UNFiNiSHED BUSiNESS

Bird in White


"I told you I could get it!"

The door of an abandoned warehouse burst open and with it brought with it two men. One of them carried the heavy set cage containing the dove and the other waving a gun wildly in the air. Both of them were grinning from ear to ear.

"Well I'm impressed, John, that's for sure. I didn't actually think you'd be able to grab that thing. After all, no one ever seemed to be able to get a hold of that crow when we needed it," Kevin stood from a battered table an poked his fingers into the cage.

"They were just not trying hard enough," John beamed and looked over to the remaining two at the table. "Don't you think?"

The farthest from the door stared for a long moment. "Did you know about the last guy like this I saw? Over in Los Angeles and I swear to you that they caught his crow." The man nodded thoughtfully.

"I was at the party and the guy ... Ash was it? He fell right off the fucking building after they messed with that bird. That Corvis is gunna pay for what he did to my brother." Kevin and John remained silent and exchanged looks but the last to speak stood.

"Don't worry Robert, we'll get him now that we have this," he said, guesturing toward the snow coloured bird still cowering behind the bars of it's small prison. "Now that I think about I'm pretty sure that book is around here somewhere," the man sighed and began digging through a dusty bookshelf.

Meanwhile Robert began to sing the lines from an eerie melody he had heard someplace before ... "Hush little baby don't say a word, daddy's gunna buy you a big black bird. And if that black bird doesn't sing ... well ... you know what happens."

A loud, barking laugh bounced off of the empty walls.


"You will help me, right?"

When Alex looked up there was a sort of anguished panic in his eyes that Erin couldn't quite place. What could possibly be so wrong that he needed her help to fix things. For a moment she was silent.

"Of course," she whispered, "What do you need to do?"

He smiled, taking a step forward. " I knew I could count on you. Well you see," he began, "When a soul dies, the crow is the one who guides it to the afterlife, to where it belongs. The bird will stay with the soul until another escort is provided, or when the soul is ready to be reincarnated."

He paused, watching her expression. She nodded her head thoughtfully, motioning for him to continue. Alex began a slow walk through the graveyard and Erin followed in step.

"Well, when the soul is ready be reicarnated a dove comes for it and brings it back to the realm of the living to take it's place back in life. Theres where I was headed until someone got in the way," Alex finished bitterly.

Erin stopped, looking surprised. "So you get to live again? You get a second chance?"

Alex grinned and nodded. "If all goes according to plan."

At this point Erin leapt in, wrapping her arms tightly around his slim frame. "I'm so happy ... I knew you'd get what you deserved. Lauren too," she sighed happily, but Alex pulled away sharply at the sound of voices.

"It's best no one knows of this," he told her, glancing around the graveyard as his crow perched lightly upon his shoulder and cawed. "I'll come back for you in two days exactly in this spot," he said and disappeared promptlyinto the growing fog.

Just as Alex went, Matt appeared, a confused and slightly hurt expression on his face. "Someone said they saw you come in here. What's wrong?" He took her hand and guided her back to the now darkened streets.

"It's nothing, really. I just ... remebered I forgot something here from this morning," she lied quickly. Matt seemed to buy the excuse and a happy smile slid into place. "I'm betting dinner is cold by now, but we could always catch a movie or something," he suggested.

"No, it's alright. I'm sorry. I'll see you tomorrow though?"

" ... Yeah, sure," he said with a slight smile playing on his lips as he hugged her goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow then!" And with that he turned and walked slowly back to his car and drove away.


That night Erin couldn't seem to get to sleep. Every time she was sure she was comfortable she found herself turning over again and before she knew it the moon was high in the sky, filtering through her curtains and assaulting her eyes.

She sighed at stared into the beam of white that washed over the room. She had once been told that when you had something serious on your mind it was harder to sleep. Credit to whoever figured that out because they sure as hell were right.

Erin couldn't help but feel that something was off. Something she couldn't quite place.


A large crow perched on the sill of a grimy window that looked into an empty warehouse. It cawed once, saw that no one was left inside and began pecking upon the glass. To the night it was a loud echoing noise, but only barley caught the attention of the dove.

It cooed softly from the other side of the glass but the sound was drown out by the thick barrier. Just as he was about to break the glass a member of that damned police squad shifted through the shadows and through the door. So with that, Alex flew back into comfort of the shadows.


You see, Alex was no longer what he was. What he had come back to do in the world in the first place had been accomplished, and therefor he really had no other reason to be there. The supernatural powers that once protected him were no longer.

The crow, however, was still his guide. Just as the dove was to the new spirit that would become Alex's next chance at living. The chosen child, named Patrick Alexander, was still endowed with the powers of immortality. His dove guide had yet to leave and take them back.

Alex and this Patrick were intertwined distantly in the sense that they were to share the same soul. Most people were starting to think that in those modern times that sort of "witchcraft" was occuring, but they would be wrong.

And as the bird cloaked in white gazed longingly out the window, it knew what those humans would do. Kyle Demure, the quietest of the men that had been sitting at the table eariler flipped through as thick battered book.

"Don't worry little bird, it won't be so bad," Kyle smile sympaically but kept on looking for something he knew he was sure to find.


Morning came in a bright array of colours that morning with fat clouds dragging lazily along the sky. The days were becoming colder now and the time just ticked by until there would be snow on the ground and Christmas lights all around.

Erin didn't even need to wait until the alarm clock went off to crawl out of bed. She really hadn't gotten that much sleep with all the thoughts that were making her thoughts fuzzy. Like every other day, she slipped into the shower quietly then got dressed and ate.

Like every other day she went off to work where she knew Matt and Alisa would be waiting for her. Just like every day she pulled away at exactly 7:00 am for her morning journey to the same building she went to every day.

Unlike every other day she had an unsettled feeling in her stomach everytime she saw black.


Part two:3

Things might become a bit clearer from here on out. I'm not really sure when I'll have the time to write the next chapter for this,but I'll try to get it done fairly on time. Key word being "try".

Take care,

x Kitty