Girl, There’s A Better Life For Me And You
Raven
5th of November, 1975 — Raven Gets A Call
Raven sighed in frustration. It had taken her years to collect all these ancient tomes and scrolls and legends and she had studied them seriously for months now but she was still no nearer discovering why the faeries and pixies were so different. She was certain they shouldn’t be. She stretched before carefully putting them away.
The emergency call came when she was halfway through changing for much needed exercise. No immediate action was indicated, so she stripped again and chose her new gear, the clothes she was so proud of, and took her time over her makeup. This was even better than her gear. She savoured the procedure and its effect on people.
Raven closed her front door when she remembered. ‘Bugger,’ she thought, and went back in to check the source. She’d had it drilled into her time after time to always check and she still nearly forgot. A quick phone call informed her they had not sounded the emergency. This shook her. It looked like she was dealing with someone or something knowledgeable, so she reluctantly agreed backup was necessary. Once arranged, she left the house again.
She bussed to the town centre and walked from there. Everybody gave her a wide berth and she enjoyed that. She felt important and everyone else thought so too. It happened while she was crossing Percy Street. Halfway across, she felt it. One of the walking dead was close. But not too close so she crossed the road before stopping and turned to see exactly what was what.
It was male a street along. She could see him in the distance and he detected her as well because he stopped to stare at her. Raven immediately struggled with her priorities. She had to deal with him but she did have an emergency going on right now. It was a slow emergency though. No urgency was indicated so should she deal with this aberration right now? Raven was conflicted. How long would this take? What exactly was the emergency? How the fuck could she decide what to do with next to no information? She decided to deal with the emergency first and this Revenant later so she imprinted his signature onto her mind and carried on. Now she would be able to find him whenever she chose.
But he was still on her mind as she crossed the next street and she looked to see if he was still there. He was. This was strange, but her decision had been made, so she carried on.
Crossing the major tee she noticed he wasn’t there but she still stopped a ways down the road and looked back. Yes, there he was, still walking a similar route. Raven started wondering about that, but her mission came first, so she turned and carried on. Was this a coincidence?
Raven had positioned herself part way down a small alley off the main street and was watching the pub when the Revenant appeared again, closer this time. ‘This can’t be coincidence,’ she thought. She could see he looked ordinary and fitted in with the crowds perfectly. At least he wasn’t one of those whose appendages dropped off at the slightest knock. She didn’t like those. They were icky.
Her assumption was confirmed when he entered the pub. The clock in her head told her Bingo wouldn’t be here for a while yet, so she resigned herself to a long wait.
She knew she should have affinity for the two ravens on the roof, but their cawing was getting on her nerves.
Raven felt it kick off far too soon for comfort. Bingo wasn’t here but stuff was going on inside the pub. She couldn’t work out exactly what was going on inside but there came a point where her intuition was screaming, so she went in.
She entered quietly and carefully and saw vileness. A daemon was taunting the Revenant talking about her happy house of fun. Raven forced herself not to be sick. She had to be strong now.
She responded in like manner to the daemon. “Happy house of fun? Sin in my heart, more like.”
The Daemon jerked back and swung around, involuntarily freeing the Revenant in the process. Raven found herself facing three daemons, just as she had estimated. She stared at the Revenant, trying to work out why he was here and what he was doing. He was obviously in serious pain caused by the daemons.
“Run,” he cried, which caused him to be clawed across his cheek. She couldn’t see a trap and concluded he was trying to help her.
“Thank you,” she replied and wondered how she was going to deal with him now. She couldn’t just get rid of him without thought now, could she?
The three daemons squared up to her, assessing. She felt her mind pressured but her defences held although the drain from the three of them together was high. It was a pity her attack was so weak, but she had to use what was available to her. She couldn’t defeat them mentally, so she smiled confidently and took a step forward. They retreated a step and there they stayed for a while. Raven’s smile increased and she projected defiance and contempt for their efforts. That worked and the older looking one stopped her mental attack and screamed, “Get her,” at the other two.
Raven saw them both scream and start towards her but the nearest one had her full attention. She saw the daemon’s maw gape wide, wider than any human’s, wide with excessive canines, and her fingers became claws as she raced towards Raven.
