The camera shook, struggling to focus on anything for longer than a second. The only soundtrack was the heavy rhythm of panicked breathing, punctuated here and there by a few mumbled curse words.

Finally, the camera settled. It panned the surrounding forest like it was looking for something before lifting upwards, towards the upper canopy of the trees. The sun blinded the lens for a second before it adjusted to the light. The tops of the trees looked like they were swaying in the wind.

But only on one side of the frame.

The camera zoomed in, focusing on the wavering trees. The branches shook violently, leaves showering down on the anonymous cameraman. The breathing picked up, coming in fast, hysterical pants. Then came a loud splintering. A dark shape—a humanoid shape—emerged from between the branches. The camera zoomed closer, trying to see the details of that strange, shadowed figure—

But, of course, here is where the cameraman gave up and fled. The camera now only captured blurry boots as they raced across the forest floor. Then they tripped. The footage began spinning in a stomach-churning way as the camera went flying through the air.

Mercifully, the clip ended there.

The footage rewound and played again, repeating the moment the dark shape came into view, peeking out from behind the branches. It slowed down and zoomed in, though that only made things blurrier. The shadowed figure was tall and there was an odd shape jutting out from the side of the head. A red circle appeared on the screen, followed by text.

Is this The Raven? it read.

From what Penelope could see, it might as well be a potato. "Why can't these things be captured by someone with a good camera and a steady hand?" she wondered aloud.

She was sitting in the bedroom at the back of the cabin, waiting for the dye in her hair to set. While she had been waiting, she had given in to her curiosity. Word of a new Raven sighting was too much to resist. She had switched her phone to airplane mode—to keep the messages at bay—she got online and began her search. Thankfully, the cabin had decent wifi and it didn't take long to find the video.

Penelope hit play again, watching the footage from the beginning. She paused when the dark figure appeared and peered at the screen of her phone. While it was odd to see something so large up that high, it wasn't impossible to imagine something ordinary climbing up there. Lots of things climbed trees: cougars, black bears, and, of course, humans.

And that wasn't even considering all the work that could be done in editing...

That thought brought Daevon and all his lies to her mind. A lump formed in her throat and her eyes blurred over with tears. Who was to say this footage wasn't as fake as Daevon? She had half a mind to throw her phone across the room and forget the whole thing.

Instead, she blinked back her tears and took a deep breath. As the lump retreated from her throat, she was surprised to find that curiosity still burned inside her, just like it used to. Penelope had worried that Daevon's deception may have extinguished her spark, the one that drove her to chase after the question.

But the spark was still there, smouldering but not quite out...

Her eyes flicked open, bright with determination.

She wanted to know more.

There was no escaping The Raven now. Everywhere Penelope looked, there were more birds—posters in the windows, signs on the sidewalk, banners hanging from the lampposts. Even the statue from the park had been moved and placed on the divider in the centre of the street, beneath the large festival banner. The Raven haunted the town, just like how it haunted her thoughts.

With her newly-dyed black hair, Penelope felt a lot more anonymous as she marched down the main street, taking it all in. Her gaze locked on the statue's black eyes as she passed. She wanted to learn everything she could about it—what it was, where it came from, why it was here.

She had tried to do research online, but the first video that came up was from Daevon's channel, an old video he had made before he had met her when he used to make informational rundowns on all sorts of local legends. After that, Penelope couldn't bring herself to continue.

Then she realized she didn't need to—she was in the town where it all happened.

Why not go directly to the source?

She had reached the edge of the small park and looked out at the old building that sat on the other side. At almost a hundred years old, Ridgestone's town hall had once been the town's train station. While a few passenger trains still came this way, it wasn't nearly enough to dedicate a whole building to them, so it had since been converted into public space. The long, three-story building was now home to the town's municipal offices, a small library, and the tourist centre.

Penelope headed directly for it, cutting across the grass.

The building's glass-front doors were already propped open with a sandwich board welcoming visitors—adorned, of course, with ravens—so she stepped right through. Inside, the building retained some of its old-fashioned charms. The polished parquet floors and wood wainscotting contrasted sharply against the plexiglass and aluminum that had been added in the decades since.

A set of winding stairs opened the hall up to all three levels, with a sign at the bottom that pointed the way to the various services. The municipal offices were on the main floor, the library was on the second, and the tourist centre was on the topmost floor. Penelope eyed the stairs—it was a long way up. There was an elevator just off to the side, but it was one of the really old ones with the gate that you had to pull shut. The stairs, at least, looked stable. With a deep breath, Penelope started her ascent.

As she reached the second floor, she saw that even their small library had been overcome with Ravenmania. The displays closest to the entrance featured books on urban legends and the works of Edgar Allan Poe. She didn't look much closer as she continued upwards, looking for the tourist centre.

If she was being honest, she wasn't expecting much. Though Ridgestone was proud of their local legend, they were still a small town. She expected some yellowed photos set into off-kilter frames and cheap merch, but any information they could offer would be enough for her.

But as she finally reached the top, Penelope let out a gasp.

The tourist centre looked more like a massive movie theatre display for a big-budget horror flick rather than a small-town roadside attraction. The walls and ceiling were painted a deep navy with LED lights set into the drywall to look like stars. Eerie music played faintly in the background. A bright yellow line was painted on the black floor, leading into a forest of large tree silhouettes, so it felt like you were walking through a forest. Penelope followed the line, weaving between the towering trees. As she walked, a winged figure with light-up eyes would pop up behind the tree cut-outs, as if it was following her. Finally, the fake forest opened up, revealing the reception desk.

And there, standing behind it, was Liam.

Penelope froze. She had half an idea to turn around and walk out but before she could, Liam looked up and spotted her. Too late; it wasn't like she could pretend she had walked through that entire fake forest accidentally.

Why do I care? she thought. With her new hair, it'd be harder for him to place her face. Squaring her shoulders, she marched up the desk.

Liam was eyeing her again. It was like he was judging her for being there, even though he was the one standing behind the desk in the stupid purple polo embroidered with the town's signature black bird.

She stared back, challenging him to say something.

"Welcome to the Ridgestone Information Centre," Liam said in a flat, lifeless voice. "What brings you here today?"

Despite her newfound bravery, she wasn't about to tell him the truth—that she was here to learn more about their beloved monster. "I'm... bored."

Liam stared at her for a moment longer before punching something into the till in front of him. "Ten bucks."

Her brows launched into her new black bangs. "It costs ten bucks for entry into your tourist centre?"

"No," Liam said. "The tourist centre is free." He pointed to the right, to where two glass doors were opened onto what looked like a gift shop. "It costs ten bucks to get into The Raven Experience." He pointed to the left.

The entrance to the Experience was no mere gift shop. The glass doors were painted to look like iron gates, and they were flanked by more black tree silhouettes. Fog drifted out from beneath the closed doors. Beyond the doors was more darkness.

"That looks... interesting," Penelope said.

Liam shrugged. "I guess. It's definitely more interesting than the gift shop. And if you're bored..."

Penelope glanced at him. She knew he was probably just trying to make a sale, but The Raven Experience was exactly what she was looking for—not that she wanted him to know that. "Sure, then." She dug into her pockets for her freshly withdrawn cash and handed him a crisp ten-dollar bill.

Liam took the cash and punched another key on the till then he pressed a big purple button on top of the desk.

The doors to the left creaked open, though the creaking was just a sound effect played on hidden speakers. Fog billowed out, pushing towards her like it was reaching for her, ready to grab her and drag her in.

"Enjoy," Liam said.

Penelope gave him a forced smile and headed into the foggy darkness of the exhibit.