Eleven years ago

“Raven! Run!” Lilly shouted at me as the terrifying creature approached us. It was much bigger than any of the men that I had met in the neighborhood, but its appearance was far more frightening than its size: its skin was dark purple, almost black, and reminded me of a dragon I had seen in a storybook once with its scales. Its eyes were a frightening red and the creature was hunched over, as if the weight of the large bat-like wings on its back and the spiraling pair of horns on its head were too much for it. It lumbered forward slowly, serpentine tail dragging behind it, while its gaze locked on me.

It had been a man when we had first noticed it walking up the beach behind the houses of my distant neighbors toward where Lilly and I had been playing on the shoreline. We usually stuck to my backyard, but I had thought that I had seen a harbor seal and wanted a closer look. Now we were well past the graying old fence that framed my backyard, and that man had become something else entirely. I stood frozen in fear, my world seemingly caught in slow motion as a smile curled upward on that hideous face to reveal the creature’s fangs.

At first, it didn’t say a word as it came closer. It was as if words were unnecessary, and its mere presence was enough to terrify. It was only a few steps away when it stopped to smell the air and its smile grew briefly before it spoke. Its voice was something like a growl and hiss combined as it said, “Yessss, you are the one.” Then it moved forward again, the black claws on its fingertips reaching for me.

“Raven!” Lilly shouted again, but I couldn’t seem to move. Suddenly my friend was between me and the creature, pulling something from the backpack she carried whenever she came over to play. It looked like a spray can, and she released the contents into the creature’s face, causing it to hiss and scream in pain. “You can’t have her!” she shouted, before taking my hand and half dragging me back along the beach toward my backyard. She didn’t stop until we were inside the house.

What happened after that was a bit of a blur. Lilly must have gone home because I couldn’t see her anywhere as my nanny, Lydia, held me close and promised me that everything would be alright. I wasn’t so sure about that though; I was confused by what had happened and scared so badly I was shaking. It felt as if just by seeing that thing my whole world was different, more terrifying.

Lydia just kept holding me close, promising that everything would be okay and that she would never let anything hurt me. After a time, she let me go to have a brief hushed conversation on the phone, made me some hot cocoa with tiny colored marshmallows in it, and then sat with me there in the kitchen until the doorbell rang. “I need to go and talk to some people, Sweetie. I won’t be long,” she told me with a concerned look as she stood up and left the kitchen.

Since there was no door separating the kitchen from the living room, I could hear Lydia opening the front door as I sat there tightly clutching my mug of cocoa. Her voice sounded surprised as I heard her say, “Chief Little, you didn’t need to come in person.”

“Nonsense,” a deep masculine voice said in response, “I need to get out of that office sometimes. Besides, Raven is Nick and Siv’s girl. After what they did for us, the least I could do is come in person to make sure that the area is secure.”

“Thank you,” I heard my nanny reply.

The man with the deep voice spoke again. “Of course, you know the MacArthurs and their teammates; Neera and Thom. How is Raven? We could move the two of you to a safe house if you think there’s a need.”

Lydia’s voice sounded worried as she answered the first question. “She’s scared and confused, but that’s to be expected. I assure you though, for Raven, there is no house safer than this. Siv saw to that.”

“She wouldn’t have left anything to chance,” the man agreed. “So, what happened? Was it one of Baerahn’s Demons?”

Someone made a shushing sound then. “Of course, it was one of Baerahn’s,” Lydia replied in a hushed voice, sounding disgusted. As she continued speaking to answer the other question though, I could hear her sigh, and her voice turned sad. “I wasn’t careful enough. I thought that these play dates with ‘Lilly’ would be good for Raven, but maybe I was just being selfish. I got caught up in the moment and we wandered too far, it was stupid. If that bastard had managed to actually touch her, the seal would have broken for sure. I promised Nick and Siv that I would keep her safe; and let her live a normal life until she was older.”

“You can still keep that promise,” Mr. Little said quietly. “Lila will go and talk to her while the others get to work.”

