The Raven Witch

“C’mon Aaron! You chicken or something?”
“Yeah! You said you could handle anything, remember?”
Aaron stared at his two friends, Mark and Xavier, with utter disbelief. In the spirit of Halloween, the trio had decided to do the only rational thing and send each other on dares to scare the living daylights out of each other. So far, Mark had caved into almost-tears when sent into an abandoned house that turned out to be not-so-abandoned by some very angry squatters, and X had gotten stuck on a barbed wire fence running away from two very mean-looking dogs in the dump. Aaron, however, had taken everything in style. He loved getting thrills and chills; scary shit was his life. He even dreamed of one day becoming a director so he could make his own and scare millions with his twisted head.
This, however, may be the line he drew in the sand.
Before the three rambunctious boys stood the Raven Woods. In the daytime, it wasn’t terrifying in the least. Actually, it was rather beautiful. Full, lush trees filled the seemingly endless thicket, and their leaves turned the most alive shade of green you could imagine. Birds of every imagining dotted the trees, filling the air with their beautiful sounds. Gorgeous wild flowers covered the field before the forest and each gust of wind made the wondrous scent of them fill your nostrils. At night, however, the place was anything but the reflection of serene beauty you saw during the day.
As sunset descended, the flowers would close one by one. The birds would end their singing. As nightfall engulfed the woods, even the trees closed up their leaves. A mist wound its way from the core of the forest and filled the place in a dense and eerie fog. The only sound that came from the lifeless branches were the chilling screeches of large, black birds that began to flock to the area.
But that alone wasn’t the scariest part of the forest.
Legend has it that if you go inside the forest, you wouldn’t come out alive.
The town they lived in had a dark past. It was said back when the Salem Witch Trials were in full swing and the witch-paranoia was gripping the country in mass hysteria, there was a cleansing that had taken place in the unseemly town. A girl was convicted of being a witch and burned, tied to one of the large trees in the heart of the forest. Legend has it that the tree still stands, but its as black as night and the angry ghost of the girl roams the forest, taking her revenge by killing anyone who sees her wandering in the fog.
But the boys had been everywhere in the forest during the day and had never seen the tree. And anyway, legends are legends, right? There’s no real truth behind them… right?
“So,” X said, pulling Aaron back to reality, “the dare is thirty minutes, got it?”
“And you have to actually walk into the forest. No picking a spot on the edge and sitting their crap,” Mark slapped his friend on the back, “So, gonna chicken out?”
Aaron forced a cool smile onto his face, “Of course not. This is child’s play. Watch and learn ladies,”
With as much bravado as he could muster, Aaron stepped onto the once flower-covered field and began his trek up to the dark trees. As he approached, he could make large, dark forms crouched on the branches. Black shiny eyes watched him as he entered the thicket. Letting out outraged screams, the dark birds left their perches and flew into the forest.
Aaron couldn’t help the shiver that chilled his body. The mist was so… just… deep. How would he be able to find his way out again if he got lost? He swallowed down a lump in his throat. No biggie, he thought to himself, if I get lost I’ll just have to wait until morning. Which shouldn’t be more than an hour or so anyway.
If I’m alive by morning…
He shook his head fervently, “I’ll be fine,” he told himself firmly.
As he stepped through the mist, his eyes began to adjust to the darkness around him. The silence that surrounded him was so complete. It was almost peaceful. He came to a small animal path and decided to start following it. As he walked along, he couldn’t help feeling watched. The feeling seemed to come from the pit of his stomach and crawl up his spine to the back of his neck, making his hair stand on end.
Something moved in the corner of his eye and he whipped his head around, his heart pounding. A black flash and he stumbled backwards, his hands gripping his chest…
“Caw! Caw!”
“A crow…” Aaron said, breathless, “Just a crow.” His heart still pounding, the adrenaline slowly fading from his veins, he couldn’t help but laugh. He’d been terrified over a crow. His laugh had a bit of a manic tone to it as his fear seeped into his supposed humor.
“You scared me little buddy,” he looked at the creature posted on the branch a few meters away. Its black eyes stared at him, its head twitching every so often. With a soft flap of its wings, the beast dismounted, swooping low over his head before disappearing into the mist. As Aaron continued down the path, he noticed more and more crows. Still a little jumpy from the experience, he couldn’t help but think they were watching him.
“Jeeze,” he coughed, “I’m getting paranoid,”
Suddenly, an odd smell wafted through the air.
The smell of charred wood.
Aaron could feel the blood leave his face as he stopped to stare at the looming tree the obstructed his path. It was huge, its black limbs twisting up to fill the sky. It was taller and thicker than all the other ancient trees around it. Crows were filling the branches, none of them uttering a single noise as they crouched there, staring at him. He could feel himself start to shake as realization gripped him. Burnt rope lay on the ground, mud-covered and petrified with time. There was a shadow on the tree, a silhouette of a figure, short enough to be a little girl…
“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit…” Aaron started backing away, fear shutting down his mind. His pulse was singing in his ears, chills running through his whole body. Suddenly, he stopped, turning his head to look at a figure he hadn’t noticed before. It was clearly a woman wearing all black, staring at the black tree. Her hair was jet black and he was paralyzed with fear as the pale face turned towards him…
“CAW!” one of the black birds came at him, its talons bared and he stumbled backwards, covering his face. His foot caught on a branch. He felt himself falling onto the ground and rolling down the hill. His body kept hitting things. All he could see was black and white as he tumbled over himself, finally landing on his back, the wind out of his lungs.
