FREE short story - DAWNING HORROR

The short story which inspired the book.
Look out for ‘Raven Girl’ coming 2025


DAWNING HORROR
RAVEN GIRL (the short story)
By Lana Lazar
© 2023

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Raven flying high through the sky
Raven flying through the woods at night
Raven pecking at shrouds on the ground
Raven flying, flying, flying
On high in the sky

Sharp talons
Sharp claws
Landing
Landing
Landing

Falling
Falling
Falling

Tearing flesh,
Rotting meat,
Where’s the raven gone,
Where’s the raven gone,
Who’s the girl done come when raven gone?

Raven tear, raven come, raven eat, raven gone,
Hide, hide, hide
Away
Away, away, away
Raven come, raven gone,
Raven girl on hill over nigh’ come
Lock your windows, shut your doors
Ain’t no more to do because raven girl’s goin’ to get you
What you goin’ to do . . .
. . . when raven girl comes to get you?

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Audrey could remember it, as clear as the sky on a cloudless day – the day she met the raven girl.
That day she had been in a bad mood. Everything that could go wrong had. She had forgotten her backpack, had to stomp all the way back to get it, missed the bus, and it started to rain. Heavily. It was still raining when the first class started, as she stared morosely out of the window, wondering how a day that had started with such promise could have gone so badly wrong.
And that was when she saw her.
The raven girl.
She wasn’t sure what she was seeing at first – some optical illusion because of the rain? It made everything blurry and hard to see. She rubbed her eyes and blinked. No, the silhouette had a definite shape to it. A young child . . . a girl?
Quite suddenly a flash of lightening illuminated the schoolyard, and Audrey caught a clear glimpse of the vision. That single glimpse was enough to strike a terrible fear into her heart. It was a girl, quite young – maybe even younger than her, with lamp-like eyes and jet black hair pulled into two long pigtails. A raven sat perched on her shoulder, its coal black eyes boring into the very depths of Audrey’s soul.
Neither apparition moved, staring directly at Audrey who sat frozen, quite unable to move, until the lightening flashed again, and they were gone. Audrey sat shivering in her seat, hoping against hope that she had merely hallucinated the vision, but knowing, knowing it was a futile hope.
Audrey had heard the stories about the raven girl, of course. Everybody had – Jarrow was a small town after all. Word spread quickly. It was why she was afraid. Because she knew what was coming. People said that if you saw the raven girl, it meant terrible things, it meant that bad luck was sure to come your way. She was an omen, they said, an omen of death. Its harbinger. Perhaps she was death itself. Nobody could be sure – the stories varied from person to person. Everybody agreed on one thing, though.
Nobody saw the raven girl and lived to tell the tale.
And now Audrey had seen her.
She was going to die. Oh God, she was going to die.

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“You saw her? You actually saw her?” Kirie, Audrey’s best friend exclaimed excitedly, shaking her head in envious disbelief, her long blonde hair tumbling over her face in her excitement. She brushed it back impatiently, her warm brown eyes sparkling. “Oh my God, you are sooo lucky! I’ve been watching out for that girl my whole life and you just see her like that!”
“God, Kirie, this isn’t a joke!” Audrey snapped. “Don’t you realise what this means?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kirie waved her hand dismissively. “You’re going to die. Personally, I don’t believe that tosh. Yeah, maybe she’s bad luck, but I think that’s because people have associated it with her. You know, like how ravens are considered ill omens and such but they’re really not.” She shrugged. “Even black cats. People just need a scapegoat to pin their rotten luck onto and she just happened to be it.”
Audrey sighed and took a tentative sip of her juice. “Maybe . . . but there’s always a reason behind stories, isn’t there? Those tales, all of those horrible legends behind her . . . they had to originate from somewhere.”
Kirie nodded and leaned back in her chair, reaching for her book bag and tugging it by the strap so that it landed with a careless bang on the table.
“Yeah – and I think I may have found the source.”
Audrey raised a questioning eyebrow. Kirie smiled.
“Okay, you know how we have to do a project on something of historical interest in this town? Well, I picked my project to be about the raven girl. I wanted to find out more, and I found a whole lot. For one thing, have you noticed how she always appears around Jarrow forest? Okay, I haven’t seen her myself, but most eyewitnesses have corroborated that statement as fact.”
Audrey shrugged and chugged down the rest of her juice. “Okay, that’s fine, but what about today? She appeared-” pointing, “-right in the freaking schoolyard. How do you explain that?”
Kirie opened her mouth and then shut it again, momentarily lost for words.
“Fair point,” she said finally. “But-” raising a finger, “the Jarrow forest and its connecting estate is a definite link. Maybe she was a real girl who lived there once, maybe she was the founder’s daughter? I heard she died mysteriously and the death was quickly hushed up – but I’ll bet there’s newspaper reports from the time. I have a few in my bag – incredible stuff, and you won’t believe . . .” She stopped and tapped her nose with a grin. “Well, you’ll find out when I present my project to the class. Either way, there’s definitely a mystery there and I’m dying to solve it. I was actually planning on checking it out myself after school today, but it would be a whole lot more interesting if you came along for the ride too.”
“Oh, no. No, no, no. There is no way in hell you are dragging me into this!” Audrey spluttered. “I’m already rattled enough! Isn’t it bad enough I saw her once in my lifetime without running the risk of seeing her twice?! I value my life way too much, Kirie, so you can just forget about it! I’m sorry, but you’re on your own here.”
Kirie looked disappointed as she gathered up her things.
“I guess I kind of thought it would be fun. But I get it. You’re scared. Fair enough. If that’s how you feel-” She sighed and shrugged listlessly. “-I won’t press you.”
She shouldered her bag and left the room without a backwards glance as the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. Audrey stared after her, feeling vaguely guilty. But, she argued with her conscience, shouldn’t my life come first over the happiness of my best friend?
Somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to agree. But her fear won over. That afternoon, she watched Kirie walk away towards the isolated part of town with a sinking feeling in her heart.
Just what was Kirie getting herself into?

