Episode Six

Blackbirds Under the Moonlight

After Daisy had agreed to the boarding school, her parents had become incredibly excited. Her dad called the Dean immediately finalizing Daisy's admission, just like that.

Through all these, Daisy sat normally in her chair thinking about how drastically her life was about to change.

“Don't worry, honey, you will really like the place,” Satrina tried to assure her once she saw Daisy's face.

“We can leave tomorrow,” Jack called out after finishing his talk with the dean, “I spoke to John and he said Daisy can start classes from Monday itself. So leaving tomorrow will give her the weekend to settle in.”

“Oh, that's great!” Satrina exclaimed.

The forced enthusiasm both her parents were showing made Daisy extremely uncomfortable. It was all happening too fast. But she had already agreed and she couldn't back down now.

“I'll go start packing then,” Daisy said she got up from the chair.

“Yeah, that's a great idea,” Satrina agreed, patting Daisy shoulders when she passed by her.

Daisy shut her bedroom door with a long sigh.

“It's actually happening,” She thought. She was leaving her high school in the middle of term to enroll in a random boarding school instead. She looked around her room realizing she will be moving out soon, her eyes landed on her walls covered with posters of Grim Reapers and cutouts of articles mentioning anything related to it.

“It’s all because of Death!” She exclaimed angrily. The rage inside her suddenly increased. She grabbed the posters one by one and started ripping them out. Her breathing started to become heavier, she tried to hold back the tears, but by then, see it reached the oldest poster in her room that her mother had gotten her 10 years ago as a gift.

It was a small, colorful poster with a cartoon like Grim Reaper doing a somersault on top of his head with the words ‘Don't let your dreams die’. The poster was enough to make Daisy burst out in tears. She slumped down on her bed surrounded by ripped posters and memories.

After the breakdown, Daisy tried to pull herself together. She played loud, heavy metal music and started to clean her room not giving herself any more opportunity to think. She cleared out all her posters and grabbed everything related to her obsession, and put it in a large box, which she then took to the attic.

As she was stepping down from the attic, her phone pinged with a message. She received a text message from Jaden.

Hey, you want to hang out? The text read.

Daisy was not in the mood to talk or hang out with anyone, but knowing that she was leaving tomorrow, she thought it would be best to let Jade know about the sudden plan.

Sure, we'll meet at the park at five, she wrote back.

She looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced. Her face was sweaty and a little puffy from crying. She went to the bathroom and washed her face and combed out her hair, but her thick hair was deeply tangled, so she pulled it in a low ponytail and left it at that. After getting ready, she made her way downstairs.

“I'm going to meet up with Jaden, she informed her mother.

Without waiting for a reply, Daisy walked out of the house. There was a little chilly so she was glad that she had brought a denim jacket with her. When she reached the park where she and Jaden usually played basketball, she found him waiting for her already. quickening her pace, she walked closer to him.

“What's up?” She asked.

At her voice, Jaden looked up, a smile dimpling his cheeks.

“Nothing. I didn't see what school yesterday, so I wanted to check if you were okay.”

“Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Actually, I have to tell you something,” Daisy said a little nervous about how to tell the truth.

“What is it?” Jaden asked with a frown on.

“Am changing,” Daisy stated.

“What? Why would you go to Clover? Its shit?”

“No,” Daisy corrected, “I'm shifting to a boarding school. Two hours away from here.”

Hearing her words Jaden's mouth dropped open in shock. He started to spew one question after another, “Why? And when are you leaving? What about track practice?”

Daisy bit her lip she tried to hold back her emotions.

“It's not a big deal. I mean, I think a fresh start will be good. And it's not like I have anything great going on here.”

“Are you serious? You're just going to leave like this? We planned so much about prom and graduation. What now?”

“ Sorry, Jaden. I have to go. Talk to you later,” Daisy said and turned away to leave. But at that moment, Jaden grabbed her sleeves and turned her around.

“Wait,” he said, “You said you don't have anything good keeping you here, that's not true.”

“What do you mean?” Daisy asked confused.

