A Raven in the Hand

CHAPTER 12

Kayla looked around the barren landscape in frustration, she had no idea that it would be this hard to find him. He didn't have a problem finding her after all, and she was standing where his address in his file would be. But Death Valley is a big place to look for one man, as big as the Undertaker was.

She shivered in the cold night air, she wished she had brought a warmer coat as she stood out on the road, looking in either direction around the rocky scenery. Reaper on the other hand was quite relaxed in the below freezing temperature, he was resting on the window of her rental car as his human friend looked around in confusement. Kayla would have never believed that a desert could be so cold, no wonder he liked it here. It was miles from anything remotely civilized, quite and still…like a grave yard.

"Well, Reaper?" She asked her companying.

The bird crowed softly at her.

"I can't just pick a direction, I don't have wings like you do. Why can't you just go up and take a look around?"

Reaper crowed low.

"The hawks here are not that big, and besides, you have a pretty fierce looking beak yourself! I think you'll be alright."

The raven huffed then lifted into the air, circle ling a few times before he flew east, looking for the Deadman. Kayla looked around, then decided to sit on the hood of the car to wait for her friend. She began to think again about her new discoveries.

First Kayla ran through her mental list of the Undertaker's abilities, she knew he could raise the dead, was at least able to withstand some magic, and the ability to sense magic residue. She could hypotheses that since he was a reaper, he could still kill with his touch, but it must be by will she figured. His bare finger tips had touched her skin before, that cool touched made her mind wander off from investigator to woman.

His strong face seem to materialize in her mind, his deep green eyes seem to draw her near him every time she was close to him. She began to recall the attack in the green room, starring at his bare chest, his eyes telling her that it would be alright. Then, when he was holding her, stroking her face…was he playing with her?

She knew he was playing with her inquisitive nature, only divulging a few tid bits of information, it just made her starve for more. That's what got her out tonight, looking for him. The talk she had with The High Priestess made her think her steps. Why would the Goddess tell her a Reaper had come, and only now she had heard of it? And what does that mean? A raven will find him she had told her chosen, that would explain a few things.

Ravens have been associated with Death beyond ages. Fables of ravens carrying the souls of the dead from earth to heaven, into the arms of their beloved gods. Her totem was a raven, her familiar was a raven, a raven named Reaper. She couldn't help but smile. But if she was meant to find him, what was she supposed to do with him? Send him back? Did he a wish to be human?

Even if he did, she knew she couldn't help with that. She was still learning to use her powers, her natural abilities bloomed late, and multiplied. All witches are born with the ability to control the element of their birth. Kayla was born on February twenty-ninth, a leap year. She was advanced in her spell casting and scroll work, but had a very difficult time drawing up her natural powers. It weakened her considerably, even though the power generated from with in her being, the drain it had on her physical body would leave her very ill. Her mother believed that it had to do with the day she was born, it's not every day a witch is born on a day that only appears every four years. Her mother and Shalla believed that the body would grow with the body and be able to work harmoniously, the power did grow but the body was resistant.

Kay didn't think too much about it, after all she preferred spells than inner power, she had a vast knowledge of them, it came from the gods themselves so there was no draining on the body. The Voodoo people were the same, their gods had live for as many years as her own. There were actually many other factions of magic people, the native Americans and Canadians had their shamans, the Christian religion even had their priests, even though they would almost never display their god given gifts to their people. But the Witches and Vodus were the dominating force.

Kay wrapped her arms around her shivering body, this was taking too long. She wasn't one to loose patients, but then again, there was nothing like him. Her thoughts were lost again, it took her a moment to notice her cell phone was ringing.

"Hello?" She asked as she answered.

"Hey Kay, where are you? I called your house but your roommate said you were out." Dave's voice came on line.

"Hey, yeah I was out for a walk, it's such a beautiful night out." Besides the freezing she was thinking.