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Kirie would never in a million years admit it to Audrey, but she was afraid. Dreadfully afraid. The woods were eerie and much too large for one girl, the trees lurching sinisterly on either side as if trying to grab hold of her. The weather, already dreary and desolate, had grown steadily worse since she had crossed the threshold to enter the forest. The wind howled and moaned, the trees swaying dangerously as heavy Arctic gusts buffeted the slim trunks from side to side.
Kirie held tightly to the hood of her waterproof jacket to stop it blowing off her head, and shivered. Despite the warm fleece lining, an icy chill still managed to make its way inside her clothing, chilling her to the bone. A sudden feeling like cold water trickling down her spine which grew steadily worse the deeper she walked into the forest, caused her breath to rattle fearfully in her chest.
She stopped and took a deep breath. How she wished Audrey was with her right now. She could have used the company. Maybe she could still get her to come along if she begged hard enough . . .
She put her hand in her pocket and checked her phone. Zero bars. She clapped a hand to her head and cursed silently. Of course. Why had she even expected there to be reception? Jarrow was right in the middle of nowhere and where she was standing, she was already in the thick of the forest.
She was on her own.
She tucked her phone away and carried on walking, reading aloud from her notebook as she walked, thinking hard, determined to distract herself from her unsettling surroundings.
“Excerpt from the Jarrow Times – May 1836: ‘Penny Jarrow – daughter of the late Percival Jarrow, founder of the town of Jarrow – was found dead in the forest where the trees grew the thickest so not a sound could escape and none would have witnessed her terrible demise. The look on her face was pure horror and the ravens were pecking away at her body’. Good God, that’s horrible,” she murmured, sickened.
“‘The sight was so grotesque that none who laid eyes on her could avoid becoming violently sick. Over the coming weeks, those who had witnessed the gruesome sight were overcome with a mysterious sickness that rotted the bones and fouled away the hair. Percival Jarrow was the first to succumb, followed closely by his wife and remaining offspring. The policemen who had been called to the scene on that dreadful day died last of all. On death, very little remained of the bodies while ravens pecked away at the rest.
“‘While officially the deaths have been attributed to a localised outbreak of the Plague, many townsfolk prefer to believe a more fantastic explanation – that of occultic rituals and a belief in Satan, which goes against the teachings of the church, but is no doubt a pleasing notion to the minds of the layfolk. A priest has been called in as a precaution to bless the affected homes. Further reports are eagerly anticipated’.
“Incredible,” she sighed, looking up thoughtfully - then, as she caught sight of the rapidly blackening sky, and the growing darkness of the forest, immediately regretted it and turned back to her notes. “That’s all very well, but how does the death of that girl connect to the sickness of those people and link in to the legend today?” She frowned and scratched her chin. “The only common denominator I can see are the ravens and Jarrow. But other than that, I don’t understand any of this. What am I missing? What’s the link between the ravens, the forest and little Penny Jarrow?”
She threw her hands up in frustration, dropping the notebook in her fury.
“Argh! I’m completely stumped! And it’s already getting dark too! Mom will kill me if I don’t turn back now.” She sighed wearily. “I guess I can look forward to failing this class.”
She bent to pick up the fallen notebook, when a strange sound came to her ears, the feeling of cold water trickling down her back intensified, and her hand stopped on its way to the book. She looked up slowly, dreading what she was about to see, and her eyes opened wide in horror. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, before something swooped over her and her vision went black.
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Audrey ran her hands nervously through her dark hair for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Worry creased her features.
I should’ve gone with Kirie . . . shouldn’t have let her walk through that damned forest alone . . . she hasn’t answered any of my messages or calls. What if she’s hurt, how would we ever know . . . what if . . . what if . . .
She sighed and picked up her phone for the thousandth time and speed dialled her best friend. Again, the call didn’t even ring, going directly to the answering machine.
Was Kirie still in the forest? She nudged the curtain aside and squinted. She could just see Jarrow forest from her window, a dark blotch in the distance draped in shadow, past the dim lights of the town, a permanent stain on the scenery. It was the darkest spot there. The sun had long since set.
She ran her hands through her hair again.
“Oh man. Kirie, you stubborn little . . .” she muttered, pacing up and down. “Call me, you idiot. Let me know you’re okay, goddamn it.”
“Audrey!” her mother’s voice called up the stairs. “Come down for supper!”
She groaned aloud.
Now?
“In a second, mom! I have something I have to do first!”
“You can do it after you’ve eaten! Come down! Now! That is an order!”
‘The number you have dialled is not in service.’
She swore and flung the phone across the room.
“Damn it! Kirie, where are you?!”

