Disclaimer: I do not own anything created by Mr. Edgar Allan Poe, however, I do own Massie, Ryan, their mother, and Ed Holloway :)
A formidable word echoed through the many halls and rooms of the manor. It was the loudest whisper they had ever heard, and it scared them. It was not uttered by any living being, as the only two people in the house that night were huddled together in the same room, sitting upon a carpet.
At first, they thought it hat come from outside the window, where there stood a lone hemlock, which cast an eerie shadow across the dark floorboards. They were quick to dismiss this theory, however, as they had immediately investigated only to find that in the tree, there perched only a raven. He stared into the window, eyes fixed on the two children, never moving, never faltering. If they were the type of children who believed in such things as talking animals, perhaps they would have thought differently. Perhaps they would have indeed concluded that is was the raven which spoke the word, but both were too logical to think that a mere bird was capable of uttering a word of human speech.
The voice was getting closer to their ears, it seemed. It increased in volume until it practically screamed, at which point it seemed as though there were many different voices. The voices and their horrible word surrounded the children, came upon them like predators, and with them came shadows. They covered them like a velvety veil, heavy and thick, with increasing temperature. It seemed they left no room for oxygen as the children struggled for air. They were being suffocated by the treacherous voices, and it didn't seem there was anything either one of them could do about it.
"NEVERMORE!"