Chapter 11: The Crumpled Ball

~•Amara•~

The light blue canvas spread way above my head, had its own uniqueness at this hour of the day. With shades of purple, pink and orange splattered over it, it looked no less than a famous art piece of a renowned artist. Especially how these three colors mingled together at certain places and formed their own shades after becoming one, was enough to tingle the heart of any soul.

I gazed into the distance where the sun was hanging just above the horizon, ever so ready to be dunked into the shimmering water below it, ready to mark the end of the day and let the night take its place. It was my favorite hour of the day. Not because of how beautiful the sky looked at this time, but because darkness was about to embrace the world, allowing my troubled soul to be at ease.

It was not only vampires who hated the sun, I didn't like it either though I was no vampire. But it was actually the light I hated more than the source which provided it. I was the product of darkness and evil itself, sent here for only Devil knows what reason. Why were the creators up above or down below were so biased? I was born here on Earth when I was supposed to run over the burning lava and the ash colored sand. But here I was on my own, with no clue about my identity.

"Caw-caw."

The family sound of my pet raven cawing, pulled me back to reality. I couldn't help but shake my hand at the bird's stupidity. I was sure that he wasn't allowed to make his presence known to me as instructed by the old man. But here he was, sitting right next to me.

"You are breaking his rules again. You do know that he's going to punish you for it." I stated as a matter of fact as I leaned back a little to relax my taut back, resting my hands on the ground. I saw him looking at me intently with his beady black eyes as he cawed once again.

"That's true though. He won't lay a finger on you based on how much I love you. You sure are one lucky bird." I smirked at him. I still couldn't understand how or why, I could understand his caws. Not exactly understanding, but I was able to comprehend their meanings. It might be his eyes as I had a habit of looking into them every time we exchanged words and caws.

I saw him nod slightly at my words as he scooted over to my lap. "Aren't you becoming more and more spoiled these days?" The words escaped my lips as I saw him getting comfortable in my lap, leaning against my belly. He looked up at me and tilted his beak towards my bag and cawed once again.

"Is there something in there?" I still asked him, even though his answer would be a yes, or a single nod as he liked to show it as. Shrugging my shoulders slightly, I dusted my hands and picked up a bag which was resting on the ground, next to me.

"Cawwww!"

I heard him once again as I undid the zipper on my bag. "What was it? Sorry, I couldn't catch you." As my focus was on the bag instead of him, I couldn't quite comprehend the meaning of long caw. As if understanding my words, or the frown embracing my forehead, he did as he was told to while I kept my eyes on him. "Oh, yeah! Had a really sh***y day. All thanks to a complete stranger. If it wasn't for the old man's restrictions, I swear I would have hit him with a spell or two. Maybe more."

I answered him as I looked through my bag with a frustrated expression hugging my face. I let my hand search the bag without even looking inside as I held it up with the other. Feeling something brushing against my fingers which definitely wasn't there before, I grabbed it, pulling it out. I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes after seeing the crumpled ball of black paper.

"Another message." I mumbled to myself. I have spent decade after decade getting these crumpled balls of papers in the same color to not realize who was the weirdo who kept sending them, even though I barely replied to them. They kept appearing every now and then, that too in weird places. I still remembered the time when one appeared on the shower rack while I was busy taking a hot shower. I had fought with him after the event, not bothering to talk to him for a couple of weeks. He had to cook my favorite meal himself without using any spells for me to forgive him.

"How's he doing by the way?" I asked the bird who was relaxing in my lap, only to get a caw in response. "Yeah, I do miss him too. But he needs to learn that he can't go around ordering me as he pleases." Answering his caw, I shifted back my attention to the ball. Unfolding the crumpled paper, I let my eyes roam over the cursive words which were dipped in gold.

'I am dying here to hear your voice, you brat.'

The corners of my lips turned up ever so slightly as I read the single line. Only he could make me genuinely smile even if it was for a fleeting second. I knew whatever he did or asked me to do, was for my own good. But sending me away from himself, was something I couldn't take. I was used to having him around. Not to sound cheesy, but he was like a father figure to me.

"I will give him a call when I feel like doing it. Just tell him that. Okay, Squeaky?" I asked him to see him nod his little head in response. "You should go before he realizes that you are with me. You do know that you are bonded to him." I scolded the bird for his carelessness as I didn't want him to get into trouble because of me.

I saw him readying himself for the flight before he took off, flapping his wings. Turning the paper back into the ball, I was about to put it back into my bag when my fisted hand brushed against something thick and rough. I pulled the two halves apart to check what it was as I only had a single notebook in there before. A frown marred my forehead when my eyes landed on a book with a relatively old leather cover and a red thick thread dangling from the edge.