Crows on the Cross

Prologue & Chapter 1

Prologue

The photograph was found slipped into the pages of a journal. It had been put away in a drawer, its edges charred, perhaps in Virginia, or possibly it was in Florida. The same night sky looks down on both.

In the photo, a man and woman are leaning up against a car. At first he seems impossibly tall, but when the perspective of the picture is looked at closely, he’s only average in height. The illusion is because the woman is very small, nestled in under the arm he’s extended protectively around her. He has dark brown, almost black hair, with restless bangs; his eyes seem dark too, though that might just be a trick of the photo’s light. He’s not a kid, but hasn’t lost the roughness, the outlaw edge, that most people think of in connection with rebellious youth.

She has short hair, styled in the latest fashion for the times, highlights and lowlights reflecting under the bright sun, including one dramatic blonde streak that runs the course of her bangs down over her right eye. When looked upon very closely, her eyes, though one is almost hidden, are very blue, very keen. She has a smile that is part joyful, part fierce. Not a young girl, despite her size. She is turned slightly, with one arm held out toward him, hand resting on his waist.

Chapter 1

ROAD’S END

Rainey’s head was bleeding badly. Drew knew it was only a matter of moments until the gas he smelled would explode. He had to get her out even if it meant hurting her more. He dragged her away from the once perfect 1969 Caddy, which was now wrapped around a tall pine tree that stood in front of an antiquated church.

Drew got Rainey inside the perimeter of the cornfield which bordered the church. The tall ears of corn stood erect, ripe and ready to pick. Why he noticed such a thing now he hadn’t a clue, unless it was just an awareness of their fullness and life–it gave him an instant’s illusion that perhaps it was the rest of this terrible scene that wasn’t real. But that instant faded when he heard the explosion. He looked back, and watched the fire engulf the car, the pine tree and the church in one bite.

Rainey was unconscious; Drew was beside himself with fear that he had lost her. He quickly checked for a pulse, while holding the side of his cheek next to her nose and mouth, trying to feel her breath.

She was still breathing. But the air moved in and out of her in rasping gasps–she was having a hard time of it.

“Oh Jesus, what have we done? Rainey, baby, please wake up.” Tears streamed down Drew’s face as he held her there in his arms, praying to a God he knew wouldn’t hear his pleas. Why would He? Drew had turned his back on the church a long time ago. If Rainey was praying behind closed eyes he knew she too prayed in vain. God had never played a role in their lives and he didn’t see any reason why He would step onto the stage so late.

Why have you forsaken us, you son of a bitch? Why does your wrath never cease? Why Rainey–why? The fire was spreading quickly toward the cornfield. Drew knew he had to move Rainey again–further into the field away from the flames. He heard her moaning in pain as he carried her. He was barely able to move himself, but he somehow managed to get them to the edge of the woods. As he laid her down he heard her say, “No, not near the pines, Preacher Man lives there.”

She opened her eyes for a brief moment. “My precious,” she raised a crooked arm that Drew, to his horror, saw was broken. “I love you so,” she whispered. “Kiss me goodbye baby, kiss me before I leave.” She whimpered because sobbing would have hurt too much, “I don’t want to go, Drew, I don’t want to go home.”

Drew tried to wipe away the tears from his face. He reached down and kissed her bloodied lips, “I love you too. It’s gonna be okay, though. I promise you.” He needed to find some way to ease her breathing. He undid the snap of her tight jeans, and as he did so he saw that patches of her pants were smoldering. A few more seconds in the car and her clothes would have been on fire. Even now he thought the blackened edges of holes in the denim must be burning her. He did his best to ease the jeans off her, and tossed them aside.

Rainey’s eyelids fluttered like those of a child fighting sleep. Drew held her in his arms, rocking her as though she were a baby. “Don’t you leave me Rainey, I’m nothing without you.”

Rainey moaned out in pain, then said something Drew couldn’t understand.

“What, honey?” he said. “I don’t understand you.”

“The Fiend is at my side without a rest,” she strained to say.

“Shhh baby, don’t . . .”

“He swirls around me like a subtle breeze,” her words were choked, but she continued on, and this time Drew didn’t interrupt her.

“I swallow him and burning fills my breast,” blood ran down the side of her cheek from her mouth; she swallowed hard, “and calls me to desire’s shameful needs.”

Drew heard sirens in the distance, growing closer.

“Rainey, hang on, hang on love, help is coming. I have to leave you just long enough to get them back here to help you.”

Rainey stared into Drew’s eyes. She didn’t blink, she just smiled.

“I love you Drew, take care of Baby, please. Let him take care of you.”

Drew lay her down on a bed of pine needles. The scent filled her with a growing fear she wished would go away.

” . . .” she began to sing, “redemption and loss . . .”

“No baby, no.” Drew begged her not to continue, even though he understood, understood all too well. He had taught her the song himself, though he regretted it now. He had never told her its true meaning to him, but she had given it meanings of her own.

She looked deep into Drew’s eyes. She could barely speak for the blood that was rising up into her mouth. Drew caught a trickle with the edging of his shirt as she tried to tell him why she was singing, “Preacher Man, Bobby, the pine needles, maybe the song will take away the pain, take away everything.”

Drew looked at her, knowing if help didn’t come soon Rainey wouldn’t live to see the death of the demon that haunted her. He looked outward toward the sound of sirens.

Rainey continued on with the disturbing song– it didn’t ease his fears, it only made them grow stronger.

“Bird-black eyes will watch.”

Drew had to leave her, he couldn’t stay or help might not get to her in time. He tried to stand, forgetting how badly his body was hurting. He took his first steps only to fall flat on his face. “Fuck!” He looked over his body for the first time. His leg was all twisted, how had he ever carried Rainey away from the fire? He began to feel the pain searing through his body. Every part of him hurt. But he moved. He pulled himself along the ground, trying to get through the cornfield. He couldn’t tell if he was going anywhere because he could still hear Rainey’s soft singing.

“You better cover up your crotch. Will you be the chosen one, or will Preacher Man steal your soul?” In exhaustion, he lay down on the ground, picking up the song where Rainey stopped. “Better run–better hide, before the black bird makes up his mind . . .” He sobbed the lines out for Rainey. She had stopped singing. “All for the love of God . . .” he lay his head down in the fresh earth, “you son of a bitch, where are you now?” Drew closed his eyes. I have to rest, just for a minute.