Merle

Chapter 1

I remember waking up confused, like after you've had a surgery and can't how long you've been out.

It felt like being suffocated, open your eyes to see nothing but darkness. I tried to move but my legs only had a few inches between me and whatever I was in. It took a moment to sink in that I was laying in a coffin. Somehow with an ungodly strength, I managed to dig out of my own grave, literally. The lid popped off like a shaken can of soda.

I was scared shitless. I mean I didn't think waking up 7 feet under the earth was a good start to my day, but hell.... It couldn't be any worse.

I didn't remember anything as I stepped out of the coffin.

  My chest hurt, like an elephant sat my chest for years. It felt like I was taking my first breath. It was a whole new feeling.

  I dusted my self off, then looked at my arms. They were grey and lifeless looking.

    I turned towards the headstone,
       Peter Daniels 1995 - 2016
       A loving brother and son

It's been a year since died....

  I was only 21. I thought I'd be 75 with 3 children and a beautiful wife. We'd all live in the country in a giant house with a white picketed fence, far away from a shit hole of a city.

Doines, City of Criminals. Full of murder, suicide, and rape.

    Cawww!

I turn around to see a raven perched on top of my grave, tilting its head at me.

My voice was hoarse, so dry I think the desert might be jealous.
I tried to scare it away but it seemed not bothered by me. Instead it looked like it was trying to show me something.

   It pointed it's beak towards an old building in the distance.

"W...what?" I weakly said.

  It flew off as I began to follow.

Why was I following a fucking crow? I don't know.... But I did it anyways.

   It lead me to an old house on a familiar street. Or so it seemed.

29173 Brook Lane.

The house was falling apart, destroyed by weather and age. The shingles were gone, windows broken and smashed. The roof was caving in and it looked like nobody had lived there for a long time.

It stopped at the front door and looked over at me.

"You want me to go in?"

It flew inside by a broken window on the side of the house.

  I opened the door and stepped in. The floor boards were worn and creaked under my feet.

I followed the sound of the crow as I navigated the house. I passed a bedroom that looked like a little girl's room. The walls were a faint pink, the remains of a bed and a few toys scattered the room.

And then it hit me. This was my house. I lived here. Or at least I used to.