Chapter 1
Thunder rumbled overhead as the rain started to fall. A young woman in a wheel chair was staring at the two graves in front of her. The grave of her friend, Crystal Hathrock, and the grave of Crystal's boyfriend, Rob Dorrit. She stared intently, remembering the tragedy that had resulted in the death of Crystal and Rob. She saw in her mind's eye, the gangsters that came of out of the shadows, and she saw Crystal drop her white rose on the ground. She had been forced to watch as the men in leather, chains, and red and black face makeup raped Crystal, one by one. She screamed as they slit Crystal's throat, the leader saying to Rob, "That's what she gets for trying to be a hero! Now here is yours!"
Her mind had locked itself in disbelief, as they shot Rob in the back of the head, and let his dead body lie on the sidewalk next to Crystal's. For 8 months she'd been catatonic with denial at the fact her friends were dead. It was only in the last 4 months that she had accepted the hard truth. However, her catatonic state had not dissipated without damage. When she'd come out of her vegetable-like state she became mute. Since then she'd kept a small notepad that hung from her neck, and kept pencils in her pocket so she could communicate with people.
Now, a year after their deaths, Jennifer sat in front of their graves. She leaned forward, and slowly rose out of the chair. She placed a small bouquet of daisies, chrysanthemums, moonflowers, and midnight lady tulips on Crystal's grave. Jessica then bent down and stuck two white roses in the ground in front of Rob's tombstone. She then wrapped the cord of a small pendant around the rose stems, and sat back in the chair once again. She silently mouthed, "Goodbye you two," and started wheeling her way back to the Institute. As she moved away from the graves, a large, black crow landed on top of Rob's tombstone. Jessica looked back and saw the bird on the tombstone. It looked at her and cawed sharply, as if to say,"Go on. Go home." Jessica nodded her head and continued to the Institute. What she hadn't noticed was that the crow was clutching two things in its claws. It was holding a bloodstained, white rose, and a gold crucifix. The crow looked down at the pendant wrapped around the roses on Rob's grave; it was a small, silver crow in flight, surrounded by a ring of thorns.
