Chapter 10

The crows continued. The babble of birds and dogs that next morning was unbelievable. Large birds sat outside my window- peering into my bedroom. I was thankful my window was closed, because the ravens looked hungry with little beady eyes and large foreboding purple/black feathers. I pulled on the string to set my blinds down, and the three birds sat here and snarled at me. It was as if they knew I was afraid to look at them- damned ugly birds.

"Eris! Get out of bed! We are going to get you a job today at "The Snack Shack". My mother walks in and I turn to look nonchalant. I cannot show my fear of birds- especially big evil ones like those- in front of my mother.

"The Snack Shack? You got me an application?" The Snack Shack is a pretty decent home-food restaurant, even though they say 'snack' in the title, they mean business. It was pretty popular among the witches and warlocks for its 'secret' recipes that need ID to uncover. And the humans like it for the charm and hot workers that serve around. I remember the first time I went in there, I was a tiny little girl who was in love with the idea of drawing book characters that I was reading- and it so happened that one of the people there looked that the character I was reading in an adventure book. He had thought I was drawing him,, and hung it on the wall for everyone to see it. That was years ago, though, and they had taken the picture down when he passed away. I would have kept it up in his honor- but it was probably not good for service.

"I got you an interview and everything, they told me how excited they were to have you come and apply. They are running low on waitresses, and are in desperate need of some TLC."

Tender, love, and care? I'm supposed to be evil, remember my prophecy mother?

"Yes, well, you are going today. And..." she holds out a white blouse and a tight black skirt, "I got you some clothes for your interview."

I take them from her and her smile turns sarcastic, "Now get dressed before I put those clothes on and apply for the job myself."

I do as I was told, letting my hair down from the bun I had yesterday so it curls around my face delicately. My dirty blonde hair made my olive eyes more noticeable, then to show off some more I apply brown eyeliner and head out the door.

She said my call time was at 10:00 AM but when I got there it was barren and empty. The Snack Shack is usually open 24/7 and I was worried that my mother was playing a game on me. While I waited out front I fix and play with my hair through the glass-door reflection. A couple people passed by, and farther down to a nearby Inn but other than that the street was empty. No cars. No people. All the business looked closed down.

Then the sky became darker and my head swam, I thought I heard the sound of keys- heavy keys- swinging around but I could not be sure as the blue sky intertwined with the concrete. My body lapsed forward and the moment in time was lost as my body convulsed forward. Before I could hit the ground, I was standing in a garden. Not just any garden- but Noni's old garden I used to go and play "hide-and-go-seek" with my friends.

Laughter reaches my ears and I look up to the wooden structure. This was the house I used to bring all my friends to, and I had loved it. Now, at the moment it looked old and incomplete- like something was desperately needed. The sky was dimmer and little to no glow of light was bouncing off the walls- like everything seemed slightly paler and below par. I reached the back steps and opened the wooden door. His laughter became unusually loud, and I had to cover my ears. My mother was sitting on a rocking chair- a baby in her arms. The baby had no color in her complexion and the pink blanket soon turned to an ember-black. Noni and Mrs. Henderson, and two young men beside them, sat in a circle- linking hands together. Furniture with brown tree patterns was all previously pushed away to make room on the redwood floor. A red triangle-star appeared between the four on the floor. They were all much younger than how I remember them, and as they continued to chant in periods of vertigo.

I was not able to go inside- so I stood and watched with horror. My mother continued to rock the baby, a smile spreading across her face as the baby began to frantically wail in her grasp. The group on the floor bowed their heads, and took a long gasp for air; they seemed to be sucking in black smoke that the floor possessed. A large warned is spelled out inside the red star: You can only protect the evil with light for so long. On her seventeenth year- to the date- she will regain her true potential once more. A large bang settled and the two men drop to the floor. Everyone else sat and listened to the laughter, which turned into a raven's mock of a silence.