"Are you sure there weren't any bats upstairs?" Cecil started getting worried.1029Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Ya7rtXxPU
"Yes, I'm sure. The window is broken, though, so birds might get in," Joseph answered nonchalantly.1029Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡew4b3G0xPV
"It can't be just birds; I'm sure that something heavy has to be up there," Cody commented, twice as worried as Cecil.1029Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡde1q0YgGUP
"Oh, man... Look, monsters aren't real, okay? Just try to forget that movie we watched yesterday," Cecil said, trying to comfort my scared brother.1029Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpvBVgqxxk
"What about you, Sarah, what do you think?" Joseph asked, curious as to what I, the youngest, would say.1029Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUymUz2x0Ni
"I'd say it's something that we can't see. I mean, there's plenty of light rays that humans don't see. Take UV rays for example; bees and birds can see that, but we can't."1029Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylA4sbixpr
"Birds and the bees, eh?" Joseph and Cecil laughed.
"Not that... God." I sighed in disappointment that I had brothers that joked like such.
After some silence as everyone finished their breakfast, I started, "Of course, it could also be something that we are able to see, but we refuse to believe it."
"What do you mean by that?" Joseph and Cecil smirked at each other because they spoke in unison (like they always do; it must be a twin thing).
"I mean, it could be something like... well, take some Swedish folklore for example; there were things that people refused to see, but those things ended up giving them the Bubonic Plague. They refused to see a giant raven with holes in its wings appear at night. Just look up 'Night Raven' or 'Nattravnen'."
"Oh, you and your hobbies," Cecil commented, sounding quite sarcastic for some reason.
After that, everyone decided to do their own things. Cecil and Joseph started watching TV, Cody went to his room upstairs, and I started playing a game on my phone. I got a new personal record with candy-crushing, and I decided to quit after only a few minutes. The faint banging could still be heard in the attic and my two eldest brothers were still watching TV, making some jokes now and again.
It was when the commercials started that we heard Cody yell. I yelled up to see if he was okay, and he yelled back for us to get up the stairs. Cecil and Joseph got up from their seats and ran upstairs while I started to ascend at a walking pace on the stairs. Once I was up, I saw what was wrong... Cody was coughing up blood, and a good amount, too.
"My God, Cody," Cecil started, "Are you okay?"
"Does it look like I'm freakin' okay?!" Cody replied, "I'm coughing up blood, dang it!"
"Does it hurt?"
"Kind of."
"How did this happen?" I questioned.
"I don't know. I was just playing on my computer when I coughed." His breath was a bit wheezy.
"Sarah, get me a phone," Joseph commanded.
"Are you going to call mom about this?" I asked, handing him my phone.
"No, I have to call Doctor Woodruff first. Cecil, why don't you call mom?"
"Okay," Cecil responded, "Oh, geez, I hope you'll be okay, Cody." Cody started coughing up more blood uncontrollably as an answer.
"It might be asthma," I stated, "It runs in the family, after all."
"Sure, but I haven't had an asthma attack involving blood before," Joseph commented.
The doctor arrived, and he confirmed my statement; Cody had a horrible asthma attack. Doctor Woodruff said that he'll need to keep an asthma inhaler on his person from now on, because he has one of the worst cases of asthma or something. Cecil said that our mother had been notified and told that it was a bad case of asthma; she started driving back to the house. Eventually, Doctor Woodruff left and Joseph and I tried to explain how asthma would affect Cody's life from now on.
The thing is, I felt twice as worried as Cody was when we talked about the attic that morning, because the banging stopped and Cody was still wheezing a little. Of course, at the time I thought it was just paranoia.
Well, days went by and we didn't hear anything in the attic, although Joseph did find feathers in there. We concluded it was birds after all, and Mom questioned us further about the attic. She also questioned about Cody; he had been fine for the past few days after the incident, but Mother was still worried about him.
Another week passed, and Cody started coughing again. This time, we couldn't stop it.
"I think we need to call an ambulance!" my mother had exclaimed.
"No," Cody coughed, "No need to over-" He coughed blood into his shirt. "Overreact."
"Overreact?!" Cecil yelled, "She and I have right to overreact! You're coughing blood up and on your shirt!"
"Enough yelling," Joseph commanded, trying to calm everyone, "I'll take him to Doctor Woodruff." He paused. "And somebody take care of those birds in the attic; they're back."
"I'll take care of that," I volunteered.
"I will, too," Cecil said, "I don't have anything else useful to do."
"Okay," Joseph started, "Cody, come on."
"I'm going with you two," Mom declared.
"Okay." With that, the three left, leaving me and Cecil with the attic.
We got some brooms to fend off any birds and got under the trapdoor. "I've always thought attics were creepy," Cecil had stated.