“I mean…” Jaden fumbled as if he was nervous. However, a second later, he pulled himself together and took a deep breath before tugging Daisy towards himself, making her lose her balance. She tripped and fell on his chest. Jaden wrapped one of his arms around her waist, steadying her. Daisy frowned as she looked up to meet Jaden's eyes, but before she could ask him what had gotten into him, his lips connected with hers.

Daisy gasped as she felt his lips softly touch hers. Her arms were stuck between their bodies restricting her from doing anything other than stand still, shocked.

Becoming more confident, Jaden pushed his lips firmer onto hers. The shock had passed. Daisy could feel Jaden’s arms on her waist, she closed her eyes and opened her mouth to his, but before she could fall deeper into the kiss, he pulled away. He looked at Daisy and whispered,

“Damn, I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.”

The distance was enough to snap Daisy out of a spell. He frowned as he saw her angry expression.

“You didn’t kiss me just because you want me to stay here Jaden?” Daisy said.

“No, it’s not like that. I do like you Daisy,” Jaden explained.

Daisy picked up her crutch that had fallen over.

“It’s not in my hands anyway. I have to go to boarding school,” she said before turning away.

As Jaden started following Daisy, she turned and said,

“Look, I can't deal with this right now I have to go, or else my parents will flip out if I stay too long.”

“You’re hiding something from me, did anything serious happen?” he inquired.

“It is not your fucking business, okay? Don’t follow me,” Daisy said before walking away.

That night, when Daisy was asleep, a knock came on her window, becoming increasingly louder when she didn’t wake up. Finally, the aggressive knocking woke her up. She sat up sleep glazing her brain. But the noise continued. Confused, Daisy got out of her bed, goosebumps forming on her skin as her bare feet touched the floor.

She approached the window and cleared the condensation from it before peering outside. She looked at the lower dark street to find it empty. Frowning, Daisy turned to go back to her bed but the sound began again. She turned around and walked to the window again. She felt as if the room had become colder. She could see her breath clearly in the dim light.

Daisy opened the window hesitantly, but when nothing happened. She pushed them ajar. She stood there gazing out. It seemed like it was beginning to dawn, the sky glowing lightly. She stood still in the silence of the room trying to catch a glimpse of what had been making the noise.

“Caw”

Suddenly, a raven made towards her at a great speed. It bumped into the half open window, it’s beak breaking with pressure. As the raven bumped into her room thrashing on the floor, it seemed like one of its wings was injured, as if it had been stoned.

Daisy’s heart began to beat when she realized it was the raven from the cemetery.

“You killed me,” the raven spoke in a grandly voice.

Daisy tried to speak but no word escaped her mouth. The bird turned its speedy eyes on her, staring at her accusingly. It’s eyes flashing red.

Daisy stepped back trying to move away from its twisted body but it seemed like the bird had understood what she was planning and it hopped towards Daisy, its bloody beak hanging awkwardly on one side.

She shuffled back trying to get back from Daisy but her shin hit her back and she tumbled onto it. Taking this advantage, the raven used its last bit of strength and it flew out. Its loud cries overwhelmed Daisy as she felt its sharp claws pierce her skin.

She tried to swerve the bird away but it stood firm, its sharp claws digging deep within her thighs. It hoped off leaving bloody holes all over her body, onto Daisy’s collarbone staring at her eyes with its red ones.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Daisy tried to apologize, genuine guilt and regret drowning her, but the bird had no intention of forgiving.

It dove directly for her face, its claws getting ready to dig her eyeballs. She shut her eyes closed and began to scream.

Daisy woke up with a cry, her whole body shaking with fear. She touched her face trying to feel for her eyes.

“They're still here,” she declared in disbelief.

She looked at herself trying to check her body for any cuts or bruises but found nothing. She got up and approached her window grudgingly. She sighed in relief when she saw her window was locked from inside.

“It was just a stupid dream,” Daisy assured herself.

She took a deep breath trying to calm her racing heart. She chuckled to herself and started walking towards the bathroom, but something caught her eye midway. She stopped and stooped low to see under her bed. Frowning, Daisy reached for the unfamiliar object. She pulled it out and raised it to see it more clearly. A loud gasp left her mouth and her hand went limp, dropping the object on the floor. The raven feather flew lightly in the wind before settling gently on the floor, sunlight glinting over its sharp edges.