Chapter One

Eric looked out the window of what once was his and Shelly's apartment. He'd looked out here, hoping to see Shelly or find something that would bring them together faster.

A black crow sat on the window edge at Eric's feet, as young Sarah sat looking at the junk mail they kept sending Eric. "What part of dead does no one understand?" she asked to herself.

"What part of homework do you not understand?" Eric asked jokingly.

"The work part."

"That I will believe."

Sarah chuckled a little to herself, still looking over the mail. She kept looking over the mail, until Eric's phone went off.

Eric answered the phone. "Yes?"

"Draven," Albrecht asked. "I think we need to talk."

"About?"

"Believe me, I'm not sure my ownself."

"I'm sorta babysitting at the moment with Sarah." Eric said looking at the young girl. "Sorta watching her to make sure she does her school work."

"Bring her with you." Albrecht said. "I believe you'd really want to know something about who came into my office this morning."

"Really? Who might that be?"

"Your niece."

Eric's eyes widen. He slowly, yet confused to agree to see Albrecht.

-
Angel sat in her little brother's room, getting him ready for an early nap. She had him tucked in, and had his stuff dog in his arms. He smiled a toothless smile at his older sister.

"Alright," Angel started sitting in the bed next to him. "Ready for bed?"

"I wanna story, sissy." He told her.

"What story, Jefferey?"

"The crow one."

"I've read that to you, so many times. I think you know the story."

"Pleeeaasseee!"

"Okay! Okay!" Angel said giggling, getting her brother settled once again and started from her memory of the crow story she heard from school.

"People once believed that when someone dies a crow carries their sould to the land of the dead, but sometimes, just sometimes...the crow can bring that sould back to put the wrong things back right."
-

"Alright, start slow for me please." Eric said, leaning back agaisnt the chair in Albrecht's office.

"Okay," Albrecht started. "There was a girl around Sarah's age. Looked almost like you, thought it was pretty strange, I didn't let that bother me though."

"And?"

"And...she told me she needed some help for a friend."

"And what about this frined? Did she give any information on this so called friend?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what she say?" Sarah asked.

Both grown men looked at the young girl, causing her to go back to finishing the rest of her homework.

"Like how Sarah asked," Albrecht started. "She said, that her friend wanted to know something about this so called family she was in. The girl that was here, um, she said she believed she was in a foster home who has been playing as her family since she was a baby."

"I see."

"She asked to be able to see some information on this Angel kid."

"And did you?"

"Yes. I printed off one page of information for her and one for me." Albrecht said, handing him the second sheet of information for Eric. "Here."

With a sigh, Eric picked up the sheet and looked at it. His eyes went wide as he read.

NAME: Erica Angel Draven

DOB: 10/29/83

SEX: F

AGE: 12

HEIGHT: 5'5

WEIGHT: 93 lbs

PARENTS: Rebecca Nicole Draven, Unknown father

FOSTER PARENTS: Peggie Denver Parkins, Aaron Parkins

RELETIVES: Unlce, Eric Draven

OTHER: Erica was born with a oddly shaped birth mark on her right eye. And she suffers from belemina, Insomnia, and bipolar. Erica is under watch of foster parents Peggie and Aaron Parkins along with their young son Jefferey, age 4. Erica is of the legal age her mother, Rebecca, wanted her to be if she wanted to know about her birth mother or Uncle.

Eric stopped reading the info sheet for a second, letting Sarah look at it as she finished her homework in time.

"And, um," Eric started to ask Albrecht, lost for words. "This girl...what did she look like?"

"Same skin tone as you," Albrecht started the description. "Mid-length black hair, deep brown eyes-innocent eyes...though they held something I've never seen in a normal child before."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"What I mean is, her eyes held more knowledge...joy...sorrow...and hope than any other kid I've ever seen at her age."

"And the friend said, the friend was my niece...right?" Eric asked getting up.

"Yeah."

"Know where I could find her?"

"Sorry...I don't."

"That's alright." Eric said, getting a vision of the young girl laying in bed asleep near a young boy. "I think I got what I wanted."

Eric left, leaving both Sarah and Albrecht wondering what he meant.