The Raven

They returned to her gran’s house a couple of hours later and, despite the man leaving after a drink, Layla could still feel his eyes on her. It was bugging her, not being able to figure out what she found familiar and she’d been quiet.

“What are you thinking about?” Damon asked as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

“Did you see the guy watching us at the Grill?” Layla asked.

“Which guy?”

“He was stood at the bar, had a black leather jacket on and dark sunglasses.”

“I didn’t notice, what about him though?”

“I don’t know,” Layla mumbled with a shrug, “I thought it was creepy that he was staring, but... there was something else about him that was familiar to me.”

“Perhaps you’ve seen him around town before,” Damon suggested, studying Layla for a few moments and continuing, “Listen, we’ll keep our eyes open, okay?”

With a nod, Layla returned her attention to her orders and tried to push the unease from her mind. Damon left just after lunch and Layla got ready, heading over to Sheila’s house. It was dark by the time she left and headed home, her magic humming just beneath her skin. All the lights were off in the house when she arrived, which was odd and she cautiously let herself in.

“Gran?” Layla called as she checked the rooms downstairs, finding them empty, and slowly climbed the stairs, “Gran, are you up here?”

She soon reached her gran’s bedroom and with a trembling hand, she pushed the door open. Through the darkness, she could make out a dark shadow, but then the electricity came back on and she screamed at the sight in front of her.

Sat on the porch steps a while later, Layla hugged her knees to her chest and looked up as sheriff Forbes spoke.

“Do you have somewhere that you can stay for a few nights?”

“She’s staying with me,” came Elena’s voice as she got out of Bonnie’s car, but it was the officers by the door that held Layla’s attention and she listened as they spoke.

“If I had to guess I would say that her eyes were pecked out by birds,” one of the officers stated, causing nausea to wash through her and sending her to the bush to throw up the little food she had eaten.

“Can we take her home?” she heard Elena ask, followed by a mumbled reply and nod from the sheriff, “Lay, come on, let’s get you out of here.”

The drive to Elena’s house was a blur, but she soon found herself sitting on the sofa with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a mug of hot chocolate in her hands. She could hear muffled voices from somewhere behind her, but she couldn’t make out the words they were saying and simply stared at the program playing on the television.

“Do we know what happened yet?” came Damon’s voice from somewhere much closer.

“Birds apparently,” Layla answered without taking her gaze away from the television screen, “Ravens, probably... it’s a warning.”