Pain filled his leg and he screamed, the pain making it impossible to see.
Gasping for air, he pulled himself up, the sight making him sick. His leg was laying in an unnatural position and he knew he’d broken it. Tears were falling from his face but he couldn’t remember when he’d started crying. His hands were shaking as he dumbly looked over his leg, he couldn’t remember what to do. Blood was starting to color the ground, a splash of red on the black ground.
“Oh god… oh god, oh god, oh god…” he was crying like a baby but couldn’t help it. He was seriously going to die… BECAUSE OF A STUPID DARE!
“Shhh…” his breath caught. The woman was standing over him, kneeling down to his side. He felt his heart stop but couldn’t tell if it was from fear or from her. She was beautiful. Her skin was pale but she had beautiful pale blue eyes. Her black dress pooled on the ground around her; black feathers stemming from the ends of her hair. Her dress was covered in long black feathers. Through his haze of pain, all he could think about was how beautiful she was. Maybe I’m going into shock…
A delicate, white hand brushed his broken leg. He felt the bone suddenly snap into place, and with it, all of the pain subsided. He gasped, feeling cold numbness where the pain used to be. He let himself drop onto his back, his heart finally starting to slow down. The girl’s face came into his vision, her penetrating ice-blue eyes taking his breath away.
“Are you ok now?” she smiled down at him.
“Yeah…” he said, sitting up, “Thank you,”
She responded with a warm smile, “You startled them,”
“Them?”
She looked up and he followed her gaze. The sight nearly took his breath away. There were crows perched everywhere. All of them stared at him with black eyes, their heads perked with curiosity.
“I startled them?” he gasped, the black flock chilling his heart, “One of them tried to kill me,”
“That was LillyAnne,” the girl said, holding out her hand. A crow alighted there, hopping up her harm to nuzzle its head in her neck, “She’s very protective of her tree,”
“Her tree?”
“Yes,” her smile faded, “She used to be a human girl long ago. She was a very unfortunate girl, and would often find herself sick. Her mother asked me to help her once. My help only made things worse.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, unable to process what she was telling him.
“They thought she was a witch,” her smile was completely gone now, “Humans are such scared creatures, and so easy to manipulate. They tried to burn her to death on that tree.”
“Tried?”
“I saved her,” she petted the crow fondly, “I turned her into this. She likes it better this way, living without human cares. After what had happened to her because of me, it was the least I could do,”
“You turned her into a crow?” Aaron gasped.
“A raven,” she smiled, releasing the bird so it could fly off and perch with the others.
“What about the rest of them?” Aaron stared at the birds, his head desperately trying to wrap around what was going on, “And… and then you… what are you?”
The woman laughed, but nicely, “I guess you could call me a witch. And them? They’re lost souls… beings that never belonged, who needed refuge from the cruelty of the world around them. I protect them here. They’re like my children,”
“Wow… there’s so many…”
“This world can be cruel,” she said sadly. She turned to him, here cold eyes meeting his softly, “And now there’s you,”
“Me?” he swallowed, “What about me?”
“Why did you come here?”
“Oh… I, uh, kinda stumbled in,”
She laughed sweetly, making a sound like bells in his ears. Standing up gracefully, she held out a hand to him. He took it gratefully, a tingling going through his legs as he stood. He was amazed, the image of his broken legs still playing in his head. It was like it had never happened.
“I’ll have to leave soon,” she smiled, letting go of him gently, “the ravens will show you the way,”
“But wait… what if… what if I want to see you again?” he asked, blushing slightly.
She met him with a kind smile. She leaned close to him, her face very close to his. His eyes closed as he mentally prepared himself for… for what exactly? He heart fluttered a little bit. He could feel her presence so close. A cool air brushed his face and he heard her whisper something so silent he couldn’t make out the words.
“I’ll watch over you,” her voice was fading, “When you’re ready, come see me again,”
His eyes shot open. Sunlight trialed through the branches overhead.
“Shit!” he’d been dreaming? For how long? And where were Mark and Xavier? He jumped up, a tingling sensation going through his leg. He stopped, looking down at his leg. There was a rip in his pant leg. His heart did a little flip. Maybe it wasn’t a dream?
He ran out of the forest, passing a familiar looking tree with a lighter patch on the side of it. Its branches were full of beautiful oranges and reds. He ran down an animal trail, finding his way back to the flower-filled field. Seeing two bodies laying in the tall grass.
“Mark! Xavier! What the hell guys?” he ran up to them. The two boys stirred, blinking in the daylight, “Did you guys seriously let me stay in there all night?”
“What?” Mark groaned, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
“When did we fall asleep?” Xavier mumbled, shaking his head and looking up at his friend, “Well… I guess you win then,”
“I guess,” Aaron smiled.
“Caw! Caw!” he looked up, watching as a single raven flew overhead, swooping down and perching on a stone a few yards away. The three boys walked away together, hurrying to get home before someone started to worry.
In his head, Aaron decided he’d be back. He needed to know more about that strange woman… the Raven Witch.