Chapter 21

Raven's Attempts at Poetry

I am more than a stereotype

More than a pair of fangs

Or an "allergy" to garlic

I reside in bookstores

Not the woods

When the wolves howl

And cry for salvation

Tempting

I want the end

A wooden stake

The only answer

That was exactly the sort of poetry I expected from Raven DelMarzo. These were the thoughts that almost killed Raven an hour earlier. I skipped a few pages ahead.

What I see

The wilderness

Red rocks

Burning, burning

Eating the soul

All red

Shed in a battle

I flipped to the last page of the journal. What was written there was in prose, as opposed to everything else in the journal.

I told Avery once that death is the only adventure. I'm not so sure about that anymore. I guess I had to try it to realize it; to realize life is an adventure too. I don't think I want my adventure to be over quite yet. Theodore died a hero, a martyr. I am neither. Death is inevitable and always will be. Someone will come around with that wooden stake at some point. I just don't want it to be right now. So I've filled up this journal. Maybe I'll get a new one and maybe I won't. But for now, I'll leave it right here.

Love,

Raven

I smiled just a little, though my tears were smearing Raven's words. I shut the journal and set it against the wall. Then, I took the Azurro and dashed upstairs. I knew the crystal I held would set some things right, but not everything. All will be well, I told myself. I thought of my three friends and their fates.

Spindler. The one who could find every grammar mistake in his uncle's speech, yet was blind to my love for him.

Raven. The one who learned that death wasn't the answer.

Theodore. The one who sacrificed his life to bring his friend home.

Wherever destiny would take us, they would always be in my mind. I thought of them as I climbed up the stairs back up to the restaurant. When I arrived at the top, Spindler and Raven were waiting for me.