#blackcrow

(Side note: If there’s any suggestions on how I can improve on this, let me know)

I wonder how long I’ve been doing this? Walking through life, putting on an act by day, and peeling back the layers by night. It gets tiring, but somehow, I’ve managed to get through it all.

After a few moments, I turned off the faucet, allowing my face to simply float in the water for a moment before stepping back. My reflection hasn’t gotten any better. I stared back at the person in the mirror; a pale-skin kid with green eyes and brown hair. Water dripping down from his disheveled hair and onto his face. The bags under his eyes made it clear that he’s gone several nights without sleep. Yet that was the life of Eamon Brown, the Black Crow.

“… Back to it then.”, I sighed.

I walked back over to my laptop on the bed. Nearby, the TV was still tuned in on the news. Recently, there hasn’t been any reports of crimes going around; causing me some problems. Not that no crimes weren’t good, but it was becoming difficult to meet my manager’s quota every month. I might have to start taking more visits to the nearby prison if I wanted to catch up.

Not that there was any rush to do so. I had already turn in my mask a few days ago for this month’s quota, but it was better to start on the next month’s quota rather than waiting for the last second.

After a moment of getting situated, I started to scroll through my messages and alerts, but it was just the usual. Notices for quota deadlines, concert schedules for next month, old updates on crimes, and messages from Horace, the Leghorn Chicken, regarding our training sessions. I clicked on the later, a smile creeping onto my face as I read it. It seems he wanted to meet with me tomorrow.

Training with Horace was probably one of the only two things I enjoy doing. He’s a bit eccentric and seems a bit foolish, but he’s a great mentor. He also seems to be the only one in the company to care about my wellbeing as well.

A loud beep shook me from my thoughts as I turned my attention the new alert that appeared on screen. It was a police report from New Haven street. The report seemed to mention an on-going hostage situation that was taking place in the abandon Aaron Company warehouse. Three armed thugs and a single hostage…

Quickly, I grabbed my hoodie and made my way toward the door, grabbing my mask as I went. Looks like another hunt for the Reaper…

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I arrived on the scene about ten minutes later. Already the warehouse was surrounded by a blockade of police cars and vans. Men and woman rushed around to position themselves; the dogs braying wildly as they tugged against their handlers’ leashes. Didn’t look like there would be anyway to get in and out without being spotted, but, if there was one good thing I can say about my manager, it was that he knew the right contacts.

As was expected, Officer Roy was waiting for me in a nearby alley. Even to this day I was uncertain what sort of ties he had to the company. Whether he was being bribed to help me or was secretly part of the company, I was never sure. Yet, every time I’ve gone after these cases or sneaked into the prisons, he was always there as the inside man.

After a few moments, he spotted me and waved with that disarming grin of his. You’d think he was a clean guy if you didn’t know anything about the Sirens.

“Was wondering when you’d show up.”, Roy said, extending his hand in greeting. After a few seconds of realizing that I wasn’t going to shake his hand, he shrugged. “Had to try every once in a while.”

“What’s the situation…”, I asked, allowing my annoyance to creep into my voice.

“… A couple of days ago, we got a tip on a new drug gang opening up shop near the Delta train station. Nothing major, just a few punks looking to make a quick buck, but, well, you know how it can escalate. Small time drug dealers are one thing, but it starts to become a problem if they get themselves organized.” He stepped back and leaned against the wall. “Anyway, we busted their operation, but a few of them managed to escape. They nab a bystander and barricaded themselves in the warehouse.”

I gave him a small nod and prompted, “Is there a way in?”

“Yea. There’s a ladder in this alley that can reach the roof top. From there, you’ll have yourself a thirty foot drop down onto the warehouse itself. Most guys might break their legs jumping down, but, well, I’m sure you got that covered.”

I touched my mask. “You could say that.”

“Figured as much. Though the problem will be the drug dealers themselves. Two of them are armed with pistols and they’re all paranoid. They hear even a peep and they’ll pull the trigger on the hostage.” He rubbed his face wearily, like a person that was about to ask something difficult. “I know who you guys are, but... I ask that-“

I place a hand on him, cutting him off. “I won’t let them kill the hostage.”

I understood what he meant. The company I work for doesn’t just take the lives of a single group. They go after everyone. Young, old, innocent, or corrupted. It didn’t matter. All that mattered to the company was taking the life force of others.

A look of relief passes over his face. “Oh… good. Thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it.” I moved back. “Now… show me where this ladder is.”