Raven got lucky because one was ahead of the other. She waited until the distance was perfect before executing a simple side kick. It was all that was required. Raven had trained under professional daemon fighters so she didn’t hold back. The daemon’s scream evaporated when her rib cage shattered and she was propelled back to slam into one of the tables, scattering the frozen people who bounced around like ping-pong balls but never lost their poses. Raven had never seen anything like this and had to force her focus back to the job in hand.
The other daemon had halted her advance. This one was waiting for the elder one so they could attack together. Raven took a few paces back to ensure they couldn’t flank her. She watched as the elder one came and they both attacked. She was completely surprised when the youngest daemon jumped onto the back of the elder one and ripped her chest open. Without thought, Raven took the opportunity and kicked that daemon’s chest in.
The traitor daemon stepped back and held her hands out in the universal gesture of surrender. Raven was suspicious and searched for the trap.
“I surrender,” said the daemon.
“Why?”
“I don’t want to go back.”
“You belong there.”
“They punished me when I tried to get away before. They’ll do worse next time, after this.”
“How can I trust you?”
“I won’t do anything, I promise.”
Raven’s disbelief now radiated throughout the room.
“Not good enough.”
“How can I prove it then?”
It took a few seconds before Raven answered, “Spellbound.”
The daemon’s eyes widened as she thought about it. She was careful not to move and to keep her hands still and in full view. Eventually, she nodded.
Raven approached her warily and raised her hands to the daemon’s face. As soon as they touched, the daemon’s hands turned to claws and her mouth opened showing her canines. Raven backed away faster than any Olympic athlete in the standing backwards jump event.
“Sorry. Automatic reaction.” The daemon held still for another attempt.
Raven approached again after noting the daemon had not physically moved. She was extremely cautious. This time the daemon’s countenance wavered when touched but she managed to control it. Raven’s hands were both on the side of the daemon’s face and her eyes opened artificially wide as she stared into her eyes.
This time it was Raven who reacted by jumping back as if shocked. She quickly assumed a defencive stance but the daemon didn’t move. She just stayed there, waiting.
Raven visibly collected herself before saying, ”I wasn’t expecting that. Hold still. I’ll try again.”
She closed in again and this time it worked. Raven stared into the daemon’s eyes while her hands were flat on the side of her face. They held that pose for what seemed like minutes. Eventually, Raven nodded and backed off.
“Give me your belt and tights and sit down.”
“Oh come on. What do you think I can do now?” The daemon was angry.
Raven’s silent stare made the daemon shrug and comply. She used the belt and tights to tie the daemon to the chair by her wrists and ankles.
Raven checked the knots before anything else. She approached the Revenant and held out her hand to help him up and settle him. She positioned herself so she always had the daemon in line of sight.
Raven stared at his face and raised her hands to gently touch the sides of his head in the same fashion as she did with the daemon. “Sh,” she said when he tried to talk. “I don’t know if this’ll work on you but it won’t do any harm to try.”
It was a few minutes before she spoke again “Looks like it worked. Good. I’ve taken away the pain, but the damage is still there. We’ll have to sort that out later.”
“What happened?” she asked, once she was confident he had recovered enough. “They targeted you. Why?”
He had a question of his own. “What if they recover? And what about Jo?”
“They won’t. They’ve gone. Back to where they came from”. She nodded to Jo still tied in the chair. “Is that one Jo?” Jo just stared silently at them.
“Yes.”
“She’s spellbound. It won’t last but for now, she can’t change form or even use anything other than human strength. Don’t worry about her right now.”
She watched his struggle to regain some composure.
“What about the people here? Can you get them back?”
She liked that he was worried about them despite his predicament. “No. I need to know why you were targeted. Can’t do anything else unless I know that. So what happened?” She helped him sit down and sat down herself next to him, with Jo still in her line of sight.
“I’m Mortimer Harbinger.” He led out his hand.
She took it and they shook hands.
“Raven.”
His eyebrows raised involuntarily at her name.
“Thank you for your help, Raven. What happens now?”
She liked the way he ignored his obvious impression despite it making her eventual dispatch of him far more difficult. Raven repeated her question.
Mr Harbinger’s panic resurfaced but she managed to calm him down with a simple breathing technique. After that he composed himself and answered.