"Me, too," I replied. We opened the trapdoor and sprung out the ladder-stairs thing. Cecil did the 'ladies first' on me, so I went up with him following behind me. The attic was relatively empty except for some tubs full of old clothing and some boxes we used when we first moved in. Oh, and the bird.
It was a blackish-purple, completely beautiful. It had smooth feathers that looked more like groomed fur. It was facing the tubs with clothing. It didn't make a sound, but it gracefully twirled around. Then, it cawed.
It lifted it wings and flew toward us. Cecil fell to the ground for some reason, and I tried to fend off the bird with my broom. It went back to its spot by the tubs and I crouched down to Cecil. He looked like he was out of breath and he had just had a heart attack.
"Are you okay, Cecil?" I asked him.
"Oh," he groaned, "I feel like I just got hit by a train."
"Cecil, what happened?"
"I don't know, I think that that bird overwhelmed me or something." He tried to stand, only to collapse to the floor.
"It's going to be okay. I'm going to get you out of here." I looked to where the bird had flown to, only to see that a single feather was left in that spot.
"I hope you can... carry me, Sarah, because... I can't stand. Not even with your support." He spoke in between pants.
"Really, you're that worn out?"
"I can barely... talk."
"Okay, Cecil, I just hope you're not too heavy." I got him in my arms and started down the ladder-stairs. On the way down, I caught a glimpse of an old newspaper in the corner of the attic; it had a bird on it with holes in its wings... it looked familiar. Well, I set Cecil down on the floor and pushed back the ladder and trapdoor.
"You're a bit heavy, Cecil," I stated.
"And you're a bit strong, Sarah," he complimented, looking up at me.
"Oh, thanks. Ah, and uh... hey, I saw something up there in the corner."
"I saw it, too. A newspaper, right?"
"Yeah, I remember that mom put it there when we first moved in."
"Of course you remember that all that time ago, Sarah. Hm, you're a bright kid."
"Um, thanks. Anyways, I think I saw..." I paused to think. What was it? I thought, Hm... the Night Raven, right! "I think I saw the Night Raven on that newspaper."
"You mean that myth thing you talked about this morning?"
"Yeah."
"Huh, well, I guess you were right about that being in the attic." He sounded sarcastic.
"What do you mean by that?"
"It's in the attic, on paper."
"Oh, I see. I never said that it was in the attic, though, I just talked about it after talking about the attic."
"Hm. Right. Well, I feel a little better. Help me up."
"Okay." I grabbed his hand and pulled him up.
"Just got to say, I think you're too old for Hello Kitty."
"What? What are you talking abou-" I instantly slapped him once I figured out what he was speaking of.
"Heh, sorry 'bout that."
"Sure." We went downstairs and Cecil grabbed a glass of water. "You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I feel better. I still don't get why I fell, though." I started to think, then began asking questions.
"Did you see anything strange about the bird's wings?"
"No... well, I feel like something was off, but I don't know."
"Well, I remember holes in the wings. Do you?"
"Yes! That's it! Wait... that's... that's the raven thing you talked about, right?"
"Yeah..." We stared at each other in disbelief. Then, we heard the phone ring.
"I'll get that," Cecil quickly said. He went to the phone and picked it up. after a few seconds, he exclaimed, "Sarah, it's horrible! Cody's dead!"
"How?" I asked.
"He died of blood loss... he started getting a bloody nose and... they said it was caused by a disease."
"A disease?" I started to ponder. A disease... the Night Raven is patron of disease...
"This is horrible!"
"Yes, but it might be worse... I think that the raven upstairs had something to do with this. The Night Raven is the patron of disease, you see..."
"Wait! Joseph started coughing up blood, Sarah. They think it's the same kind of case."
"What?" Just as I said that, Cecil coughed into his hand. Blood dripped from his palm.
"Sarah... if anyone comes across the Night Raven, what happens?"
"Well," I slowly started, realizing everything, "Men get sick and die quickly, but women aren't affected. Sometimes, there are even side effects."
"Side effects?" He coughed again, keeping his head low.
"Well, turning into your own shadow, becoming a myling, rising from your grave... and other curses."
"I... I thi-" He stopped talking and lifted his head. "Mmh mh!"1029Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiprONtWaRn
"You're... mouth is staying... closed?" I trembled.1029Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVR6OXGM75A
"Mmh!"
"Cecil!"
________________
That was the last moment I had with my step-brother until he turned. The moment he did, he attacked me... and I killed him with my broom. Mother never came back, and there was a news story about the hospital nearby. Everybody there got sick and died... some bodies were never found. Actually, only female bodies were found.1029Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6REC4Yefu
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