I Am What You Made Me [A Monster]

Chapter One || The Devil's Bird

"One is for sorrow, and two is for joy;

Three for a girl and four for a boy;

Five for a wedding, six for a birth;

Seven for a curse buried in the earth;

Eight is for silver, and nine for gold;

Ten for a secret never told..."

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[July 13th, 1886]

The Magpie sat quietly on her perch, high above the room, dark eyes fixed on the back entrance.

Watching.

Waiting.

Patience had never come easily to her, always feeling wrong in some way, but usually she was able to reign in her restlessness long enough to complete a job. Tonight, however, it posed a particularly sharp thorn in her side.

They took the Owl. Her Owl.

She pressed her lips together and unconsciously flipped her knife around, just as she had been doing for the last three hours. Tossing it up and grabbing it by the tip of the blade before throwing it up again catching it by the hilt. Over and over again. Her mind wandered as she did, going to places she knew it probably shouldn't...but it wasn't like she had much else to do but think.

If she was being honest with herself, part of her wanted to leave the Owl for dead. Cut her losses and walk away. It wouldn't be the first time she had done so, and she doubted that it would be the last...it was the easier option...but, there was one nagging thought at the back of her mind that kept her there, watching and waiting.

Loyalty.

True loyalty had always been a rare gem to find, especially in the East End-where people who would stab you in the back for an extra pound were all too common-and, when found, it was hard to earn. Her's, especially so. She had known the Owl for almost five years now, and they had more than earned her loyalty...she wasn't simply going to abandon them the moment when that loyalty might actually mean something. If she did, then she was no better than those she hated. The thought brought a bitter taste to her tongue.

The sound of footsteps suddenly made its way to her ears, snapping her back to the present.

She caught the knife by the tip of the blade and froze, listening intently.

The sound came from the back entrance. Expected. She didn't think her guest would be entering from the front, either in an attempt to catch her off guard or out of fear of traps. Two pairs of footsteps, one lighter than the other. Unexpected. She thought he'd come alone or with a full armed guard, and she knew without a doubt that there were no guards in the surrounding area. She would've killed them if there were. Coming with only one guard seemed...odd, foolish, but she knew better than to underestimate her guest's intellect. Whoever he decided to bring along, she would have to keep an eye on them.