“It started in nineteen thirty-nine before the war started. I was driving through the Yorkshire moors. It was a new route for me and I got lost when a storm started. The storm was vicious and just got worse and worse. I decided to stop off at the next place I could when the thunder and lightning started. It took a while but eventually, there was a pub and I stopped.
“I was soaked through just running from my car to the pub. That storm was like nothing I’d seen before or since. Inside there was only the barman, who told me his name was Stephen Even when we introduced ourselves. I was relieved when he said the pub took paying guests and I booked a room there and then.
“The room was basic but warm and inviting. He invited me to take a bath before changing my clothes and he would have my cases brought in from my car.
“The first unusual thing happened then, I was sitting in the bath when the door opened and a young lady came in. She had a bathrobe for me which she hung on the door after she told me her name was Jo. You may not know this but that was very unusual for the time. I was glad my privates were hidden from her sight but she didn’t seem to mind at all. I put that down to country people being different.
“Once I got back to my room my cases were there and my clothes had been removed and hung in the wardrobe. I returned to the bar after I dressed and had a pint with the landlord who told me the pub was called The Even Stephen which was his name reversed. He bemoaned the fact the pub wasn’t as profitable as he thought it would be. As it was he could keep his head above water but not much more. I only had the one pint as I needed my sleep, so I went to bed then. Mr Even was very hospitable.”
“Well,” he drawled, obviously embarrassed, “I was reading and Jo came in. She was in her nightie which was far too over-familiar for the time. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before then.”
He checked Raven then and saw her demeanour didn’t change which persuaded him to continue.
“Jo asked me if I wanted anything else. I was polite and said no.”
He turned back to Raven and added, “You must understand I was newly married then. There was no way I wanted any sort of dalliance.” He was relieved when Raven nodded, so he continued.
“Jo didn’t seem to know what to do then but she eventually nodded and left. I decided not to say anything to her father—or her mother if I met her. After all, everyone makes a mistake sometimes.
“Hours later, I was still reading in bed when it happened again. This time it was another young girl, she told me she was Jo’s sister, Gertie. Gertie was older and wanted the same thing but she was more insistent. She actually walked into my room a few steps before taking no for an answer and leaving.
“Soon after that, it was their mother. At first, I thought she was another sister but she told me she was their mother. I’ve forgotten her name if she ever gave it me. Mrs Even was the most persistent by far. She never actually touched me but she was so close I could feel her breath on my face. I had to say ‘no’ a number of times before she left. She offered herself most lasciviously and it was impossible for anyone to misunderstand what she was offering but even she, eventually, left and I was able to get to sleep.
“The next morning I overslept and decided to forgo breakfast. I met Mr Even and asked for my bill, which he gave but he wasn’t at all like he was the previous night. I asked if anything was the matter and he went off on a rant about how I turned down his daughters and even his wife. He took that as an insult and told me never to return.”
Mr Harbinger laughed. “He didn’t even try to give me my change and I didn’t press him for it. I just wanted to get out of there without letting them know how weird I thought they all were.
Well, I got out and had just rounded a corner, out of sight of the pub, when I had to slam on my brakes to avoid knocking Jo over. She wanted a lift and seemed desperate. To be honest I didn’t blame her and told her to get in. As soon as she did I put my foot down and got away from there as quickly as possible.
“I obviously asked Jo exactly what was going on and she told me her story. I didn’t know what to make of it. She desperately wanted to get away, which I understood, but she couldn’t before because Mr Even had some sort of hold over her and the other women there. The way she explained it sounded like he could force them with his mind to do exactly what he wanted. She didn’t mention any other sort of coercion. Her exact words were, ‘I just did things, things I didn’t want to do, but I wasn’t forced to do them, I just had to do them.’ She didn’t say exactly what it was they were forced to do, but she inferred sexual slavery.
“I suggested the police but she said that wouldn’t work as they all would deny everything and it would look as if we were nutters for telling the story. All she wanted to do was get away from there and start again.
“I asked how she got away if he could control her with his mind. She answered that his control was weak or non-existent if they were out of his sight which they all were in the mornings, because of their duties. Normally that didn’t matter as there was nowhere to go but that day she decided to take a risk on me. To be honest, I was glad she did.
