Delphic Cove

Delphic Cove is a small town not far from Mount Saint Helens in Washington state. It’s not too close, though, because when some pesky Nokken caused it erupt again, Delphic Cove wasn’t directly affected.

Alexis Ferguson grew up in Delphic Cove, thinking that she had been there her entire life with her family. If you’ve read the other posts in this series, you know that’s not the case. The sleepy town that she grew up in, and was so eager to escape, was in fact not where she belonged.

Perhaps that’s why she never fit in or cared much for what all the other townsfolk cared about, especially Delphic Cove’s pride and joy: her high school’s varsity volley ball team. They’ve won every state championship for years, and her younger sister, Natalie, is one of the star players.

The lake in town is where Alexis loves to go most. Whenever she’s stressed out, she goes there to watch the waves and wildlife so she can escape for a while. There’s nothing more relaxing than watching the squirrels chasing each other, and it’s a special treat when a bald eagle flies overhead.

Unfortunately, not even the lake can always be a place of refuge….

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warm sun beating down on me and the sounds of the lake lapping up on the shore. It was so calming.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when I heard a strange whirring noise. I tried to ignore it, hoping that it would go away.

It only got louder and gave me a creepy feeling, so I opened my eyes.

I was so startled by the sight of over a hundred crows flying in a massive circle directly above where I was sitting that I jumped off the bench.

They were all going around and around in a circle. As soon as one made eye contact with me, it began to caw. The rest followed suit and dozens of crows were orbiting around and around right over me, and all of them were shrieking at me.

I grabbed my purse and inched away from the bench without breathing. I couldn’t take my eyes off of them, and I noticed that as I inched along, the whole circle inched right along with me in the air above me. I stopped for a moment and finally took a breath.

As soon as I began to breathe again, every single creepy bird in the circling, cawing flock turned its eyes toward me. Each one was looking down at me while whirling above my head.

To make sure that I wasn’t losing my mind, I slowly walked about two feet. Each one kept its eyes fixed on me. They circled, cawing, and they stayed directly above me. Exactly as I moved, the circle moved.

I made a split second decision and ran to my car as fast as I could without looking up or back. Once I was safely locked in my car, I looked outside to see if they had followed me. I didn’t see them, so I inched myself forward so that I could see above the car without getting out.

There they were, flying right above my car in their massive whirl.

Want to read more? Check out Deception ~or~ read Fallen (the prequel) for free.

See the list of all my posts in the A to Z Challenge.

Image by Darin Barry