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Audrey.
Audrey.
C’mon, Audrey. Where are you?
Don’t leave me like this.

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Audrey woke with a start, Kirie’s voice echoing in her ears, as real as if her friend had been right beside her. She sat still for a moment, hardly daring to breathe, listening, wondering if she really had heard Kirie, if that had really been her friend’s voice . . . and if she was still out there, alone . . .
“Kirie . . .” she whispered. “Are you there?”
Nothing.
“Come on, Kirie. Answer me.”
Silence. She bit her lip. Maybe if she tried something that held a special meaning for them both, a trigger word, so to speak – she could reopen the connection she had been so certain she had just experienced.
“Peewee! Remember that? Peewee, Kirie. Come on, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten. Peewee.” She paused and listened hopefully. “Do you hear me, Kirie? Do you?”
Nothing.
Then-
Audrey? Is that you?
She gasped.
“Kirie! How . . . how are you doing this?”
I . . . I have no idea. I don’t even know where I am. Call me crazy, but heck, I don’t even know what I am or what’s going on anymore.
Audrey’s voice trembled as she spoke. “What do you mean? What are you talking about?”
I don’t know.
Scared . . .
. . . frightened . . .
. . . ost . . .
. . . al . . . one . . . help . . . help . . . help . . .
“Kirie, what’s going on?”
Raven flying high through the sky
Raven flying through the woods at night
Raven pecking at shrouds on the ground
Sharp talons
Sharp claws
Tearing flesh,
Rotting meat,
Where’s the raven gone,
Where’s the raven gone?
Raven tear, raven come, raven eat, raven gone,
Hide, hide, hide
Away, away, away
Raven come, raven gone,
Raven girl in forest over nigh’ come
Lock your windows, shut your doors
Ain’t nothing more to do because raven girl’s goin’ to get you
What you goin’ to do . . .
. . . when raven girl comes to get you?
Audrey gasped and opened her eyes, the terrible schoolyard chant ringing in her ears. She remembered it all too well, the ominous words kids would sing as they skipped to the beat of the rope. The words everybody knew, young and old . . . the words she heard in her nightmares . . .
“Kirie, what the hell was that?”
“Come on, answer me, please!”
“Kirie!!!”

