Rian

Part 21

Shrill calls echoing down sterile halls shook a sleeping Will until his gathering nightmares were dispersed into calming dreams. The shift in tide and withdraw of screams for coos and tears for first smiles soothed Will for the first time. The agitation in Will's hands and demand for them to always be doing something began to fade. His mind, as well, no longer crawled between exhaustion and the crazed obligation to keep thinking. Sore from the tips of his toes to the collapse in skin where his temples formed met him when he opened his eyes. Blurred vision kept Will sunk to his bed a bit longer, but when he did blink it was to the sight of a wall made entirely of glass and on the other side the cacophony of birds. Strong arms worn with whatever unknown madness gripped Will for who knows how long reached to balance himself as he scooted from bed to hard floor, and finally to the window.

It was a courtyard, one with grass and trees, and on the other side a floor just like Will's with a massive window. Birds, big and small, mostly black with defined beaks and intelligent eyes flew from tree to tree, their jagged feathers commanding the air they voyaged with. A shallow area at the center of the courtyard held a bath of water where dozens of birds rolled and buried themselves in water. Many congregated on perches and from atop statues, their calls and mimicry a cause for trance and reflection.

  "Ravens." A calm voice spoke from behind Will. At some point Satomi entered his room and now watched the same sight as he did.

"And magpies and crows." She said each word precisely and slow wanting Will to understand. Satomi walked to where Will sat and found a spot next to him.

"The nurses told me that when Rian was in her human form she fell in love with a man. When she died it left the man all alone and wanting to remind the man she was never truly gone her heart turned to dust and from each grain a raven was born. The raven did not exist until Rian died, they are a part of her, a reminder that her heart is swift and flighted, cunning and brave, loyal and forgiving."

"They look just like the ones on Earth." Will commented finding it hard to shape words with a numb mouth.

"They are the ones from Earth. Watch them Will, sometimes they disappear." Satomi pointed to one raven flying fast through the air its wings beginning to tuck and then...

"It disappeared!" Will pressed his face to the glass thinking the whole thing was a joke.

"Where'd it go?" He exclaimed.

"The nurses said the raven, crows, and magpies are the only animals capable of independent time travel." Satomi and Will watched in silence as another bird disappeared, one moment preening and the next moment gone.

"How are you doing Will?" Satomi directed her gaze to Will silently searching for any sign of the dismay that had been there.

    "It's all so much." He mumbled.

 "I never thought I'd see so much." He trailed off regaining his thoughts and more importantly the questions he had for Agnes.

"I have so many questions for Agnes." Satomi cocked her head questioning his dark tone. What's the point of lying to her? Will asked himself.

"Do you know your family? The woman who gave birth to you?" Will asked, it was an intrusive question, but one Will found suitable for two people who'd been subject to the foster system. "No. I never knew my mother or father. They are more a mystery to me than Rian."

"I'm adopted, but I don't know my biological parents either. Sometimes I have dreams. There's a woman holding my hand and we're running."

"I never gave the dream much thought until Agnes gave me a reason to." "She was your teacher?" Satomi had pieced together Will and Agnes' relationship based on their conversations.

"She was. She left before I graduated." Will remembered reading the letter Agnes left for him and almost never going to Baltimore. In some ways he wished he had never gone.

"I think my parents might have been alien refugees."