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That was a pretty big drop.

I felt my stomach quiver when I peeked over the edge. I wasn’t afraid of heights, I’ve been on the upper balconies at the company building before, but this was the first time that I was actually going to jump off and hope to land on the warehouse instead of the street floor a hundred feet below.

I took a few deep breathes to calm my nerves. It wasn’t as bad as I was making it out. I had a large margin for error so it wasn’t likely that I was going to miss the landing. Plus, I had my mask in my pocket.

Pulling it out now, I allowed myself a few seconds to look at it. It was quite the ornate piece of work. The mask was a mix of black and white with a black nose piece and gold outlines. Musical notes danced under the right eye socket. It looked like something you would find in an opera house, but it’s purpose was far more sinister.

Taking one last breath, I put the mask on. In the brief moment, a strange sensation overcame me, culminating onto my back. Flexing, my wings spread out to either side of me, the black feathers blending into the shadows around me.

Suddenly I felt calm; my body relaxing as I looked back over the edge. Truthfully, I never used my wings in this fashion before. Despite appearances, we couldn’t fly, but Horace had taught me how I could use them to glide. Though this would be the first time I’ve every tried it outside of a training session.

“No second thoughts now.”, I whispered, jumping off the edge. I allowed my wings to spread out parallel to me as I was taught and, for a moment, I feared that it wasn’t going to work. However, my wings soon took effect and I started to glide down onto the warehouse.

I stumbled as I landed; wincing in pain as I fell down onto my hands and knees. I turned my hands over and, sure enough, my palms were scraped. Could’ve been worse, I thought to myself as I stood up. Fortunately, it didn’t appear that anyone had noticed my sudden landing.

Carefully, I looked around for an entry into the warehouse and spotted a door. As I got closer to it though, it was apparent that it was boarded and locked on the other side. I slammed my fist into the door in frustration. All this effort and I can’t even get in.

I closed my eyes, furious, but then I froze. I could hear the sound of fluttering wings. Opening my eyes, I looked over my shoulder and spotted a crow perched on my wing. It’s beady, black eyes stared at me for a moment before flying past me into the side of the door. Curious, I walked around to the side and spotted a hole.

It wasn’t that big, but the wall itself seemed to be crumbling apart in certain spots. Seeing it as my best way in, I tore at the hole bit by bit until I had myself a hole big enough to crawl through if I removed my mask. I smiled slightly as the crow cawed at me. Seems like this wasn’t a waste of time after all.

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The voices were starting to get louder as I neared the bottom floor. Peering through a crack in a wall, I could make out a larger room. Crates and broken-down cars dotted the room. Overheard, support beams and walkways overlooked the room. A few windows shined into the room, but, otherwise, it was mostly dark. The two front doors outside were completely closed off by crates, but there appeared to be a side entrance that the thugs appeared to have left open if escape was necessary.

One of them, a nervous looking kid in ragged clothing, muttered, “David… what are we going to do? They have us surrounded.”

Out of sight, a gruff voice replied, “Shut up Daniel! We’ll be fine. They won’t be try anything while we have the hostage.”

“B-but what if-“

“Will you just chill?!” Another man in a hoodie walked into sight. “Don’t you think I want to be freaking out now? Just calm down and don’t worry so much. Ma told me to look after you and I’m not about to let my little bro get caught, ok?”

“O-ok Zack…”

The kid seemed to calm down as his body relax slightly. Though it was obvious that he was tense… and for good reason. It would be safe to leave him last when I start taking them out. However, first I needed to locate the hostage.

I quietly made my way onto one of the upper walkways and quickly spotted the hostage tied up and gagged against one of the pillars in the room. She appeared to be around my age; her black hair roughed up and her dark skin bruised from their mistreatment. Yet, her green eyes were alert and defiant as she stared at one to the other.

The last thug, a big guy in a white top and black pants, was looking out through one of the windows. As far as I could see, no one was paying any real attention to the hostage. Perhaps they were confident that she couldn’t escape or incompetent in general, but now was the perfect time to act.

Carefully, I climbed down onto the warehouse floor, making an effort to not make a sound, and carefully moved toward the girl. After a few seconds, her eyes widen as she made out my figure in the shadows, but she was smart enough to look away as one of the thugs, the hooded guy, Daniel, turned to her.

Time seemed to go by slowly as the thug checked her bindings. A small, irrational part of myself feared that they would hear my rapid heart beat as they drew close to me, but, eventually, the thug walked away.