“Anyway, she didn’t say much else after that. She was quiet and hugged herself. After a half-hour or so she pointed out a hamlet where there was a rural train service and I dropped her off there. I offered to take her to Leeds but she refused. I also offered her money which she also refused. She told me she took the till, so she had enough money to get away. I never realised until later there wouldn’t be much till money that day as the pub was just about empty when I got there.
“I never saw her again until today and she hadn’t changed at all.”
Mr Harbinger paused for a moment in his memories. Raven kept her silence. “Anyway, I did go back after the war. Nineteen-forty-seven it was. I took my service revolver with me as well, just in case. It took me a long time to find it. The hamlet, I mean. It was destroyed, flattened, but it looked natural as if it’d been that way for centuries. I got out and walked around. Nothing. Nothing until I felt something after a few minutes. Something horrible. I don’t have the words to explain properly but I felt as though something was watching me. Something evil. That scared me and I got into my car and drove off. It took a good while for that feeling to leave. I’ve never been back.”
Raven started to speak but held off when she saw he had more to say.
“On my way out, after that feeling left, I saw someone walking in the distance. When I got closer I saw she was a hitchhiker. Remember this was back in forty-seven and female hitchhikers just weren’t a thing back then. I was worried about her so I gave her a lift. I thought I recognised her but she showed the top of her leg when climbing in and that distracted me but she went on as if she didn’t know she’d done that, so I thought it was an accident. By then she was talking. She could talk for England, that one. I never got a word in edgewise. I got her whole life story and what she thought about everything and everyone in her life. Every now and then I could see something out of the corner of my eye, her blouse pulling tight over her breast or the top of her stocking showing, things like that kept me distracted. Eventually, she said ‘there’ and pointed out a hamlet with a train in the distance, coming in. I parked and let her out. It was the same place I dropped Jo off at.
“She had just left when I remembered her. She was Gertie, the other daughter from the pub. I got out of my car to talk to her but the train was pulling out and the queue and Gertie were gone. I was certain I had more than enough time to, at least, talk to her before the train left, but, there she was, gone. I drove home and never heard of them again.
“Until today, that is. I stopped by this pub for a pint and all those women were here, Jo, Gertie and Mrs Even. You know what they did. I still don’t understand anything at all.” He paused before adding, “Mrs Even told me Mr Even had gone the instant I left the pub because he failed to get me for their Lord but she wouldn’t fail. I’ve no idea what that means.”
“Thank you,” she said, understanding how much saying that tale had cost him. “Is there anything else?”
“No, I don’t think so. What are they? They certainly aren’t human.”
She wanted to calm him further so she fibbed a little. “Just daemons. Low-grade daemons at that. They didn’t think there would be any opposition at all. How did you call me?”
“Call you? I didn’t. How would I do that?”
Raven looked around at the frozen ones.
“I was hopin’ you’d had enough training to do that. You’d have had to have had it in your youth though.”
“That sounds ominous. Are we out of danger?”
“Don’t know. I’m wondering how these people are still frozen and who called me. Whatever it is knows our ways. I would’ve accepted it before, but she drilled confirmation into me. It wasn’t them. Someone else called me and I don’t know who. That’s why I waited so long before interferin’. That and waitin’ for the backup I called for before I started out. But things started happenin’ before he could get here, so I intervened.”
He saw her eyes stop flicking around the room. She was remembering something. He didn’t interrupt.
“Were there any ravens in your story?”
“What?”
“You know, ravens, the birds. Were they around when that happened to you in Yorkshire? There were a couple cawing when I was watching this place.”
He didn’t get exasperated like most old men who had lived a life and knew everything. He took his time and thought back.
“Yes, I think there were. There were some in that hamlet each time I dropped one of the daughters off and when I raced into the pub in the rain. Well, they could’ve been crows, I suppose. I can’t tell the difference. Is it important?”
“Probably, especially if you’re right and they were sounding off in the middle of a thunderstorm in the middle of the night. That’s just not natural. They’re definitely ravens outside now and if yours were ravens as well then Grimnir’s around somewhere.”
“Grimnir? Who’s that?”
“I’m Grimnir,” said a voice. “Well done Elizabeth. That was very intelligent and knowledgeable inductive reasoning.”
She turned bristling at the man in the blue fedora with the blue patch over one eye and his companion who were now not frozen.
“Raven,” she said emphatically. “Me name’s Raven.”
Jo stared at the newcomers in shock.