Another man’s voice asked, “Could you show us where it happened while Lila talks to her? We’d like to start hunting the Demon down quickly if it hasn’t already returned to the Infernal Plane to lick its wounds. We’ll want to make sure that none of the normies saw anything too.”

There were sounds of movement then, and I heard footsteps approaching, but I could only stare blankly into my cocoa until I heard a voice. It was soft, soothing, and musical as it said, ~Hello Raven, my name is Lila. Would you like to talk about what happened? I’m sure that you have some questions.~ I couldn’t help but look up at the sound of it and saw a beautiful woman with long bright pink hair who was wearing a blue sundress with white flowers on it.

I didn’t reply; I was still trying to shake off the mind-numbing fear from my encounter. At the moment that, and staring at the woman, seemed to be all that I was capable of doing. It didn’t stop her from speaking again though. ~You can trust me, Raven. Lydia wouldn’t let me talk to you if she didn’t trust me. Your parents were good friends of mine; my husband and I worked with them sometimes, and I was there when you were born. I have a daughter around your age too, her name is Alice.~

She made no move to come any closer than the kitchen entrance, keeping a cautious distance for the moment. Her words, that musical voice of hers, or possibly the combination of both managed to dull the overwhelming fear I had been feeling since I first saw the creature on the beach. Finally, I managed to ask uncertainly, “W-was it real?”

The woman nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving my face. ~Yes, it was. There are some terrible things out there, but there are many beautiful, wonderful things too. I’m sure that you’ll see them all someday. We help to protect people from bad creatures like the one you saw, and so did your parents. They were wonderful people, you should be very proud of them.~ She smiled sadly as she moved a bit closer to the table where I sat.

I stared at her as she spoke, only half paying attention to what she said now. There was something weird about her beyond the strange voice, bright hair, and purple eyes, but my traumatized seven-year-old mind was having trouble figuring it out. It was something about the way she spoke, not the musical sound, but something else. She was talking to me, but her lips weren’t moving, it was like her mouth wasn’t making the words. Once I figured that out, I came to the only conclusion that made any sense to me. She wasn’t a normal person; she was one of them, something like the creature from earlier. She was after me too.

The fear surged in me and I could feel the rapid thumping of my heart in my chest as I jumped out of my chair and ran for the back door. I was halfway there when I heard the most beautiful voice I had ever heard singing. There were no words, only a soft languid melody that ensnared my fast-beating heart. ~Relax, Raven,~ Lila MacArthur commanded in that strange voice of hers, and I fell to the floor as my body went limp.

She came over and scooped me up in her arms. As she picked me up I realized that the beautiful voice was coming from her, her mouth moving in time with the melody. ~I’m sorry, Raven,~ her voice spoke in my mind as her mouth kept singing that wordless melody, ~I didn’t want to have to use my true voice, but you left me no choice. You could have been in danger if you ran off before we’re certain that the Demon is gone.~

She carried me through the kitchen and living room and then up the stairs to my bedroom, where she placed me gently on my bed. ~I am sorry for this, little one,~ she told me as she continued to sing and brushed a stray lock of my black hair from my face. ~I had hoped that you would be able to handle learning the truth, but you are still too young and too full of fear to accept the world as it is. Lydia will keep you safe and if you ever need us, we will come running, but it is best for now that you don’t know about who and what you truly are. You will sleep now, and when you wake you won’t remember me, the Demon, or anything that happened since you went outside to play with Lilly.~

I didn’t believe that I could ever forget about anything that happened, but her voice seemed to insist otherwise as she sang to me and placed Sunny, my yellow stuffed rabbit, in my arms. ~You are already beginning to forget Raven. You are so very sleepy.~ My eyes did feel very heavy and as they began to close, I wondered who the woman sitting on my bed was, it was such a beautiful lullaby she was singing. As sleep reached out to claim me, I thought I heard a voice whisper, ~Have happy dreams, Raven, perhaps you’ll dream of Valkyries or Mermaids.~