Nevermore

Silverthorn-2000

It was a rather dreary afternoon in the cul-de-sac on the edge of the American suburb known as Peach Creek. Clouds hovered overhead, in the ominous manner they have before the start of a downpour.

In his room on the second story, Edward Armitage (Double D to his friends) sat pouring over a small stack of notebooks. They belonged to his father's line; each telling of their encounters and studies of the supernatural. He did this with an almost morbid fascination, being drawn into the shadows of his ancestor's fight against the dark things of the world.

His great-grandfather, Doctor Henry Armitage, had the most fascinating-

His head shot up at a tapping noise. He shut the books and looked around. Nothing at the door, but a single bird was tapping on the window. Big, black bird, in point of fact. "A raven?" He asked aloud in surprise. He thought about it, then finally sighed.

"Here's hoping Poe was wrong."

He opened the window, and the bird fluttered in, perching on the skull atop Double D's desk.

"So much for that hope," Double D mused.

"Nevermore!"

"Right."

He went back to the notebooks, but was distracted every few moments by a call of "Nevermore!" from the bird. Double D found his patience dwindling with a surprising haste. He'd not been fond of ravens ever since the whole "Evil Jim" incident. One telling him "Nevermore" repeatedly didn't do anything to help that dislike.

In his mind, he just knew that whoever had taught the bird the word had also probably had the poor taste to name the bird Quoth. He sighed. "Look, I'm trying to study. Do you know what will happen to the Earth if I don't?"

"Nevermore!"

"Precisely. Now be quiet."

And so it was. For about ten minutes.

"Nevermore! Nevermore!"

Double D snapped. He shot up, tipping the chair backwards. "That! Is! IT!" He snapped at the bird, punctuating each word with a thrust of the finger in the raven's direction. He strode back to his closet, threw open the door, reached behind the clothes and boxes to the length of pipe that had been his trusted weapon during his time in Silent Hill. Whirling, he looked at the bird. "I'm gonna make you a pile of feathers!"

~*~*~*~*~

Downstairs and about six feet to the left, Alessa Guiesspe sat curled up on the couch, reading a novel and drinking tea. At least until the crashing started.

"I shouldn't-" She sighed as something else above her crashed- "But I guess I have to."

She strode up the stairs to Edd's room, growling in the back of her throat. "Edward had better have a very, very good reason for this." She threw open the door, and was confronted by Edd taking swings at a raven with the piece of pipe.

"Nevermore!" squawked the raven, dodging another swing that took the front of a dresser door off.

Alessa stared, dumbfounded, at the sight, then slowly closed the door. For a moment, she processed what she'd seen. "Okay. Edward, pipe, Poe's raven." She stood there, then promptly strode back downstairs.

~*~*~*~*~

Edd took another swing, taking out another flask in the process. The raven continued to flit around the room, dodging the clumsy blows.

He lined up another one when the door slammed open, and Alessa stormed in, a pair of heavy wielding gloves on her hands. Without one word, she grabbed the raven and hauled it to, and then out, the window.

The window slammed shut, and Alessa glanced at Edd, who chuckled sheepishly. She strode over and planted a soft kiss on Edd's cheek. He blushed, then winced as she followed it up with the traditional dope smack to the back of the head.

He watched her leave the room, then stuck his head out as she stomped back down the stairs. He heard one word leave her mouth.

"Idiot."