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Raven come, raven gone,
Raven girl in forest over nigh’ come
Lock your windows, shut your doors
Ain’t no more to do because raven girl’s goin’ to get you
What you goin’ to do . . .
. . . when raven girl comes to get you?
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They found Kirie’s ravaged body the following morning, so brutally torn apart the only way to identify her was by the teeth that lay scattered around her bloodied body. It looked as if some wild animal had torn her apart in a frenzy of bloodlust.
But Audrey knew better. The raven girl had come for Kirie. Kirie had looked for her, and now she was gone. She felt too numb to even cry. All she could do was sit by the window, staring bleakly out over the dark expanse of Jarrow forest.
A single tear dropped from her eye and trailed a path down her cheek. Why, why had she refused to go with her? She could have saved her. She could have stopped her. She could have done so much. And now Kirie was dead. And it was all her fault. All her fault.
“Kirie . . .” she murmured helplessly, wishing that just by saying the words, she could put things right. “Why . . . why you? What was it? What did you do?”
Try as she might, she could not think of a logical explanation why the raven girl would have wanted Kirie dead. It had been Audrey who had seen her after all, not Kirie. All Kirie had done was dig up some research about the old legend-
“Research.” She gasped and stood up suddenly, knocking her chair over in her hurry. “Kirie said she found out something incredible. What was it? What did Kirie find that was so terrible she had to die for it?” She seized her bag and rushed out of the room.
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“Raven girl?” The librarian frowned so hard that her glasses, perched precariously on the bridge of her nose, fell off. “Yes, we have information about the legend, but what do you want to go digging up the past for?”
“I . . . it’s research,” Audrey fibbed. “For a school project on the town’s history, you know.”
“Ah, I remember. Seems like you’re not the first one to come asking me that.” The librarian began tapping away on the keyboard, her eyes never leaving Audrey’s face. “That girl, the one with the . . . blonde hair, was it? She was in here just last week asking the same thing.”
Audrey stiffened. Kirie.
“I’d like to take out whatever she took out,” she said on impulse. “Books, old newspapers, whatever it was she borrowed.”
The librarian made a face. “You sure? Some of it makes for pretty gory reading.” Then, when Audrey showed no sign of moving, she sighed and got up with a weary creak of old bones. “Alright. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She began rummaging through the Returns shelf. “She only returned the books, though. The newspapers, she photocopied and took the copies with her.”
“Can I see them?” Audrey asked.
The woman grimaced sympathetically. “Afraid not. They were on loan from the Jarrow archives and . . . the loan just expired. They’re already on their way back, I’m sorry.” Seeing that Audrey looked downcast, she added, “But why not ask your friend to make a copy for you? I’m sure if you ask-”
“Thank you,” Audrey murmured. “Unfortunately, that’s no longer an option.” The librarian stared at her, not understanding. Audrey felt sudden tears prick her eyes and turned away hastily, not wanting the librarian to see. She picked up the books the librarian had just scanned for her and rushed out with a strangled sob.
As she sat in the park, rummaging through the books Kirie had once held, she could almost hear her friend’s voice echoing in her head, giving a cheerful commentary as she flipped through the books.
“That’s Percival Jarrow’s biography – did you know he was into the occult? Seriously cool. Oh, and that there, that’s a complete collection of every raven girl legend ever created. It’s mostly a lot of hoaxes, but it’s interesting reading. And I would not recommend reading it at night.” Kirie’s laugh, merry and tinkling, sounded in her ear. Audrey leapt up with a cry and clamped her hands over her ears.
What the hell was wrong with her? Why was she hearing Kirie’s voice now? Kirie was dead. She was dead. Why did she have to keep suffering? Why did she have to keep hearing her? She didn’t want to hear Kirie’s voice. It was far too painful for her to deal with.
“Something wrong, Aud?” Kirie’s voice, concerned, echoed in her head. “You look like you’re gonna throw up. I’d stay away from lunch, if I were you.” She laughed again – a friendly laugh, but Audrey flinched as if she had been shot. Leaving the books behind, she started to run. “No use running, Audrey! I’m in your head and I’m not going anywhere.”
Why did Kirie’s voice suddenly sound so mean? So bitter, so . . . cruel?
“Do you want to know how I died?” Kirie’s voice carried on relentlessly, the cheerful edge now completely gone. Her voice was filled with malice. “Well, how about I show you instead? It’s much more interesting that way.”
Audrey looked up with a gasp and forced herself to stop running, realising with a jolt of horror that she had somehow ended up in Jarrow forest.
This was not good, not good at all. She had to get out of here, fast, before whatever killed Kirie came back for her.
“Ain’t no running goin’ to do you no good!” Kirie’s voice, so malicious, so gloating, sang out. “Because raven girl’s going to find you, wherever you go.”
Audrey heard a loud screech and gasped, her heart thundering with fear. She had to move, had to run, had to get out of there, but her feet wouldn’t obey her.
She screamed as the black shadow that had claimed Kirie fell across her face and talons raked across her skin, drawing blood.
“Help!” she cried desperately.
“Ain’t nobody goin’ to hear you,” the voice sang softly, taunting her. “Look out, look out, because Raven girl’s goin’ to get you.”
Audrey closed her eyes and screamed and screamed.

THE END

Author’s Note

Dear valued reader. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I especially hope that it kept you up at night, shivering and peering fearfully into every dark corner . . .

Reviews are invaluable for helping new readers find my books. Please consider leaving one on Amazon or Goodreads if you have a moment.

Looking for something new to read?

You can find a complete list of my stories on my Amazon author page. I also regularly update Twitter.

Please share this short story with your friends and family – your support is invaluable for an indie author at this crucial time.

You can also follow me on Twitter @lanlaz_author! I look forward to meeting you in the twilight! Don’t forget to look over your shoulder – I may bring a few fiends . . .

Spookily yours,
Lana Lazar

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