I allowed a few more seconds to past before crawling up to her. Quickly and quietly, I undid her bindings, making sure to not make a sound as I worked. As she reached up to pulled away her gag, I grabbed her hand and whispered as quietly as possible, “Leave it on until you’re out of here. I need you to be as quiet as possible.”

I looked into her eyes to make sure she understood before removing the last of the bindings. Gently, I pushed her toward the side entrance, placing the crates between us and the thugs.

Perhaps some six-sense warned him or maybe we made a noise, but, suddenly, the big man turned around, shouting as he pulled out his pistol. Unconsciously, I pushed the girl aside as a burning sensation burrowed its way into my side.

I gasped as the pain wracked my body, but I ignored it and shoved the girl towards the door.

“Run! I’ll be right behind you.”, I lied.

She looked like she was about to stay and help, but, after looking into my eyes, she simply nodded and quickly ran through the door. Meanwhile, I crawled behind one of the nearby crates as the sound of the thugs’ footsteps came closer.

“Shit! She got away.”

“We need to get out of here! If they-“

“We can’t. They’ll be looking that way now that the hostage escaped.”

“Then what do we do?”

“We find the person who freed her. They’re still in here. I can feel it…”

As they talked, I had moved myself into one of the crates. I didn’t have a lot of time before they found me. Carefully, I took out my phone and shined the light on my wound. I stared at the wound as fresh waves of pain went through my body. This was the first time I’ve ever been shot and seeing wound made me feel sick. The bullet had gone clearly through my side and I knew I was losing blood fast.

I considered making a break through and try to escape, but an inner voice told me that I needed to take care of these guys first. They were criminals and they were willing to kill an innocent person for their own selfishness. They deserved to die.

Silently, I put on my mask as adrenaline started to kick in. I crawled out of my hiding spot a carefully walked around the crates. The thugs were spread out, peeking around cars and into crates. Without making a sound, I moved toward the big thug. As I got closer, the man turned around to face me, but it was too late. I quickly delivered a jab into his gut, causing him to bend over, before bring my elbow down on the back of his head, knocking him out cold.

The man’s groans quickly caught the other thugs’ attention as they ran over, but I already moved behind one of the cars.

Zack quickly looked around, clearly terrified as he shouted, “Where are you!?”

I stayed silent, which caused them to become more unsettled as they looked around. Carefully, I made my way around and, before Zack could react, I tackled Daniel and dragged him behind another stack of crates; choking him as we crawled behind a stack of pallets.  

I could hear the few wild shots Zack had shot at me as I tackled his brother and, now, I could hear the terror in his voice as he searched through the crates. “Daniel! W-what did you do to him!”

As his brother’s struggles slowly came to a stop, I whispered, “Nothing… yet.”

Quickly, he turned to where he thought the voice was coming from, his gun raised. “Who the hell are you!?”

I crawled up behind him, a smile creeping into my voice as I simply said, “The Angel of Death.”

Before Zack could turn around, I flapped my wings and used them to propel me into Zack; elbowing him in the back of his head. His body crumpled onto the ground and I allowed myself a small sigh of relief as I observed my work.

“Now… onto business…”, I whispered as I started to sing.

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I stared at my reflection in the mirror and grimaced. My left side was bandaged heavily and my injuries was covered with enough gauze for several wounds. The landlord of the apartment complex wasn’t the type of person that took things in moderation, but at least he said I was going to be fine. Would’ve been a bit difficult to get admitted into a hospital and explain what happened. Not that my manager would’ve allowed me to go anyway. At least I was alive though. I suppose that’s all that matters. Sighing, I walked back out into the living room; the tv tuned to the news channel as they reported on last night’s incident.

“… the drug dealers were found dead on the site, but there were no signs of what caused their deaths. The hostage, Lisa Jones, told reporters that a male individual freed her and helped her escape the situation. When asked if she could identify the person in question, she said that he wore black clothing and a hoodie, but she was unable to make out his face. Whoever it may have been, we would like t-“

I turned off the tv with a sigh. I was afraid that she would’ve remembered my face. Fortunately, it seems my fears were unfounded. As I laid back on the couch to get some rest before meeting up with Horace, a knock suddenly came from the door. Great, I thought, and just when I was about to get some sleep.

Angrily, I stormed toward the door and swung it open.

“What is i- “I stopped, my eyes staring in disbelief as I found myself face to face with the same girl from last night. A wide grin broke out on her face when she saw me as she held out a CD of one of Tsuba’s latest hit songs.