and articles related to the Grim Reaper. The book she had taken from the library rested on her stretched legs. She opened it again to the page she had seen the illustration of death and intently see the features.

Usually death was represented as a skeleton or a headless monster. But it was the first time Daisy saw him depicted as a handsome man. She found trying to think if the book was anything serious or the work of a delusional person trying to romanticize death. She flipped to the next page, trying to read the smutched writing. It felt like someone had started writing the book with great care, but as they came to the end, they started running out of time.

One page struck Daisy's attention, making her sit straighter. She read the heading again ‘How to summon the lord of death’. Her eyes excitedly read the whole page and gasped,

“Is it really possible to call for him myself? She thought rushing to read it again.

“Thee who desires to summon death yourself must remember, once thee calleth that gent, they can't ask it that gent to leaveth, his is farewell shall be still in his hands.” Daisy read that out until went down her spine.

“Should I call him? He might start haunting me? Daisy asked herself. She frantically began to read again.

“Thee who wills to attach thyself to death shouldst remember that Death desires and pleasures in thy torment. At each moment protect thyself with the Holy Spirit and never mentioned his name to another.”

Daisy skipped the warnings and jumped to the paragraph on the ritual to summon Death Certus.

Thus pursue the guidance penned beneath in my own words. One, gather, have wings of a raven, have lost object claimed by another, a nail. Two, went to a location beyond you visits, three, burn a garment of a deceased and chant the spell nine times, four Lastly, at which hour the immediate Death, avoided looking into his eyes unconditionally.

After being through the book Daisy in satisfaction. Tomorrow she was going to meet death no matter what.

Next morning, Daisy woke up with an extra burst of energy. She emptied her backpack and replaced her schoolbooks with the one she had found last night. She also placed her grandmother's old handkerchief in the bag.

Before she passed away, her grandma was the only person who listened to Daisy. Sighing sadly at the thought of her, Daisy rushed to pack other things. She had found an iron nail in the shed and packed the $20 bill she had picked up from the street yesterday.

“That will count as an unclaimed item, right?” Daisy wondered to herself. She nodded in confidence and zipped her backpack closed. She bit her lip thinking about the last item she needed.

“How will I find the wings of a raven?” she asked out loud in frustration.

Suddenly, a knock broke her cycle of thoughts and she turned in time to see her mother's head poking inside the room.

“How are you feeling honey?” She asked.

Daisy nodded in assurance.

“I'm okay.”

“You're planning to go to school today? You can be off if you want,” her mother offered.

Daisy bit her lip in consideration. If she didn't lie to her mother about school, then she would not be allowed to go outside the house at all.

“No. I mean, it's okay. I'll feel better if I go,” she started out.

Her mother smiled and nodded, “Great. That's good. See you at dinner then, Okay?”

With that her mother was gone. Daisy sighed in relief. She hated lying more than anything else in the world. After her parents had gone to work and the coast seemed clear, Daisy made her way out to find a location where she could perform the ritual. She walked around many areas trying to find a quiet secluded place. But most of these areas had at least one