and that is how we ended up in the living room of our small two story cottage, me and my brother Mark, on the small sofa and my grandfather John on the armchair next to us.
"what do we do now?" Mark asked, "we can't keep the damn thing" John replied, "well why not?" i asked, "you know exactly why, Madeline" John said, "and you know why i don't want to 'get rid of it' as you so eloquently said" i replied, "its a demon! if the Mayor finds out its here we'll be hanged!" John yelled, "he will find out if you don't stop yelling" i replied icily, "and if he does find out? what then??" John asked, to that i didn't have an answer.
this argument continued well into the night, only ending after i finally convinced my grandfather to let me keep the crow. after that we went to bed exhausted from hours of yelling, glaring, and various other things. that night i dreamt of fire, screaming, and smoke, only when i woke up i heard the roaring of a blaze and choked on the ashy smell of smoke, with cries of pain ringing out.
i immediately bolted upright and out of bed still in the cloths from the day before, i noticed hazily. the fog of sleep quickly rising from my mind, i ran down stairs screaming "GRANDPA! MARK!" the only reply i got was the roaring of the fire that was engulfing my home. I struggled to breath, my body getting weaker and weaker from lack of oxygen, i tried to escape hoping that my grandfather and Mark survived, i tripped over a smoldering piece of wood on the ground, smashing my head on the floor. i crawled as fast as i could desperate to survived, eventually i burst from the blaze hacking and coughing, before collapse on the ground gasping for air.
when i finally caught my breath with my lungs still aching, i slowly got up, half way through i heard something that made my blood run cold.
"over here, girl"