Wings Of a Raven

Part 2.5

"Do you want me to help you, or are you gonna come down here on your own?" asked the man coming out of the police car, looking at Michael climbing the high fence of the cemetery.

"Shit," the boy mumbled, "I was already getting down anyway." He slid down one of the metal fence posts, picked up his backpack and handed it to the man. "I didn't steal anything this time."

"This time?" The officer smiled as he looked into the backpack. He only glanced inside and handed it back to Stern.

"That time I really only took this little candlestick, and that house was abandoned anyway" He started to explain but the guy just smiled and held up his hand to make him stop talking.

"I'm not here for you Michael, no one reported your disappearance this time. Your grandfather and Coleman probably think you're at the party at Johnny's bar, everyone thinks so because it's YOUR birthday party after all. Why are you here and not there?"

"And why are you here, Mr. Parkin?" Michael opened the back door of the police car and threw his backpack inside.

"The neighbors called that Bucky's horses were going crazy, something might have scared them, probably foxes or wolves again. As long as Bucky is gone, I gotta watch over his place." He turned toward the boy and leaned against the open door "So, the mansion, the party, or the police station and Colman will pick you up? To be honest, I'm not in the mood to talk to your grandfather." He winked at Michael and they both started laughing.

"To be honest, sometimes I'd rather not see him either. But I''m even more hesitant to go to this party, so we can wait at the police station."

The sheriff nodded, and Michael immediately tried to get packed into the back seat of the car, but before he got in the vehicle out of the corner of his eye he noticed a figure emerging from the shadows. The sheriff turned his attention to the shadow even before the boy did and instinctively placed his hand on the gun attached to his belt.

"Relax Sheriff, I know it's been a long time since we last met, but have I changed that much?" said in a low voice a tall man emerging from the mist like a ghost. He seemed to pay no attention to the haze surrounding them.

The sheriff, hearing the stranger's voice, squinted his eyes slightly, trying to get a little more of a look then took a breath and removed his hand from his holster. "I didn't know you were in town, besides, didn't you pay attention to how dark it is here?" he smiled at the man. Michael, already standing with one foot in the car, kept on trying to recognize the stranger, who was coming closer and closer.

"I would expect from you that you might have already gotten used to such darkness, having spent your whole life in such a hole. It's always puzzled me why you never got out of here Jack, aspiring to be the best law enforcement officer in the entire state, and you cling to this place all the time." The man stepped out of the darkness completely by stepping under the lantern. No wonder even someone as perceptive as Parkin couldn't fully spot him in the fog, he looked as if he didn't want to be spotted dressed in a long black coat with a raised collar and a hat covering almost his entire face.

"Roger!" shouted Michael almost falling over trying to get his foot out of the car in a hurry. He approached the man at a fast pace and threw himself at him, wrapping his arms around his waist. The man didn't expect the boy to jump, he only managed to let out a gasp of air after the impact. Michael let go of him, jumped back two steps and began to talk vigorously about all sorts of things while waving his arms. The sheriff and the man looked only at each other and started laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" stopped the boy looking at the two adults, he squirmed and crossed his arms on his chest.

"Of nothing, but maybe you could wait a second before you start throwing stories at unsuspecting people."