"Listen, the reason I'm calling you is that I was talking with Vince McMahon, and they're looking for an assistant director for RAW, I was thinking that you might like that, better pay…"

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Kay asked.

"No, I just thought that this would be more challenging for you, and I know how much you like a challenge."

"I have challenges on Smackdown, Dave. And besides, I like being around you. Why Dave?"

there was a pause on the line, "Kay, I didn't like what I saw in that green room, I'm worried about you and I just would feel safer if you were on RAW."

"What do you think he's going to do to me?" She didn't like fighting with him, in fact, they had never had a fight before, "Dave, for the final time, there is nothing going on between me and the Undertaker. We are just friends!"

"Yeah, like he was with Paul Bearer? Do you know where he is?"

Kay thought for a moment, "Who's Paul Bearer?"

"His manager…of sorts, I keep forgetting that you know almost nothing about the WWE. They been friends and enemies for a long time, the Undertaker encased him in a cement coffin, the guy's in a mental hospital now, just a babbling idiot. Look what he did to Stephanie McMahon..."

"Nothing, he did nothing to her." Was she taking his side instead of Dave's?

"How would you know? Kay, are you still talking to him?"

"Yes…but it's still not what you think! It's not like he's trying to get me into his bed, trust me, I highly doubt hat he's like that."

"You don't know what he's like! You can't believe a word he says…" A sharp pain pieced inside her mind, causing her to drop the phone and grab a hold of her head.

The pain was searing, bringing the young witch on her knees on the ground, her body shook as tiny moans of hurt escaped her lips.

"KAY!" She couldn't hear Dave shouting on the phone, her body lurched over as the throbbing increased.

Flashes of pictures raced thru her mind, visions that she had never seen before. Horrible forms of giant snakes, with venom dripping from their enlarged fangs, a calf being torn apart by wolves, human skulls all lined up with bright colors painted on their white bone, a rotting corps, raising itself from the grave…

Voodoo…she at least could think long enough to know this was Voodoo, but a form of this Vodu magic that she had not encountered before. The true Vodus of Africa were healers and spiritual guides, they had a gift for understanding blood magic which they would use to heal their people, a magic that very few could understand and would dare to touch. Those who would use the power, would do so in very carefully planed and supervised manner. But then, there are the rogues, that believe that he magic is there to be used, not hidden, they would use for their own. That was one magic that witches were never allowed to perform, the magic was complicated and dangerous in the wrong hands. The Vodu had been using this magic for centuries, they were the only people who had the expertise in using it for healing, and for defensive puposes.

Kay knew who was doing this, but she still didn't know why. The Vodu known as the Boogieman was attacking her, he must have constructed a Voodoo doll in her likeness. It wouldn't have been hard for him to gather a small personal object to place inside the doll, she had left her coat and bags in her locker at work all the time, a normal lock would be nothing for him to open.

The vision kept flashing, more pain followed. This time, she could see his face come into her mind, the worms dancing from his mouth as a giant serpent hissed from behind him. His eyes, his eyes were the only things she could see, there was a voice as well. She couldn't make out what he was saying, the language could have been foreign, or she was in too much pain to hear. Either way, she didn't care, the pain was too much for her. She fell to the ground, still holding her aching head with tears in her eyes, she looked up a the star filled sky, begging her gods to stop the pain. Her mind was slowly shutting down, it could no longer handle the pain, making the body fall unconscious would lessen the body's risk to go into shock, thus saving her mind from burning out.

She looked back at the sky, there was no more star lit sky, she was looking at nothing but blackness, A black robed figure was floating above her, his white face was hidden in the shadows of his hood, two green glowing orbs that seem to float from within the darkness of the hood, was there a scythe in his hand?

She felt something raise her shaking body, a voice was talking to her but her mind was slowly turning itself off, she hadn't the strength to try to make it out. The tone of the voice was soothing to her, the pain lessened as her world became dark, she closed her eyes one final time before falling into unconsciousness.

To be continued.